Useful Bible Studies > 1 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 3
When a great man makes a garden, he does not carry out all the work himself. Instead, he appoints each of his servants to carry out a particular task. He chooses for each man the task that he is most able to do.
So, one servant puts the plants into the soil. Another servant gives water to the plants. And other servants carry out other tasks. Each one does the work that the master directs him to do.
For those servants, the reward is their wages. But for the master, the reward is the garden. It is the master who chose to make it. He directed the servants to do their work. He deserves all the honour for the beauty of that garden.
God’s people are like his garden (Song of Solomon 4:12-14). Their beauty is the result of his work in their lives (Isaiah 61:10-11). By ‘beauty’ here, we mean the beautiful qualities that they develop because of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
Notice how God carries out this work: he too uses his servants. Church leaders have a duty to serve God; therefore, they are God’s servants (12:28). God directs each one in the task which that person should do. Perhaps that task is to declare God’s good news, or to teach the Bible. God arranges people to do these things so that all Christians can become mature in their relationship with him (Ephesians 4:11-14).
So, we must not expect all our church leaders to be alike. God sends different kinds of people to us, in order to carry out his work in our lives. But the result should be that our lives will please God. And that will bring great honour to God.
Next part: How to build a strong church (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.