God's Project (3:5-4:1)

* Still dealing with dis-unity. Part of the problem was they looked at leaders as if they were something more than merely servants of God.

3:5 & 4:1 both state clearly that Paul & Apollos are simply servants.
Between is his argumentation.

Metaphor #1 God's Farm
- Paul planted
- Apollos watered
- But God is the one Who made it grow
- In 1 sense, then, both men are NOTHING
- Thus, they are equals (0 = 0)
- They are actually united in purpose (service to Christ)
- There will be varying degrees/types of reward based on work

Metaphor #2 God's Building
- Paul laid foundation
- Apollos built on foundation
- But it's God's building

Paul's statement that one must be careful HOW he builds is, to me, a subtle suggestion that Apollos' method of building is suspect. Did Apollos build the church quickly, but with poor materials (winning shallow converts through fleshly sensations like rhetoric)? Leaders can build the church with genuine converts (the result of God's work) or by appealing to people so as to win people to the group (but not genuine converts). The leader who does the latter is not necessarily doing this with poor intentions, just a lack of wisdom. The quality of the ministry of Paul and Apollos will become clear in the face of trouble when genuine converts cling to Christ and nominal Christians blow away like chaff.

Thus, verse 15 is not to be used in the Roman Catholic sense (purgatory... it's not talking about purifying the man, but showing the value of his works) or in the hyper-Calvinist sense (it's not talking about being saved despite living a crappy Christian life). The passage is talking about the possibility that someone like Apollos, while being a genuine Christian man, might come to find out that his ministry didn't make very many genuine converts because he appealed to people with worldly wisdom.

Verse 16, it should be noted, is not about individuals, but about the church. It is serious business to mess with God's building project. The passage goes on to warn those who may have come into the Christian circle on prideful terms that they better humble themselves and learn to boast in no man other than Christ.

After all, even men like Paul and Apollos are simply servants.