Still not ready for solid food.

1 Corinthians 3.1-9.

The Christians of ancient Corinth had divided themselves into factions which, it appears, weren’t getting along. There was the Apollos faction, emphasizing the teachings of the apostle who evangelized them; there was the Paul faction, emphasizing the teachings of the apostle who’d evangelized them. There was also a Simon Peter faction, and a Christ faction (or, likely, a “Christ only” faction; phooey on his apostles!). 1Co 1.12

This behavior, Paul and Sosthenes rebuked in 1 Corinthians. If these apostles are legitimately following Jesus—and from what we know, Apollos, Paul, and Peter certainly did—their teachings should harmonize. We might see minor discrepancies, ’cause the apostles weren’t infallible; only Jesus is. But these discrepancies should be irrelevant, ’cause all these guys are pointing beyond themselves, at Christ Jesus and his kingdom.

I’ve said more than once Paul isn’t infallible, and I’m fully aware there are gonna be Christians who balk at this idea. I mean yeah, they’re gonna acknowledge Paul’s various screw-ups which Luke recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; they’re right there in the bible; we can’t deny ’em. But they’re also gonna emphasize Paul wrote scripture, and his New Testament letters are fully trustworthy doctrine which Christians have followed for millennia. Arguably every Christian, with the exception of a few heretics, puts ourselves in the Paul faction. Apollos doesn’t have any letters in the New Testament… unless he’s the unknown author of Hebrews, and likely he’s not.

Still, Christians breaking ourselves into sects and flinging around the word “heresy” as if anything we don’t like qualifies as heresy: Yep, it started happening in the ancient church. Still happens. And shouldn’t. We need to overcome our differences and work together, and stop giving ammunition to antichrists who’d rather see all of us gone, and are as happy in a pig in poo whenever we fight one another.

In today’s passage, the apostles emphasize how Apollos and Paul are on the same team. Same Jesus. Same Holy Spirit empowering both of ’em.

1 Corinthians 3.1-9 KWL

1Fellow Christians, I can’t speak to you as Spiritual people,

but as fleshly people,

as “infants in Christ.”

2I give you milk, not solid food,

for you’re not ready.

You’re not able to feed yourselves even now,

3for you’re still fleshly people.

Why is there zeal and strife among you?

Aren’t you fleshly people?

Do you walk like pagan humans?

4For when someone might say, “I’m of Paul,”

and another, “I’m of Apollos,”

aren’t you pagan humans?

5So who is Apollos? Who is Paul? Servants!

You believe because of them,

however the Master gives faith to each person.

6I plant and Apollos waters,

but God is making you grow,

7so neither the planter nor waterer is someone vital,

but God is the grower.

8And the planter and waterer are one!

Each of us receives our own paycheck

for our own labor.

9For God is our coworker;

it’s God’s farm, God’s building.

“Not seeing a lot of maturity among you guys.”

I have never seen Christians take it well when they’re told they’re being immature. But then again, why should I? They’re immature. They can’t handle criticism, even when it’s constructive and helpful. Some of ’em will insist they absolutely are mature, and I’m the immature one for suggesting otherwise; as if that’s a sign of maturity either. In any event I’m entirely sure the Corinthians didn’t take it well when Paul and Sosthenes wrote ’em, “You’re not ready for solid food. You’re infants.”

But they were. Their whole deal of dividing into factions? Pure immaturity. Bragging about your teachers? Bragging about whom you know, or whom you’ve met? Gatekeeping?—telling people they can’t be as advanced as you, ’cause you haven’t personally met Apollos? Implying other Christians aren’t real Christians, or can’t be mature Christians, unless they follow the very same guys? That’s some grade-school behavior right there. You shouldn’t see it in any mature person. So of course the apostles identified them immediately as immature.

Spiritual maturity isn’t tied to how long you’ve been Christian; it’s about growing good fruit. If you’re listening to the Holy Spirit, you’re gonna get fruity. If you’re bragging about which team you’re on, it’s every indication you’re not capital-S Spiritual; you’re fleshly. Or carnal, or corporeal, or lascivious, or sensual, or whatever synonym you wanna use for someone who’s only following their urges instead of the Spirit.

More than once the apostles ask the Corinthians if they’re not just acting like ἄνθρωποί/anthropí, “humans” (KJV “men”). This isn’t really to contrast how they’re behaving like νηπίοις/nipí’is, “infants,” in verse 1. I once heard a preacher interpret this as, “Stop being babies and be men!” But that’s not quite what’s happening. The apostles are contrasting the Corinthians with ordinary people—with pagans. Any Greco-Roman pagan can act like that, and plenty of American pagans totally act like that. But Jesus calls his followers to be way, way better than that. We’re not ordinary people. We’re holy people.

In verse 4 the text has οὐκ ἄνθρωποί ἐστε/uk anthropí éste, “aren’t you humans?” Meaning pagan humans again. Thing is, the Textus Receptus swapped anthropí with σαρκικοί/sarkikí, “fleshly,” which is why the KJV has “Are ye not carnal?” 1Co 3.4 KJV The word-swap didn’t happen till the 600s, which is why my copy of the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus has anthropí. But the reason sarkikí snuck into so many manuscripts thereafter, is because it makes it really clear what the apostles meant by human: “Y’all are acting like fleshly humans.”

Unacceptable behavior—and contrary to what the apostles Paul and Apollos were all about.

“We’re on the same team here!”

A few translators wanna render verse 8 as “The planter and waterer are as one,” in case people try to add a few unintended ideas to the apostles’ statement. Namely that “we are one” or “Christians should be one” implies we have way closer of a bond than intended. Something like marriage, when a man “shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Ge 2.24 KJV Something like the trinity, where Jesus and his Father are one. But nope; the apostles really just mean that Paul and Apollos are unified in purpose and goal. They’re on the same team, and neither of them is hogging the ball in order to make all the plays and get all the glory. They’re one.

Same as all of us Christians oughta be. And those Christians who object to this sort of unity, who think ecumenism is a devilish tool meant to corrupt true Christians by making us mingle with heretics: You’re forgetting Jesus’s goal is for us to corrupt the heretics, and turn ’em towards Jesus. We’re meant to meet with differing Christians, love ’em despite their iffy theology, stand up for orthodoxy (and not be dicks about it), encourage ’em to listen to the Holy Spirit, and nudge them ever closer to Jesus. And whenever we stand up for Jesus, we nudge ever closer to Jesus, who himself said he wants us to be one. Jn 17.21 Or did you consider this prayer of Jesus’s yet another devilish tool? ’Cause, y’know, blasphemy.

Gonna be blunt here: Y’know those Christians who object to Christian unity, who deliberately join a church which refuses to interact with other churches in town, who reject denominations because they insist their church has gotta be independent, who call everyone else heretic and cultish at the drop of a hat? Yep, heretics. “The communion of faith” is part of the creeds, and those creeds weren’t talking about just your church. They’re about every Christian everywhere; every last person who trusts Jesus to save us, no matter how wrong we might be about him.

Yet we still divide ourselves into factions and fight one another. The Presbyterians fight the Roman Catholics. The complementarians fight the egalitarians. The Arminians fight the Calvinists. The cessationists fight the continuationists. The Christian Right fights the Christian Right. (What, you thought I was gonna say they fight the Christian Left? Oh, they don’t even believe in the Christian Left; they think those guys aren’t Christian. They fight ’em… but far more often they fight each other. Over who’s more Right.)

It’s all fleshly. Partisanship and separatism are obvious works of the flesh. Meaning anyone who seeks out a partisan or separatist church is fleshly; meaning anyone who runs and leads a partisan or separate church is not qualified to lead. They lack the character mandatory for leadership. They’re too interested in this world’s factions to point people to God’s kingdom.

That’s why you really wanna avoid these churches if you can help it.

Deeper stuff is gonna have to wait.

No doubt the apostles were frustrated because they didn’t wanna write a big ol’ letter of correction to Corinth; they wanted to encourage them! They wanted to share profound things. Deeper revelations. Solid thinking. Stuff which now had to wait, because now the apostles had to change some messy diapers.

No, the deep stuff Paul likely wanted to write about instead, is not lost to history. It’s in Ephesians. That’s the letter where Paul didn’t have to spend several chapters rebuking the church for its misbehavior; where he instead dived right into the glorious plan God has for humanity. It’s a good book; go read it.

But don’t presume we shouldn’t still read 1 Corinthians. Because you know we Christians still slogging through the very same problems that church had. We’ve still got factions, and sin, and pride, and exceptionalism, and majoring in the minors, and End Times mania. We’ve still got immature and fleshly Christians run amok. Heck, we’ve even got ’em in positions of power: We elect them to Congress, subscribe to their websites, and join in with the millions of like-minded, self-centered, carnal people who know Jesus so little, they may as well be pagan, and many of ’em probably are. We’ve even made some of them pastors and bishops, and put ’em in charge of the spiritual wellbeing of newbies and children. Is it any wonder there are so many child molestation cases in our churches?

The United States likes to imagine itself a Christian nation, but these self-described “Christians” are biblically illiterate and spiritually dead, the country doesn’t look Christian at all. Which is why these fleshly Christians think the solution to the problem is, instead of loving their neighbors, to elect Christianist loudmouths to office. And pass laws. And ban books. And deport foreigners. And overthrow democracy and embrace fascism. Anything but actually follow Jesus.

There have been Christians in North America for centuries, and you’d think by now if we’d’ve kept it up, we’d see some really profound growth in Christ. But we don’t. We suffer the same problems of every free society… and suffer the same temptations to make it less free and force people to behave. We see selfish people, as usual, ruin and undermine society and Christianity, and even try to convince others selfishness is a virtue. We see just as much backsliding as we do growth. Feels like more backsliding sometimes, ’cause backsliders are so much louder about it.

So is anybody out there ready for spiritual food? Well sure. Like I said, Ephesians is still in the bible. Some Christians are ready for it. But let’s not arrogantly presume we’re those Christians; that we’ve “arrived” while we’re still really slashing away at one another. Let’s work on loving our neighbors. For once.