The Church: Field (1 Cor. 3:1-9)

Here’s this past Sunday’s message from 1 Corinthians 3, where I look at the biblical metaphor of the field. You can catch the livestream video here.

If you walked up to a field, not too long after planting season, and looked down at the ground, you might think, “There’s not much going on here.” But you’d be wrong. If you pulled back the dirt, you’d see seeds beginning to germinate. Come back a couple of months later, and it’d be a much different story. 

if you happened to make that statement out loud, you might get an earful from the farmer. “What?! You should have been here a couple of weeks ago.” He’d explain to you that a harvest was coming. And he’d labored hard to see that come about. Things may be different from what they appear.  

It’s good to be back with you again this week. We’re spending six weeks this summer looking at six metaphors for the church we see in the New Testament. What’s a metaphor again? It’s a word picture. Where we describe one thing by calling it another thing. And as I said the week I introduced this series, these metaphors both describe and create reality. They say something true about what the church already is. And the more we live it out together, the more real it becomes.

So far, we’ve seen that we’re a family. We are related to one another. We’re committed to one another. We’re also a body. We’re connected to one another. We’re supported by one another. Last week, we saw that we’re a temple. We’re indwelled by God’s Spirit. We’re also empowered by Him. Together. Today, we’ll look at this image of the church as a field.

It’s no doubt we’re in a trying season. And the thought of going into fall and winter with the same restrictions sounds pretty overwhelming. It’s easy to lose faith. To doubt that God’s up to anything. It’s also easy to just give up. To become inactive. It doesn’t feel like we’re in summer, waiting for crops to come up. It’s more like we’re in winter, doubting that anything could happen at all.

But as we look at tonight’s metaphor, that we’re a field together, it reminds us of a couple of really important truths. God is still at work in us. And there’s much work left for us to do.

Their Situation - and Ours Today

But before we get there, let’s get our bearings a bit. Let’s understand the situation Paul is addressing. That he starts getting on them for back in chapter 2. He chides them for their lack of growth. That they’re still acting like infants - who are still drinking milk - when they should have at least moved on to cheerios. 

How’s this showing up? In them gathering themselves into factions. Under certain leaders. “I’m one of Peter’s guys.” “I’m with Apollos.” “I follow Paul.” They’re saying things like that. And this makes Paul thankful - he says in chapter 1 - that he hadn’t baptized more so that even more wouldn’t put their trust in him.

Now I’ll tell you what this first reminds me of. How today we so readily put our faith - and align ourselves - with various leaders. Politicians. Pundits. Youtube channel hosts. My word - does that sound ridiculous. And we stand under those banners against our brothers and sisters in Christ. You all know what I’m talking about.

But second, because YouTube and podcasts are so accessible today, we also tend to identify more with celebrity pastors than leaders in our churches and cities. I’m a Piper guy. You’re a MacArthur guy. You like Rick Warren. I like Tim Keller. Stuff like that. And we argue about it. And it puts a wedge between us. And to think people say the Bible isn’t relevant.  

Reminders for Them - and For Us 

Into that church in Corinth - with all their chaos going on - Paul drops a couple of really key reminders. They’re pretty straightforward, but so important for us to grasp. He turns from rebuking them for a lack of growth to reminding them of where growth comes from. Here’s the first reminder: we’re just servants - all of us. The apostle responds to all of this talk about whose team they’re on - in this way. Verse 5: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.” We’re nobodies, he says. We’re just servants - doing what God has asked us to do. Nothing special.

That includes the pastor who has a big ministry. Or a regular guy like me. Along with you and everyone here. “Servants through whom you believed.” Instruments God uses. That’s all.

Here’s the second thing he says: God is sovereign, not us. What do I mean? God’s in control. He’s king. He’s the only one who can really save and grow anyone. In verse 6, Paul says, “God gave the growth.” He repeats the same idea in verse 7. “Only God… gives the growth.” There’s work we do. Yes. But it’s God alone who does the real work.

This means little people like us. He’s King over our lives. Over our churches. No matter how small or insignificant we may seem. We are “God’s field.” And He pleases to do great work in us.

So those are the two main things Paul says. We’re all just servants. God alone is sovereign.  We’re given life. We’re planted. And we’re given growth. We’re multiplied by Him. And God wants us to be involved in that ministry with Him. So stop getting in little groups and acting a fool, Paul says. You’re missing the point.

What This Means for Us - Here and Now

So what does all of this mean for us? A couple of important things. First, we’re used by Him in the field. Now just because God’s in control doesn’t mean He doesn’t use means. He absolutely does. This isn’t an excuse to be passive but rather active. As J.I. Packer put it, “The Christian’s motto shouldn’t be to ‘let go and let God,’ but ‘trust God and get going.’” There is work for us to do. We obey and act. 

And that’s all of us, church - not just pastors and leaders - but everyone. We all farm in this field. That’s one of the lies we can so easily buy into - that some people do all the ministry. But it’s not true. You, me - we’re all ministers. Which is another way to say we’re servants.

Think about what farming really involves. Little things. Plowing. Sowing. Watering. Weeding. Hard things. There is machinery now, for sure. But it still isn’t easy. It takes long hours.

God still calls us to the little things. Those little things done in faith. Largely, sharing the good news of Jesus. The gospel. That through Christ’s work on the cross, our sins can be forgiven. And we can be right with God again. Sharing the big story of God’s redemption in Jesus. And how that story has transformed our little stories. 

Often we don’t do anything because we feel like we have to be rock stars or salesmen of the month. Plant seeds. Share your story to that friend that’s struggling. Pray over that patient in the hospital. When you sin, confess that to those around you. Water someone else’s seeds. The little things really are the big things. Don’t forget that. 

Also He wants us to do the hard things. Being the one to speak up when everyone else is making racist jokes. Sharing your hope when someone mocks our faith. Speaking up and sharing truth with a stranger. Being faithful. Knowing that it’s not up to you. But He pleases to use you and me. Farming involves doing a lot of small things. And a lot of hard things - in faith. As His servants. 

Now things feel especially hard now. Like farming in a drought. Or laboring with floods coming. Or in the winter when it seems impossible. Or maybe in wartime when troops could pop over the horizon. But we have to keep going. Keep trusting. That God will use us - even now. Maybe He especially chooses to use us in times like this.

Second, we’re grown by Him as a field. We seek to do what we’re called to do, but we know that God alone gives the growth. He alone is our hope. We don’t just obey and act. More than anything, we pray and trust. 

Think with me how growth usually happens. It’s quiet, right? We usually don’t see it coming or happening. In the garden or in the mirror. But it does. It’s also slow. Really slow. It requires lots and lots of patience. 

God wants us to trust Him for big things. Even if it doesn’t happen quickly or immediately. To commit to what He asks - even if it means quiet, slow growth. Where we don’t see change or fruit for many of years. Our big God is in those little things. We have to believe it. 

We have to rejoice in the smallest evidences of grace. In the littlest victories over sin. We see those things in our selves. And rejoice. We point them out in our brothers and sisters. And encourage. Trusting, yes, that a big harvest will come. That one day we’ll be made like Him. That God could bring quick, massive growth. For now we’re to be faithful. And realize most growth won’t come overnight.  

Again, this is a hard season. But the reality is most growth comes through hard times. Through working muscles until they hurt. Through getting over and through heartbreak. The Lord grows us through suffering. As He weans us off of self on to Him. As He shows us how glorious and powerful He really is. And just how small and needy we are.      

I was reminded again of the field we’re involved in with Japan. Through an encouraging article on The Gospel Coalition site. It’s taken a long, long time. But good things are happening. Not because we got the right people over there suddenly. The King is ascending to His throne. God is bringing Christians out of the ground. Churches are being planted and multiplied. And it’s beautiful. 

Our Lord calls us there - and right here - to plant and pray. To work the ground. Making disciples. Starting churches. 

Asking Him to work as we do what He wants us to do. To plead for boldness. To beg for growth. 

We obey and act. We pray and trust. Just like farmers. Who can put the seed in the ground. But can’t make it rain. Only God can do that.

We’re called a field - the church. But think about this. When Paul is talking about planting and watering and giving growth to them - what, when is he talking about? Is he talking about those Corinthians coming to faith in the first place? Or is he maybe talking about their growth once they came to believe?

Remember, Jesus talks about the fields being ripe for harvest. He asks us to pray for laborers for that harvest. And of course to be the answer ourselves. This is a field in here. But there’s also a field out there. Do we believe that God wants to work around us? That He wants to work through us? Do we? 

We’ve talked since we’ve been in Columbia about downtown. About the campus. How God would want to work and use us there. But now that we’re here in this neighborhood, this is our closest field. Do we trust that God has plans for right here in the first ward? And that He might be pleased to use us?

And are we willing to do the work? And for the long haul? I think about this neighborhood. We’re largely a majority church in a minority neighborhood. It won’t be easy. It won’t be fast. We’ll have to believe. But we’ll also have to sacrifice. Our time, our preferences. Are we willing? To trust His sovereign plan. And be servants

A Field Together

So growth takes time. It’s slow and difficult. And it usually comes largely through hardship. Farming is hard work. And it requires faith. And lots of patience. Especially during hard times. But that’s where the gospel has always borne fruit and grown.

We are God’s field. God is still at work in us. He is. And there’s much work left for us to do.  That He calls us to. Even in trials like those today, we go forward with that confidence. We seek to grow in grace - and help others to do the same. 

We’re given life. We’re grown by Him. And God wants to involve us in planting and multiplying with Him. Of disciples. Of churches. Even in what seems like winter. That’s where His glory is seen, right? In doing what seems unlikely, impossible. 

Here’s how I want to end, though, tonight. Do you remember how I began? What was going on in Corinth? Fighting. Factions. “I’m one of Paul’s guys.” “No. I’m with Apollos.” They were missing the point. And losing their focus. And I fear the we’re doing the same thing. 

Democrats. Republicans. Conservatives. Liberals. Fauci. Trump. Whomever. Dropping our memes. Posting our videos. All the while, there is a field God wants us to labor in. There’s a harvest ready to be reaped. There is good news to be shared. And people who desperately need to hear it.

Now it’s easy to say, let’s just unite around the gospel. But it’s far harder to live it out. That’s because the gospel has implications. And we have to sort those out. And that impacts how we think about issues. 

But I do think we have to peel it all back and get back to who Jesus is and what He’s done. And what that says about who we are and what we do. We have to be Christians first. And then ask what that means in our world today. And as we do, we should be concerned if we too easily align with one faction or camp. We should expect to have people yelling at us in stereo or we’ve strayed terrible far off course. 

Too many American Christians have so aligned themselves with a party or a platform that they’ve forgot about our King and the Kingdom He’s building. And that’s pushed us apart from one another. 

Paul appeals to their unity here - and ours. Verse 8: “He who plants and he who waters is one.” One. Verse 9: “For we are God’s fellow workers” - partners with Him, partners with one another. Will we believe that? Or will we stand next to the field and argue about which seed company is the best? Or what snacks we should pack in the tractor? Or what fertilizer will get the job done?  

Let’s unite, church, around the gospel. Let’s focus on gospel ministry. Let’s trust that God is still at work. And let’s act, knowing we play a part. We’re planted. We’re multiplied by Him. Let’s share that love. We are His field. Let’s pray.