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What then is Apollos – 1 Cor. 3:5
What then is Apollos – 1 Cor. 3:5
What then is Apollos? AN interesting question! In light of the Corinthian’s penchant for elevating ‘their teachers’, even above the MESSAGE they taught, Paul applied the same concept to himself and Apollos as a teaching example (cp. 4:6). How SHOULD the Corinthians looked at the various teachers among them? Notice, Paul asks WHAT and not WHO! It is NOT about the person, but the position, function, work.
What is Apollos? Paul’s answer: A Servant (3:5). a Fellow worker (3:9). A Steward (4:1).
A Servant, from the same word that is translated ‘deacon’ and ‘minister’. First of all, no matter WHO we are, we have been called to servitude. Greatest is he who serves (Matt. 23:11). We all are commanded to serve one another by love (Gal. 5:13). We are to serve God by serving one another. Pride, selfishness, and arrogance are to be put aside and we step up to the role of a servant.
A Fellow-worker. Servants serve by working. Paul takes notice that while not all have the SAME work to do, all are FELLOW workers. We all are brethren. We are of the same BODY. We serve the same LORD. To use Paul’s illustration: some may plant, some may water. Or in our understanding, some are teachers, some are encouragers, some are helpers (like Dorcas in Acts 9).
To further note Paul’s analogy of a body: If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? (12:17).
The truth is, that many teachers are simply not very good at serving in any other capacity! If all were like them, the body would fall apart. The weak would stumble. Those who struggle would fall away. Those who mourn would be overcome. My observation is that the lifeblood and strength of a congregation is to be found in these ‘workers’ that serve.
That is not to deny the need of good teachers. It me trying to find the rightful place of EACH member of the body! We tend to hold the ‘weaker’ members as unneeded, but we are WRONG (study 1 Cor. 12!, then study it again). We tend to elevate the importance of those in the public eye, but we are unbalanced in our appraisal.
A Steward. A steward is ‘in charge’ of what belongs to another. ALL that I have and all that AM belongs to the Lord. There is NOTHING that I have that I didn’t receive, including life and abilities. My strength, my knowledge, my life are the Lord’s. I am to live unto the Lord. Yes, we all know this, but knowledge is not the same as doing.
What am I? A servant, a fellow-worker, a steward: the real question for me: Does this describe MY life? Does it describe YOUR LIFE?
Hugh DeLong
