Infantile Faith?

I Corinthians 3:1–9

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still fleshly. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not fleshly and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not all too human?  What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will receive wages according to their own labor. For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

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Introduction

What happens when you take baby food, quarrels, and bad a bunch of argumentative gardeners? I don't know, but I'm sure a church they do not make. And this is how the church in Corinth operated until they were reprimanded and set on the right path. Paul writes to the Corinthians to call out their disunity and to remind them of the faith that gives them life. There are words in our reading that speak to our ever-divided society and to the practice of faith we have ignored and forgotten. The cure to our woes lies in the unifying and life-giving power of the heart of God. How do we get from a state of beginning to a mature faith? 

Infantile Faith

Paul already has taken the Corinthians to task in the chapter preceding our reading for today. First, he refers to the Corinthians as not belonging to the group of people mature enough to understand the wisdom of God. Secondly, he expands on this idea further by telling the church that they are not ready for "solid food." Their faith is infantile, not yet mature. How could they possibly feast on the knowledge God can provide when their hearts cannot partake of the most basic spiritual food? As we will see, this contributes to the dissent among the church in Corinth and Pauls's words of reproach and correction. 

However, it's not that the church in Corinth and the Corinthians are "immature." It's that they also believe they are "spiritual people," that they are wise and know of God. In our reading, we find Paul telling this group of believers to not only "grow up" but also to look past the infantile self-assessment of themselves as spiritually mature people. It's a question, and a challenge posed to us as well. Is our faith the same as it was a year ago, two years ago, or more? Looking back, can we see an evolution of our faith? If not, I believe Paul is saying that we, like the Corinthians, must reevaluate our spiritual lives. 

Apollos or Paul?

This continues in the church's attempts to rally behind different leaders. Some choose Apollos, while others gather around Paul. But Paul doesn't give into the either-or mentality. Instead, he places himself and Apollos on either side of God, with God being the center and the primary reason why they live in the community and partake in the work of ministry. We are not the answer; God is the answer; we might help each other along the way, yet as soon as we lose sight of where our talents come from, we go off the rails and roll backward into spiritual immaturity. 

The rollback of our spiritual maturity is one of my greatest fears for the American church. We may not have disciples or apostles, but we have ideologies and mentalities that we rally behind, many of which are toxic. One such poisonous disciple we've gathered around as an American church is perfectly summarized by a post I saw by Rev. Lura Groen: 

"I fear that as long as the reason we invite people to our religious institutions is so they can fill our pews, take over our volunteer projects, and give us money, we're going to end up hurting the people who come to us looking for a connection to the Divine and authentic spiritual community. Because it's deeply painful to want to be in relationship with someone, and to find out they really only want us to keep their institution going." 

We've come to brand out American spirituality as one that reflects our economic values. We want people so that they can benefit us. We want staff, but try to pay the bare minimum. We want relationships as long as they end up helping us. This ideology, however, does not fit within the faith that Paul is preaching to the Corinthians. True faith cannot grow, and true community cannot form if we buy into prophetic words that come from human values instead of the values of God. And this concern for the American church applies to us because it's a conviction for us, as to how we will conduct our lives. The word of God is antithetical to the words and definitions for success that we've been sold. 

Vision of New Leadership

Paul gives us hope and leaves us a good word by reminding us that nothing happens without God. We can try to bring people in for alternative motives, we can try to cut corners and shortchange ourselves and others, but it will all fail because it is far from the heart of God. Paul's encouragement lies in the truth that regardless of how many voices, regardless of division and various opinions, the work ahead of us (internally and externally) requires trust that God will make the seeds we planted grow. So instead of worrying about finances, about attendance, about whether this person or that is ready for a life of faith, focus on community, on cultivating community, and God will take care of the rest. If we start with the result we want in mind, we will never succeed. 

For we remember what it means to take a risk by answering the call like the first disciples in search of something new, and we can recall that the gifts of God that we have received are not for one person but for all. And we remember through Paul's preaching that we are co-laborers, co-partners with God. Our spiritual maturity does not bear fruit by itself but creates and prepares the fertile ground for God to work the soil. By being co-laborers and co-partners in God's redemptive work (bringing justice, peace, and compassion), we discover that our hearts have been transformed, aligning themselves more closely with the heart of God. 

Conclusion

It is essential that we realize our limitations and that we do not double down on the components of our lives that do not bring life or purpose. When we center our lives on what God has set before us, a community and a mission, we can see God's work unfold before our eyes. Let us keep this lesson in mind as we prepare for the coming of the Lenten season and beyond as we commit ourselves to lives that grow rich and mature not because of our own doing but because God has used the soil we've prepared to do a great and wonderful thing.