Trust God with Results
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
In the church at Corinth there had been an argument going on where believers were competing over who was better. “I am of Paul.” “I am of Apollos.” Strife and jealousy over something that didn’t matter. This doesn’t always play out like this for us today (maybe it does) but I think there’s something valuable we can take from Paul’s exhortation.
I’ve struggled at times with feeling the burden of responsibility for seeing others come to know Christ or for their growth. Maybe you have felt that burden as well. We’ve all heard the voices in Christendom calling us to try more and do more to reach others with impassioned urgings that time is short. Yes, time is limited. Yes, we should share the Gospel with all. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
So yes we should go to the all the nations and fulfill the Great Commission.
Where it goes awry is when we begin to trust our selves and our efforts in our sharing of the Gospel. We begin to feel that I must give the best speech or no one will believe. I must have the most zeal or people won’t respond. If I do this or that then people will be compelled. On the other side, if I don’t do this I feel condemnation.
In the passage I quoted from 1 Corinthians Paul tells us in verse 7 that it is God who gives the growth and the person who plants or waters isn’t anything. Sounds a little harsh Paul. What Paul is getting at is that even the planting and watering are caused by God. Verse 9 says we’re God’s workers, God’s field, and God’s building. Paul shows that all of this is God’s.
This is liberating. Yes we are used of God in spreading the Gospel but the power is not in how well you or I share. The power is in the Gospel. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” So you can trust God with the results. It liberates me to share that Jesus died, rose again, and offers forgiveness of sins to those who believe. I’m not responsible for awakening faith, God is.
It’s also liberating in that though I used to feel like I needed to immediately seal the deal so-to-speak, the truth is I don’t bear the responsibility to convince or convict. Before I would be crushed when someone would reject me. Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians shows us that many will be used to share the Gospel with people. Many will be involved in a believer’s growth. So trust God to convince, to convict, and trust God with the results. You don’t have to be the hero. Jesus already is.