I Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Spiritual Maturity
Just last week we were in a church where there is a dear family who has a little girl we have known since she was a baby. The entire time we have known her she has always seemed about three to five years older than she is. She is a precocious little girl. She talks in a mature manner, acts very adult-like, and while she is not an adult, she is definitely mature for her age. But for every precocious child we have ever met, we have met three adults who still act like they are children. Do you feel differently, think differently, and talk differently now than you did when you were six years old? I should so!
If I Corinthians 2 is about spiritual IQ, then I Corinthians 3 is about spiritual maturity. We find in I Corinthians 2:16 that spiritual intelligence is having the mind of Christ which is humility and obedience. Even God the Son exhibited obedience to the Father and humility before the people He came to save. Spiritual IQ is having the mind of Christ, while spiritual maturity is living the life of Christ.
In I Corinthians 3:1 Paul said, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” There was much more to teach them, but they weren’t ready for it because they were not mature. He continues, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” Envy is the way they felt. Strife is the way they talked. Division is the way they acted, the result. The feeling of envy led to the strife of words, and the strife of words led to the division of people who should have been serving together.
What is the answer? The answer is that spiritual maturity is living the life of Christ. Verse 5 says that Paul and Apollos were just vessels or ministers for God. God gave the command, His ministers obeyed. We are all God’s. We all have a common goal, but individual gifts and responsibilities that come from God. We are laborers together with God.
Today, regardless of your age or status in life, ask God to help you to have the mind of Christ and the strength of Christ, to be spiritually intelligent and to be spiritually growing.