In God, Through God, For God

We as Americans love two things: 1) Freedom 2) Control. The former is engrained into our society’s ethos. “They can take our lives, but they can never take OUR FREEDOM!!!” (That’s from a movie about a Scottish freedom fighter but it is an American ideal, through and through). The latter is probably not so much an American ideal, but we love to know what’s going on, why it’s going on, and the right to say that we do or don’t like it.

In 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 I’m struck by how we put too much weight on ourselves instead of realizing that we are secondary players in the story. We are servants to the one true King. We are not the CEO, we are the employee. We are not the coach, we are the player. We are not the parent, we are the child. If the Kingdom of God is to flourish, it can’t be about me and how awesome I am or my ideas are. It can’t be about secondary facts like how many people I talked to about my faith this year or how much money I put in the offering plate. If the Kingdom of God is to flourish I have to ask myself if I’m obeying God’s commands, to set up the conditions designed by God, to point people to God. In God, through God, for God.

Paul’s rally cry in chapter 1 for believers to put their eyes back on the cross is still ringing in this passage. I won’t be able to impact the spiritual Kingdom of God until my concerns shift from the worldly to the spiritual. The world is the medium for where the spiritual is being acted out. If I become overly concerned with the medium instead of the initiator then I’m worried about the paint coating on my house when I should be worried about the termites eating away the frame.

What makes the gospel “good news” is not the preacher, the Sunday school teacher, the evangelist, the awesome church camp, or any other medium of communication. The good news is still the good news, and the messenger is just the deliverer. We are charged to be the deliverer of the good news of Jesus Christ, dependent on the conditions the Holy Spirit has set for us, in order to bring the glory to the Father. In God, through God, for God.

I can’t convert anyone, God does that, but I can deliver the good news. I can’t be someone’s savior, that’s Jesus’ job, but I can point the way to life. I can’t be the perfect example of love for others, I can only try to imitate God, but I can be Jesus’ hands and feet as a reflection of God. We are not free, we are servants to the King. We are not in control, we can only do what we’re told. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

- Alex Berger