Servants through Whom You Believe
Recently, while reading through 1 Corinthians, I came to a full stop at chapter 3, verse 5. Paul was talking about how he had heard the Corinthian believers were dividing into factions. They seemed to have been bragging about who were the better Christians. “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
Paul responded, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.”
I stopped there to thank God specifically for the servants through whom I believed.
I’m grateful that I have known Jesus all my life, but I didn’t come to that belief on my own. Somehow, through someone, I had to hear about Jesus.
I thank God I can say my mom was my primary example when I was a child. Her quiet desire to do the right thing was counter to my contrary nature. Her earnest desire to be like Jesus shined a light in dark places throughout my childhood.
My grandma was just as influential. She didn’t lecture, she demonstrated. She showed me how to work hard when it was time to work, and rest when it was time to rest. She always took a little extra time to do things to please others. When people did wrong, she didn’t gossip and slander; she pursed her lips and kept loving them. Before I was old enough to want to please Jesus, I wanted to please Grandma.
Grandpa didn’t talk much either; he worked. I seldom heard him speak up in a group. But I did see him walk down the church aisle on Sunday mornings, take his place at the front with the other men, and serve and pray out loud.
When I was in grade school, one of my best friends was the daughter of our pastor. Her mom was also my mom’s best friend. Leta took me to her heart and treated me like I belonged to her. I don’t know if she understood what I was going through when our home broke, but the Sunday afternoons, the nights I spent at their house, even the family vacations I was included in as company for her daughter, were a balm to my soul.
Later, Gloria was a gracious hostess. She seemed to like her house to be full of teenagers at a time when I didn’t much like myself and wasn’t too sure about other teenagers, either.
In the churches where I grew up, I don’t remember explicitly being told there were questions I wasn’t allowed to ask, but I did somehow absorb that idea. At the same time, I also had some excellent Bible teachers who answered questions I didn’t know I had. Bruce made me speak up in Sunday school. He had written a commentary on Deuteronomy, yet he was teaching ten-year-olds. Ray showed me a different way of looking at the Bible. I could see the stories were real to him, about real people in real time, rather than about flannel board people who never changed their clothes or got old.
My husband has been challenging me to think and teaching me how to learn ever since I met him.
I’ve also known some excellent teachers who turned out to be very bad people. I came to understand that part of their message was, “Do as I say, not as I do,” but their sins didn’t change the Word of God. And perhaps my disillusionment with people made me trust God more, as he is the only one who is ultimately trustworthy and faithful.
I’m not naming these people because I expect anyone else to care, in particular, about people they will never know. I tell you because, for me, it was a valuable exercise to think through the servants of Jesus through whom I believed.
If you are a believer, someone had to plant the seed in your mind. Someone else watered it. Acknowledging these gospel gardeners gives us perspective. When it seems like life has been mostly dark, it can remind us that Jesus has been there all the time.
This exercise also reminded me that not all preaching is done with words. With that comes the reminder that there are always going to be people watching and learning from me, whether I’m aware of it or not. “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom” (Jas. 3:13 ESV).
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb. 13:21 ESV)
Scripture for Reflection
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Rom. 10:14-15 ESV)
“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:1-2 ESV).
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9 ESV).
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:5-6).
Reach For More
Take time to think about the servants through whom you believe, the people in your life who taught you the gospel, whether by words or actions. If you have never thanked them personally, do that while you still can. Thank God for each one. Being thankful helps keep us humble.
Through the gift of a faithful mother and grandmother, grew up knowing Jesus as a friend. Married for nearly two-thirds of her life, there has been time for several seasons, from homeschooling to owning a coffee shop. She has three grown children and nine grandchildren. An element of this season is writing about literature and life at Plumfield and Paideia.
Photograph © Alexis Brown, used with permission
