Still Drinking Milk or Already Eating Solid Food – Co-laborers in Christ
Pastor Tan Thai · Feb 1, 2025
The sermon emphasizes that spiritual maturity is demonstrated through accepting the differences of fellow believers in the Church and trusting and obeying God even when His work is unclear. You are called to labor together with God as co-workers, each receiving reward according to the care and sincerity of your work.
The opening section presents the main theme that spiritual maturity does not lie in comparing one's role to others, but in understanding that each laborer in God's vineyard is equal before Him. The sermon cites 1 Corinthians 3:5-11, in which Paul explains that he planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. Both the planter and the waterer amount to nothing, and each will receive a reward according to the work they have done. The foundation of all work is Jesus Christ, and everyone must be careful about how they build on that foundation.
The second section develops the argument that maturity in the Church is demonstrated through three key practices. First, you must trust and obey God even when His work and method are unclear, just as Abraham trusted God to go to a foreign land without knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Second, you must accept the differences among fellow believers and the work God has entrusted to them, for the Church is one body with many members, each part having its own function (1 Corinthians 12:12-22). Third, you must work together with fellow believers in humility, harmony, without comparison, envy, or competition. All these people are co-laborers with God, and the Church is God's field, God's building.
The third section applies the message to the real life of the congregation, emphasizing that whatever you do must be done with all your heart as if working for the Lord, not for people, because the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward (Colossians 3:23-24). The sermon cites the sufferings Paul endured in service to God—imprisonment, beatings, stoning, shipwrecks—to illustrate genuine commitment to God's work. However, you must be careful about what you build on the foundation of Christ: gold, silver, and costly stones will remain, but wood, hay, and straw will be burned up. Choose not to love the world but to trust God's will, for the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does God's will remains forever (1 John 2:15-17).
The fourth section stresses that the motivation behind your work is just as important as the work itself. Some proclaim Christ out of envy and rivalry, seeking to add hardship to Paul's imprisonment, while others do so out of love, knowing they are appointed to defend the Gospel (Philippians 1:15-17). The difference lies in motivation—whether you work to exalt yourself or to exalt Christ. God is not unjust to forget the work and the love you have shown for His name (Hebrews 6:10), so work sincerely, humbly, and in the confidence that God will examine and reward all.