Still Drinking Milk or Eating Solid Food – The Poison of Envy and Strife
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 2, 2016
This sermon based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 examines two marks of a spiritually immature believer: envy and strife. The pastor demonstrates that these two poisons not only produce many other sins but also destroy personal life, family, and the church. The sermon calls the congregation to repent and pray for the Holy Spirit to cleanse these dangerous fleshly tendencies.
This sermon was preached on Sunday, October 2, 2016, continuing a series on spiritual maturity based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. The Apostle Paul describes spiritually immature believers as infants who can only drink milk, and in verse 3 he identifies two specific marks of the fleshly nature: envy and strife. The pastor explains that these are two extremely dangerous poisons that can infect anyone regardless of age, status, education, or position in the church.
The pastor identifies three clear signs of the poison of envy and strife: desiring what others have that one does not possess; comparing oneself with others to determine who is superior; and feeling pleased when those one dislikes fail, and sad when they succeed. Multiple illustrations are used, including the Vietnamese folktale of the faithful wife Lady of Nam Xuong, the story of Snow White, Cain's murder of Abel, Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery, the reason the Pharisees handed Jesus over to Pilate, and the 1991 Wanda Holloway murder-for-hire case in Texas. Galatians 5:19-21 and James 3:14-16 are cited to confirm that envy and strife are expressions of the sinful nature and the source of every kind of disorder and evil practice.
The sermon emphasizes that the poison of envy also leads people to accuse God of being unfair, to deny personal responsibility for their own failures, and to lose contentment with what God has provided. James 4:1-3 is quoted to show that all conflict originates from desires warring within a person's heart. This poison is also the weapon Satan uses to destroy unity in the church — the very unity Jesus prayed fervently for on the night before His crucifixion, as recorded in John 17.
To counter envy and strife, the pastor offers a practical theological solution grounded in the doctrine of the Trinity. Among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit there is no comparison or competition, but rather perfect love and unity from eternity. Jesus Christ voluntarily humbled Himself and obeyed even to death on the cross, as described in Philippians 2:6-8 and 2 Corinthians 8:9, providing the greatest example of setting aside personal rights for the sake of love.
The sermon closes with a call for each believer to run their own individual race according to Hebrews 12:1, because God will reward each person according to their own effort and materials used — not by comparing one person to another. The congregation is urged to repent and pray for the Holy Spirit to cleanse their hearts of envy and strife, in order to protect brotherly love and the unity of the church.