Do I Put People On A Pedestal?

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from (1 Corinthians 3)

I. Do I Put People On A Pedestal? (3:1-9)

A pedestal is the tall column under the admired statue. It is the dangerous place where pride swells when living people are put there. If you want to know the truth about a great person, watch as the pedestal is pulled out from under him and see what is left. Many of the people we place on pedestals would stand tall without the pedestal, so they don’t need to be put on one.

A young woman went to her pastor and said, "Pastor, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can't help thinking I'm the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not think that, but I can't help it. I want you to help me with it."

The pastor replied, "Mary, don't worry about it. In your case it's not a sin. It's just a horrible mistake."[i]

It doesn’t matter whether we put ourselves or someone else on a pedestal, either way, it’s a horrible mistake.

Chuck Colson said, “It's difficult to stand on a pedestal and wash the feet of those below.” Imagine the picture. It just doesn’t work. Jesus gave us a picture for greatness that just doesn’t fit with the person on a pedestal.

Union General John Sedgwick

During the Battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War, Union General John Sedgwick was inspecting his troops. At one point he came to a parapet, over which he gazed out in the direction of the enemy. His officers suggested that this was unwise and perhaps he ought to duck while passing the parapet. “Nonsense,” snapped the general. “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist—.” A moment later Sedgwick fell to the ground, fatally wounded.[ii]

Focus: Do we put people on a pedestal, the place of excessive admiration, and a place from which they will probably be knocked down? God uses ordinary people to accomplish the extraordinary without endangering them on a pedestal.

The place on the pedestal is an easy target for our mortal enemy. Let us be careful not to place people there, or willingly stay there ourselves.

A When you think you are really something, you’re not

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (NIV) ¹Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?

Why does Paul say this? They had been puffing themselves up on a spiritual pedestal. They had been taught to do so. The most dangerous person is the immature person who thinks he is mature. And that is who Paul was addressing. Paul corrects them here.

Think about it, what is milk? Predigested food. What is spiritual milk? Spiritual food that is predigested, then spoon-fed to babies who do not yet digest their own food. Paul called the Corinthian Christians babies. They were only ready for predigested food. Immature baby Christians tend to be the ones putting people on a pedestal. And who do they usually put on the pedestal? The one who is feeding them the Spiritual Milk. Spiritual babies do need spiritual parents. But we better grow to the point that we become spiritual parents ourselves. That is the goal.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote,

“It appears that God has deliberately left us in a quandary about many things. Why did He not summarize all the rules in one book, and all the basic doctrines in another? He could have eliminated the loopholes, prevented all the schisms over morality and false teaching that have plagued His Church for two thousand years. Think of the squabbling and perplexity we would have been spared. And think of the crop of dwarfs He would have reared! He did not spare us. He wants us to reach maturity. He has so arranged things that if we are to go on beyond the "milk diet" we shall be forced to think.” [iii]

The Bible really is an amazing book. I’ve heard it said, it is like a puddle that is safe for small children to play in, but at the same time it is a deep pool that can drown an elephant. It is so deep the theologians can never plumb the depths and know everything there is to know, yet even babes can learn and grow and understand the obvious truths it contains.

When you think you are really something, you’re not. Paul wrote just a few verses later.

^3:18Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise.

If you think you are so wise, (Here again, Paul is using the catch words with their misunderstandings the Corinthians were using), Paul says, don't be so deceived. Become a "fool", then you will be wise.

John Boykin said, “The things Jesus demands are entirely foolhardy--until you begin to share His view of things. Come to see money not as a passport to luxury but as a dangerous encumbrance, and you will not find it so ridiculous, so give to whomever wants to borrow. Realize that your purpose in life is to give His love away, and you will find it easier to refrain from striking back at people who can hurt you.” [iv]

Erwin Lutzer, pastor and author of the book Men of Integrity, said, “You become stronger only when you become weaker. When you surrender your will to God, you discover the resources to do what God requires.” [v] We need to think less of ourselves and more of Christ. When you think you are really something, you’re not. But also…

B. When you think they are really something, they’re not

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NIV) ⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Even great spiritual giants are but servants doing their assigned tasks. Don't put them on a pedestal. When you do that you are misplacing your confidence.

Extraordinary people are ordinary people who do "little" tasks for God. We always think of greatness in terms of the great tasks. The path of greatness is the path of “little” tasks. As we become faithful with little, he gives us a little more. Every step is the downward step of the servant, doing those little things, things we ourselves don’t consider to be “great”. They are the tasks of a servant.

Where Shall I Work Today?

“Father, where shall I work today?”
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed me out a tiny spot,
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh, no, not that.
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done.
Not that little place for me!”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern,
He answered me tenderly,
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;
Art thou working for them or me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”[vi]

Truly great people see God at work and give God the credit. They see their participation as servants in service to God’s great work. The servant Paul thinks of his job as mere planting, and Apollos’ job as mere watering. God is the one doing the real work. God does what we cannot do.

God’s work involves many different individuals with a variety of gifts and abilities. There are no superstars in this task, only team members performing their own special roles. (note 3:7-8). We can become useful members of God’s team by setting aside our desires to receive glory for what we do. Don’t seek the praise that comes from people—it is comparatively worthless. Instead, seek approval from God. TEAM players don't seek to be placed on the pedestal. TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. They work for the betterment of the team.

When you think you are really something, you’re not.

When you think they are really something, they’re not. And also…

C. When they think you are really something, you’re not

1. Extraordinary people are really ordinary servants.

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task

2. Ordinary people become extraordinary when they realize what God has given them

Look at what God Has Given Us:

· Grace (3:10)

1 Corinthians 3:10 (NIV) ¹⁰By the grace God has given me. . .

· The Foundation of Jesus Christ (3:11)

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

· An assigned Task (3:5)

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task

· A New Identity as God’s Temple (3:16)

¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

· Everything We Need! (3:21-23)

. . . All things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

I. Do I put people on a pedestal. . .

II. Or Do I Favor The Firm Foundation? (3:10-23)

We have noted how the correct path for becoming an extraordinary person is NOT by seeking to be, or enjoying the place on the pedestal. The correct path for becoming an extraordinary person is by firmly placing ourselves on the true foundation, not a pedestal that is going to fall out from underneath us. We must favor the firm foundation over the pedestal for ourselves. We must also favor the firm foundation rather than the pedestal for the leaders we admire. We must see these leaders standing on the same foundation of grace as ourselves. All extraordinary people are ordinary people who have by grace been placed in positions of being a servant to an extraordinary cause!

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV) ¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Servants for an extraordinary cause are the construction workers, the builders, the master craftsmen, building an eternal and lasting structure on the eternal and firm foundation. Each one builds for the future, for eternity, hoping that what they build will last. All those on a man made pedestal will fall, but all those on the firm foundation will stand.

Do I produce quality workmanship that will survive the test of time and trial? Only the tried and true workmanship will be able to go through purifying fires ahead. Build with quality lasting materials. Shoddy work, and short cuts, don't pay in the long run. That which doesn't last is lost; even if he is saved by the foundation alone, he has nothing to show for it. He’s but saved by the skin of his teeth. He comes through the testing fires with the smell of smoke on his cloak but nothing in his hands.

The implication of this passage is that there are varying degrees of reward for our faithfulness, not levels of hierarchies in heaven, but varying degrees of praise when we get there, and perhaps varying degrees of responsibilities.

We are saved by the grace of Christ, on his merits alone, but we will receive varying degrees of reward based on our faithfulness to his grace. Some will be saved but without much reward. Some will be saved, with greater reward to show for their labors of love and sacrifice.

What is it that we, the builders, are building?

A. Build the Church—God’s Holy and Eternal Temple!

1 Corinthians 3:16-23 (NIV) ¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

I want you to notice something that you cannot see in the English translation. “You” is Plural—“You are God's Temple”. Paul is saying, You, the church, God’s People, are God's New Temple. Often this section is misapplied to refer to destroying our own individual bodies, but in context here it is referring to destroying the work of God in the church. i.e., causing disunity, factions, problems—this is the context of these opening chapters of the letter. You dare not destroy God's Temple with your quarreling factions or he will destroy you, because his Temple, the church is sacred.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” ; ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ²¹So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Let us close, with a reiteration of a thought we glossed over earlier. In Christ, when we have him, we already have everything we could ever need or want. “All things are yours” (3:21), he says it again, “all are yours” (3:22). The Corinthians were settling for too little. Are you settling for too little? Are you settling for the petty, when you have within your reach the riches of Heaven! The “wise” of this world, always are settling for the futile, the temporary, the eternally useless. Let’s not settle for so little, we can have everything we can legitimately need or want in Christ.

Introspection: Lord, Have I placed myself on a pedestal? Do I think too highly of myself? Lord, have I elevated my own desires above yours? Have I been asking you to bow to my whims and serve me? Forgive me, Lord. I declare that I want to be your servant. Forgive me of my pride. I want to empty myself of all those selfish desires. Wash clean my desires. Teach me to eat meat from your word. Forgive me for leaning only on milk. Allow your word to transform my desires that I might want to serve you. I renew my commitment to come to you each day and learn from your Word. Forgive me for neglecting you and your Word. Lord, forgive me for settling for too little. You have said, all is mine in Christ, and I have settled for too little of you. I want more of you. More of what you want to give me but that I have failed to desire. Lord, forgive me for settling for so little when you want to give me so much. Lord, forgive me for settling for the temporary when you want me to enjoy the eternal and begin to enjoy it now.

Lord, is there someone who has fallen off a pedestal of my making. Do I need to forgive someone for falling off a pedestal? Help me to see these who have fallen from my respect as needing to stand on the same foundation I stand on, the solid ground of grace in Christ Jesus. Help me to see their need and to release them of the pain of letting me down.

Lord, are there some people I have placed on a pedestal? Help me to prop them up on your grace instead of the man made pedestals of human charisma, or human giftedness. Help me to glory in your work that I have seen in them. For that, my God, I give you praise. Lord, allow me to be an agent of protection for those servants in your work. I pray for them now. I pray that they may not easily be marked targets on top of man-made pedestals. Protect them, Lord. Help each one to climb down to the level ground beneath the cross to be filled with your grace and power.

[i] Haddon Robinson, "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Us Guys," Preaching Today, Tape No. 80.

[ii] Today in the Word, August 30, 1993

[iii] Elisabeth Elliot in The Liberty of Obedience. Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 14.

[iv] John Boykin in The Gospel of Coincidence. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 11.

[v] Erwin Lutzer, pastor and author. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.

[vi] The Disciplines of Life by V. Raymond Edman (Minneapolis: World Wide Publ., 1948), p. 209.