CHURCH DIAGNOSIS – I Corinthians 3:1-15 – 5-5-24

Providence Community Church

Similar to a medical diagnosis of a hospitalized patient, Paul's synopsis of the church at Corinth includes a description of their condition as well as an explanation of how a healthy body is designed to operate. He uses three analogies in our text today to illustrate his point. First he describes the members of the church at Corinth in general terms as infants As spiritual dependents they remain infantile in their current condition. He follows with 2 descriptions of the church broadly speaking and its relationship to leaders such as himself, an apostle of the early church, and preachers like Apollos. Both the analogy of field and building serve to illustrate his instruction in this regard. Paul's language and concepts are not entirely unique to his epistle in this section. Jesus Himself had used similar pictures in His parables describing the Kingdom of God. As Paul assesses the spiritual livelihood of the Corinthian church, it is clear in the context of his writing that there is hope for improvement of their condition. His words remain a 'standard of care' applicable for us as we discover that these problems are not so different from spiritual sicknesses plaguing the church today.