BIG PICTURE: Christian leaders are only God’s servants and are not to be accorded allegiance reserved for God alone. God cares about his church, and he holds its leaders accountable for how they build it.

1. Church Teachers are merely God’s servants (5-9)

• In these verses Paul makes the point that both he and Apollos are servants who belong to God, whose different tasks come from God, and whose success depends entirely upon God.

The Farming Metaphor

• Christian leaders are only servants of Christ and are not to be accorded allegiance reserved for God alone
• The entire thrust of the argument depends on a distinction between the Corinthian believers and Christian workers such as Paul and Apollos.

2. Church Teachers must take care in how they build God’s church (10-15)

The Construction Metaphor

• God owns the building, and he judges the quality of the work of each builder. There is a heavy emphasis placed on the accountability of the builders.