“What, 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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” – 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
In a world obsessed with numbers and recognition, it’s easy for ministry to drift into competition and self-promotion. Yet Scripture reminds us that the real power behind any spiritual growth lies not in the charisma of a preacher or the strategy of a ministry, but in God alone. He is the one who causes the seed to take root, the plant to grow, and the fruit to appear.
Only God makes things grow
There were divisions in the Corinthian church. Some persons said, “I follow Paul”, others said, “I follow Apollos.” The Apostle wrote to the church to deal with this problem. In doing so, he placed himself and Apollos where they belonged: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants.”
In addressing this problem of divisions, Paul also lets us in on how the work of God functions. The act of believing is God’s work, and it is he who chooses what part any servant of his can have in bringing about faith in Christ in anyone: “You came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.” That is very instructive for the church of today, with the way evangelism is conducted and numbers are counted. Paul is saying the faith of these believers is the work of God, and he has given these two servants of his a part to play in bringing the Corinthians to faith. Their faith in Christ is not the work of one man. How many times has a servant of God preached, and anyone has surrendered to Christ and they are labelled as ‘my convert?’ You may have delivered the final message that led to their surrender, but that was only one stroke among many — others came before you, sowing and watering in unseen faithfulness. If a child was born to a Christian home, has attended church all their life, and has been taught by several Sunday School teachers, and you met them at say, 15 years of age. If you spoke the word of God to them and they made a decision to submit their life to Christ in that moment, who worked to bring them to faith? Who first put in their heart the concept of God, and sin, and its penalty and Christ’s redemptive work? They may not have surrendered until you met them, but whatever you did in that moment was building on a foundation that others had laid. Is the Professor who taught an Accountant in the university the one who made this person the professional Accountant they have become? What about the elementary school teacher who taught them basic math? We must put to death the rivalries and see ourselves as “only servants … as the Lord has assigned to each his task.” It is the prerogative of God to call ‘Paul’ to plant and ‘Apollos’ to water.
The Power Behind Growth
The apostle then tells us who the deciding factor is in making the work of God, or anything for that matter, to grow. He said, “God made it grow.” “Neither he who plants,” Paul adds, “nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Paul can plant; Apollos can water, but when it comes to making things grow, only God can; only he does that.
We must put to death the rivalries and see ourselves as only servants
He who made the heavens and the earth by the power of his word, by speaking/calling into existence those things that previously did not exist, decides that we be his co-labourers. So, he appoints ‘Pauls’ who will plant and ‘Apolloses’ who will water. He then gives the growth as only he can.
The Necessity of Unity
God also doesn’t allow ‘Paul’ alone to do the planting and the watering; he assigns watering to ‘Apollos’. Meaning that for growth to happen, both ‘Paul’ and ‘Apollos’ must find their calling in the work and do their job. If ‘Paul’ plants but ‘Apollos’ does not water, the seed will die. Even if it sprouts, it will die due to the absence of the watering work of ‘Apollos’. God can do all things, and he can cause growth to happen without any of these servants of his, but he has, in his wisdom, decided that both ‘Paul’ and ‘Apollos’ must do their part before he will do his. The man who plants and the man who waters must have one purpose for growth to happen. Unity of purpose between ‘Paul’ and ‘Apollos’ is essential for God to make the venture they are involved in grow. If they work at cross purposes, growth will be affected. David said, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore” (Psalm 133:1,3)
Perhaps why what you’re doing is not growing is because ‘Paul’ has not planted, or he has planted but ‘Apollos’ has not been allowed to water it. Maybe ‘Paul’ is afraid that some people may say ‘I belong to Apollos’, and he can’t live with that, so he has restricted ‘Apollos’ from watering. God has also held back his growth. He is waiting for ‘Apollos’ to water. That is a kingdom principle.
We must join hands together to set up the God-ordained conditions for God-enabled growth
In today’s Church, it is common to find work done in God’s name that is founded and operated by one man, and maybe his wife and children. (I know of no biblical examples of this in the New Testament Church.) Other workers are only used for the advancement of the founder’s fiefdom; they appear to be there but are only being used. They can never be allowed to have a stake in the work out of primordial fears. The result is the fragmentation and stunted growth we are seeing. Paul said, “The Lord has assigned to each his task”; his was planting the seed, Apollos’ was watering. You have done well to plant the seed, allow Apollos to water it so that God can make it grow. The ‘can’ here is not of incapacitation on God’s part (That does not exist), but that the conditions he has established for him to cause growth to happen have not been met, so he withholds it.
We must join hands together to set up the God-ordained conditions for God-enabled growth.
God-Ordained Heights
In plants, God has also assigned to each one the height to which they can grow. How high will an oak tree grow compared to a tomato plant? That is decided by the one who makes things grow. A pussycat and a tiger may both be members of the cat family, but a full-grown pussycat will always remain just that – a full-grown pussycat and never a tiger because that is the height of growth assigned to it by God. If we knew the heights and the scope that God has ordained for each of us, perhaps we would have fewer sleepless nights struggling to grow our pussycats into tigers. Some have been called to global ministry; others have been called to local ministry, perhaps within a local congregation, a community or a school. We must receive from God the dimensions of the ark he wants each of us to build for him. A ‘Noah’ that builds outside of the dimensions handed down to him by heaven is walking in disobedience. If such a work is tested by fire at the end of all things, it will be burned up. God doesn’t only make things grow; he also determines how far they can grow. He is not haphazard.
We must receive from God the dimensions of the ark he wants each of us to build for him
Just like in the parable of the talents, one had 5, another 3 and then 1 talent. Each will grow according to their God-ordained and enabled sizes. The servant who received 3 talents wasn’t expected to return with 10; that expectation was of the one who received 5 talents. Those who receive the talents must know how much has been given to them and to what extent the giver expects them to work so he can cause the growth.
The talent-bearers also must put in the work for it to grow. This is another condition before God will cause growth. Like Paul said, “We are God’s fellow-workers.” An unplanted seed will not grow. God is all-powerful, but there are universal laws that he has established. He will not magically cause a seed to grow that a worker has not worked to plant; it has to be planted first. The right conditions for growth must also be in place—there must be water. ‘Apollos’ has to do this work for God to do his part in causing growth to happen. How high what sprouts from the planted seed grows is God’s prerogative. The tomato plant that knows this will be content with being a tomato and not get worked up over not growing to the size of an oak. It will be content with the size apportioned to it by God, who makes all things grow.
Rewarded According to Labour
God rewards his labourers; he is faithful, he will not forget your labour of love. Let that cheer you up. You will not labour for him and go away empty-handed. Paul said, “The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour.” Rewarded according to his own labour! Paul’s assigned labour was to plant; Apollos’ assigned labour was to water. Scripture says, “The Lord Yahweh is one, and he is the one who apportions to believers different varieties of ministries” (1 Corinthians 12:5). It is the Lord who apportions to ‘Paul’ the work of planting and to ‘Apollos’ that of watering. Refusing to accept that either for oneself or another is to arrogantly question the wisdom of God. You don’t want to be found doing that.
Each will be rewarded according to his own labour
What if they decided on their own to swap roles? Who will reward you for doing a task no one assigned you to? This calls for teamwork. ‘Paul’ will only be rewarded for planting, which was his assigned task. If he refuses to allow ‘Apollos’ to water but instead does so himself, he would be doing what no one asked him to. He should not expect to be rewarded for that; it is not according to his own labour. The same applies to ‘Apollos’. If he chooses to be a planter and not a waterer, he should not expect a reward for abandoning his duty post to take on another’s assigned task.
In Conclusion …
At the heart of every enduring spiritual work is the invisible hand of God. He assigns the roles, gives the grace, sets the limits, and ultimately brings the growth. Our responsibility is not to strive for prominence or to claim results, but to be faithful to our assigned task—whether planting or watering. When we embrace our assigned duties, we create the conditions for God to do what only he can: cause true, lasting growth that bears eternal reward.
Therefore, think. Are you the pioneer of a work? Is it growing as it should? Could the lack of growth be because you have not allowed those called to water it to do so? Are you involved in a work that God called someone to plant? Is you not watering the seed the reason why the right conditions have not been in place for God to cause it to grow? Let not what you have been called to do be the reason for divisions in the body. We must all find our assigned labours in God’s work and be at it. Only then will God grant growth, and we will qualify for rewards at the end of time.
World Changers Magazine 