1 Corinthians 3:5-4

EasyEnglish Bible

⁵ Is Apollos important? Is Paul important? No! We are God's servants. We told you God's good news and you believed it. Each of us is doing the job which the Lord has given to us. ⁶ When I told you God's good news, I was like someone who planted seeds. Then Apollos was like someone who gave water to the young plants. But it was God who caused everything to grow. ⁷ The person who plants the seeds is not important. The person who gives water to the plants is not important. The important person is God, because he causes everything to grow. ⁸ The person who plants and the person who gives water both have the same purpose. God will pay each person what is right for their work. ⁹ Apollos and I work together as God's servants. You are like God's field that we work in.

You are also like a building that belongs to God. ¹⁰ I am like a good builder. God has given that job to me and he has helped me to do it well. I was the person who built the foundation. Now other people are building on that foundation.^[a] But each person must be careful how he builds. ¹¹ God has already put Jesus Christ as the only foundation of this building. So nobody can put any other foundation there.

¹² People may build on this foundation with gold, silver or valuable stones. Or they may build on it with wood, dry grass or leaves. ¹³ One day, God will show clearly how good each builder's work is. God will put each person's work into a fire on that great day.^[b] The fire will show whether their work is good or bad. ¹⁴ If the fire does not destroy the work, then that builder will receive good things from God. ¹⁵ But if the fire destroys a builder's work, that person will lose everything. The person himself will be safe. But he will be like someone who has run through the fire to a safe place.

¹⁶ You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's special house, then God will destroy that person. And you are like that house. You belong to God in a special way.

¹⁸ Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool. ¹⁹ People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible:

²¹ Because of that, you should not be proud of any human leader. All leaders are there to serve you, as God's people. ²² Do not be proud of Paul, Apollos or Peter. We belong to you. All of this world, and life and death belong to you. The things of today and tomorrow belong to you. Everything belongs to you, ²³ you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Church leaders

4 This is how you should think about us, who are leaders in the church. We are Christ's servants. God has also given a special job to us. We must explain his message to people so that they understand it. ² Anyone who has that kind of job must do what his master wants. That is the important thing.

³ So what you think about me does not matter to me. What you decide, or what any human authority decides, is not important. I do not even try to decide about myself. ⁴ I am sure in my own mind that I have not done anything wrong. But that does not make me right. Only the Lord himself can judge me. ⁵ So you should not decide about things before the time is right. Wait until the Lord comes again. He will show everything clearly. He will show the bad things that people have done secretly. He will show the secret purpose of people's thoughts. Then God will praise each person in a way that is right for them.