After Paul's departure, competing allegiances to leaders had arisen in the church at Corinth. So in this letter, he insisted that the role of his successor, Apollos—helping the believers grow stronger in the faith—was just as vital as his own founding role. What he wrote provides a perspective on both evangelizing and discipling (or mentoring).

1. What had been Paul's role in the church at Corinth?



2. What had been the role of Apollos?



3. Did Paul see either role as more or less important?



4. How (vv. 8-9) should evangelizers and disciplers relate to each other?



5. How (v. 5) must they relate to God?



6. What must both remain content to leave in God's hands (vv. 6-7)?



7. Paul declared that his evangelizing laid the essential foundation. But what does the range of building materials (v. 12) indicate about the quality of the discipler's teaching and living?



8. How, according to verses 14-15 and 8, will disciplers be rewarded?

Ask God to help you form a mentoring partnership in which you are on both the giving and receiving ends.

⁵After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God's servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. ⁶I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. ⁷It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow.

⁸The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. ⁹For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building. ¹⁰Because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. ¹²Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. ¹³But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value.

¹⁴If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me form a relationship with another man that spurs significant growth for both.

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