“There are contentions among you. What I mean is that each one of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” — 1 Corinthians 1:11–13
“Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in the heavens. Neither be called instructors, for One is your Instructor, the Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” — Matthew 23:9–11
The problem in Corinth was not a theological debate. No one was arguing over doctrine. They were arguing over people — “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas.” Each faction pushed its favored servant to the center and the rest to the margins. Paul had one word for this: fleshly (1 Cor. 3:3).
This is not unique to the first century. Whenever a group of believers lifts one of God’s servants out from among the rest and places him above the others — not because of the content of truth, but out of loyalty to the person — the same pattern repeats. Coworkers begin treating that one servant’s words as the final standard. Questioning him equals questioning God. Other gifted persons are marginalized or expected to defer. In the end, the body’s riches are compressed into one man’s measure.
This article is not an attack on anyone. It is a return to Paul’s question: What is Paul? What is Apollos?
Servants, Not the Source
Paul’s answer in 1 Corinthians 3 is blunt. “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. So then neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:5–7)
“Neither is anything” — Paul leaves no room. Not “less than God” or “less than God but more than the other servants.” Nothing. The one who plants and the one who waters hold equal standing before God, complementary in function, identical in nature as vessels.
John Chrysostom, in Homily 8 on 1 Corinthians, explained this passage by saying that Paul and Apollos are “one” in a single respect — neither can produce spiritual fruit independently. “Neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters, but God that gives the increase.” This principle fundamentally prevents one teacher from being elevated above another. (New Advent)
Calvin, commenting on the same passage, wrote that ministers “have nothing of their own to pride themselves upon, inasmuch as they do nothing of themselves.” They are God’s appointed instruments, but “making their labor actually productive” remains “a miracle of divine grace.” He insisted that ministers “are appointed to us by God… not that they should exercise dominion over our consciences.” (BibleHub; CCEL)
Paul drives the point home in chapter 4: “Now these things, brothers, I have applied in a figure to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to go beyond the things which are written, that no one of you be puffed up in favor of the one against the other.” (1 Cor. 4:6) BibleHub notes that Paul used himself and Apollos as the example because the Corinthians would not have accepted the correction if he had named the actual people involved. But the principle is universal: do not elevate one above another.
The Pattern of Elevation: From Scripture to History
Scripture’s warnings against this pattern extend well beyond Corinth.
Third John records Diotrephes (philoproteuōn, “one who loves to be first”) — a man who refused to receive the apostle John, slandered the apostles with malicious words, refused to welcome traveling brothers, and expelled from the church those who did (3 John 9–10). Diotrephes’ problem was not doctrine — it was a craving for preeminence. He wanted to be the sole voice that mattered in that place. (GotQuestions)
At Lystra, after Paul healed a man lame from birth, the crowd immediately tried to worship them — calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes. Paul and Barnabas tore their garments, rushed into the crowd, and cried out: “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like passions with you.” (Acts 14:14–15) They did not merely decline — they fought to stop it. A true servant, when elevated, feels alarm, not honor. (BibleRef)
Revelation 2:6 and 2:15 mention the Nicolaitans. The etymology of the name — nikao (to conquer) plus laos (the people) — has been interpreted by some commentators as “conquering the laity,” a clerical hierarchy ruling over ordinary believers. Christ says He “hates” the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Whether or not this interpretation accurately reflects the historical Nicolaitans, Christ’s stance toward any form of spiritual domination is clear. (BibleStudyTools)
Jesus Himself gave the clearest principle in Matthew 23:8–12. The Pharisees pursued the title of Rabbi, the chief seats, public respect. Jesus told His disciples: “Do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.” Do not call anyone on earth father. Do not be called instructors. “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (BibleHub)
This is not a prohibition against respect. It is a prohibition against a structure in which one servant is raised above “brothers” into a separate tier.
The Design of Ephesians 4: Plural Gifts
Ephesians 4:11–12 describes the gifts Christ gave to the church: “He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.”
Every noun is plural. Not one apostle — some apostles. Not one teacher — some teachers. Christ’s design is multiple gifted persons functioning simultaneously in the body, each supplying according to their own measure. The entire argument of 1 Corinthians 12 is that the body has many members: “the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you” (1 Cor. 12:21). When one servant is elevated above the rest, the other members’ functions are suppressed. The body no longer operates according to Christ’s design.
The Consequences of Elevation
When coworkers push one servant to the center, several things begin to happen.
First, that servant’s words gradually acquire a parallel authority alongside Scripture. No one says this openly, but in practice, questioning his interpretation equals questioning God’s will. The sufficiency of Scripture is hollowed out — not denied, but supplemented with an unspoken premise: “You need his explanation to understand the Bible correctly.”
Second, other gifted servants are marginalized. They are either expected to subordinate themselves to that one person’s teaching framework or are distanced for being “out of tune.” The body’s riches narrow.
Third, believers’ faith is redirected. They no longer face the text directly or answer to the Lord directly but come to know truth through that one servant’s lens. When that servant errs — and everyone errs — the community has no corrective mechanism, because to correct him is to betray him.
Fourth, division. The Corinthian pattern Paul witnessed always leads to division — not over truth, but over the object of loyalty. The rift between “I am of Paul” and “I am of Apollos” is not a doctrinal rift. It is a personal one.
Numbers 12: A Frequently Misused Counterpoint
Some cite Numbers 12 to defend singular authority. Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses: “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” God was angry and struck Miriam with leprosy.
But this passage actually proves the opposite point. God said He does speak through other prophets — through visions and dreams. What was different about Moses was that God spoke with him “face to face.” The distinction is one of degree, not exclusivity. God did not say “I speak only through Moses.” He said “My relationship with Moses is unique among the prophets” — while simultaneously affirming the legitimacy of other prophets. (Enduring Word)
Moses himself revealed his own heart in Numbers 11:29: “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” A servant truly used by God longs not for fewer voices but for more.
Back to Christ
Paul said something in 1 Corinthians 3:11 that permits no exception: “For another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Every servant — no matter how gifted, no matter how used by God — is a worker building on this foundation, not the foundation itself. To confuse the worker with the foundation is the Corinthian error. Paul never said “I am your foundation.” He said “I am merely the one who planted.”
Church history confirms this principle again and again. In the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox were active simultaneously across different regions. In the Great Awakening, Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley served simultaneously in different spheres. In the nineteenth century, Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, Hudson Taylor, and George Müller each built according to their own gifts. God has never used only one servant in any age.
When coworkers begin to elevate one servant above the rest, the best response is not to attack that servant but to return to Paul’s question: What is Paul? What is Apollos? Merely servants. He who plants is nothing, and he who waters is nothing, but only God who causes the growth.
There is only one foundation. The foundation already laid is Jesus Christ.