“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” 1 Corinthians 15:10-11 ESV
Reflection: have you ever found yourself saying “Well, that was a waste!”?
Like most people, I do not want to be wasteful, with my resources, my time and energy. The expression “getting the most bang for the buck” was probably coined from this idea, to get the most out of our money, our time and energy. And this also applies to how we invest ourselves in others, sharing our wisdom and knowledge. In a work setting, we tend to put more effort into teaching and training those who are receptive, who actually will take the information we share and apply it, use it for the betterment of the team and business. There is nothing more frustrating than sharing your wisdom and knowledge with someone who just ignores you, who might act interested but behind your back never intend to use what you have taken time and energy to give them. All that time and energy you put into teaching, helping, or guiding was completely “in vain”.
But, what about God’s investment in us?
Let’s say you went to church yesterday, read or listened to some message from God that touched you deeply at that moment. You thank the Lord for it, for showing you something in your life, something you needed to hear. But as soon as you leave the church, or finish listening, you forget the lesson you learned. You never applied what God has taken His time and effort to teach you. To lovingly show you. Paul is addressing this very point in the beginning of chapter 15, saying “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:10a ESV. Now, he is probably referring here to the bigger picture of his salvation, where Jesus met him on that road to Damascus. But you get a sense that he is talking also about God’s continued investment in him. Paul continues, saying “On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10b ESV
Looking at Paul’s transformation, from first persecuting the church, to then becoming an apostle of Christ, then leading the spread of the gospel of Christ throughout the Gentile world, Paul was all in for Christ. He emptied himself and his own agenda, to be filled with Christ. And this did not “come cheap” for Paul. He was then himself persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and eventually believed to have been put to death for his faith in Christ. But nothing stopped him. He worked tirelessly, traveling and working to spread the gospel wherever he came. Writing letters, even from prison, to encourage the young churches around the region. Paul didn’t even take money or a salary, but worked side jobs to have money for food, shelter and supplies. He did not want to be indebted to any man, not even to the churches that he planted.
And it was all out of love for our Lord Jesus, who had given him life.
This really stopped me today, to think about myself, how I respond to the grace God has given me. Is the time and effort He has invested, and is investing in me all the time, in vain, or is it yielding the fruits He is expecting? Paul said that he “worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me”. Am I working hard, harder than my brothers and sisters, to build and strengthen the church, the body of Christ? Or am I too focused on enjoying myself, enjoying life? Jesus said “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2b ESV. We are those laborers who Jesus referred to.