“So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

Since God’s wisdom is greater than human wisdom, there is therefore no basis for greed, envy, lawsuits, primacy of illustrious gifts, boasting about intimate cliques, etc. Actually, such boasting is ludicrous. The Corinthians’ behavior was like that of a beggar claiming first grab to some coins tossed his way, even though he is actually a wealthy man. They were claiming too little when they exalted just one of the many men with whom God had blessed them. Why narrow down the blessings when God had provided so much for them?

The Corinthians had been given great teachers like Paul, Apollos, and Peter. In Christ, they came to possess everything as though it were theirs. In fact, they had been given one another as members of one body (see 1 Cor. 12). When a Christian follows just one teacher, there is a sense in which that teacher owns the Christian. That teacher influences everything the Christian does and thinks.  But Paul reverses this when he teaches that all these teachers belong to all the Corinthians, for their benefit. And for ours. But the teachers should not control us; they are simply a blessing from God to us.

Unfortunately, Christians, like all humans, tend to be cliquish. We follow a certain framework of teaching and doctrine; in time these teachings become codified into doctrinal systems. Then the teachers in these systems of theology become slave masters, keeping their adherents on a spiritual leash. Dare none of them search the Scripture to see if those teachings are so (like the Bereans), for the searching has already been done and theological conclusions have been made! Adherents must simply adhere. The teachers have become the masters. In a sense, they have presumed to take ownership of God by taking over the authority of the Word! But Paul undercuts this way of thinking and acting.

To be sure, we need to be careful about straying from sound doctrine handed down to us, and we need to respect those who have taught us sound doctrine. But we must never let ourselves be enslaved by unquestioned devotion to their teachings. We are under the authority of Christ and His Word, and Christ belongs to God. True, we are not free to believe anything we want, but as we are taught and ministered to, we must remember these things are gifts from God. Therefore, there is no place for boasting in our teachers or doctrinal systems.

Lord, thank You for all the many good teachers of the Word You have provided.