I recall the first time I was given a kaleidoscope.  As a child I was fascinated by it. Looking at the end of it I could see what looked like broken pieces of coloured plastic.  But when I held it up to the light and looked through it all those broken pieces formed a beautiful pattern.  I, of course, couldn’t understand how all those bits could form something so beautiful.

Paul was fond of using pictures to describe the church and it seems to me that the kaleidoscope would make a good picture of church.  A collection of people of different shapes and shades which the light of the gospel and the mirror of the Spirit transform into something beautiful.  In a kaleidoscope, the beauty and mystery (to a young child) are enhanced by turning the end so that the pieces cascade over one another bumping and crashing together.  From this heap of bits in random motion the mirror creates a beautiful, changing pattern.

Sometimes, perhaps in church we are more aware of the bits crashing and bumping against one another than we are of the beautiful patterns that the Holy Spirit is seeking to create.  The church at Corinth was like that: people of different cultural and social backgrounds, reflecting the cosmopolitan mix of the city, but diversity led to division.  Over the area of ministry, the church became divided, some favouring Paul, some Apollos, some Peter.  At various points in his letter, Paul addresses the issue of unity.

In chapter 3, he encourages us to review the nature of service within the church. He uses two pictures to make his point:

Church as Farm - God as Manager (1Cor.3:5-8)
 -God decides who does what, therefore we should be neither possessive about our own role in church nor jealous of others. We need to allow others space to use the gifts God has given them.
 -All the workers share a common purpose. Commitment to a common purpose builds unity. The various tasks of the farm workers are directed towards one thing – reaping a harvest.  So, we need to ensure that our energies are directed towards reaping the harvest of God’s kingdom.
 -God is responsible for results – no farm worker can claim credit for the harvest, it is a gift of God, but it requires us to play our part.

Church as Building Site - God as Inspector (1Cor.3:10-14)
Everything will be subject to quality control.  Therefore, we need to exercise care in what we do.
Paul emphasises two standards by which we are to judge our work:
 -Are we building on ‘Jesus Christ’?  Is it his church or our church that we are building?
 -Will our work stand the test of eternity?  Each person’s work will be shown up for what it is: that which has been built with the wood, hay and straw of self-interest will be consumed and only that which is costly service for God will endure.

That’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?  It should encourage us to examine before God our service for him.  Is what we are building going to survive the scrutiny of God so that from the service of our lives, we shall be able to offer to him gold, silver and precious stones? - Rev Ray Bell