Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

As I began reading and studying our Scripture passage for today, two words kept rising to the top—leadership and expectations. Having served as a pastor in some capacity for almost 50 years, I can honestly say I felt like I rarely met everyone’s expectations, and you know what? I was right!

Let's be honest—most of us have "pastor expectations." Maybe you prefer the charismatic visionary who could double as a TED Talk speaker. Or perhaps you're drawn to the aesthetic-driven leader whose Instagram feed belongs in a design magazine. We've caught ourselves thinking, "If only our church had that kind of leader!"

Look at the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 3:

For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans? For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like mere humans?

This mindset is exactly what Paul calls "acting like mere humans" in 1 Corinthians 3. When the Corinthians were fanboying over different church leaders ("I follow Paul!" "I follow Apollos!"), Paul basically told them, "You're acting like spiritual toddlers right now."

In the remainder of chapter 3 and chapter 4, Paul offers three reality-check images that flip our leadership expectations:

Pastors are like farm workers. Important? Yes. Celebrities? Hardly. Farm workers plant and water, but they can't actually make anything grow. Only God can. The next time you're tempted to build your faith around Pastor So-and-So's personality, remember they're just the person planting and watering. It is God who makes things grow.

Pastors are like builders. A builder's job isn't to get creative with the foundation—it's to build carefully on the one that's already laid: Jesus Christ. When Judgment Day comes (the ultimate building inspection), God won't care how innovative our pastor was. He'll check if they built with materials that last—truth, love, and faithfulness. By the way, this is good advice for all of us as we develop our relationships and build our families.

Pastors are like stewards. In Paul's day, stewards managed someone else's property. Our pastors and elders don't own our church. They're just managing it temporarily for the true owner: Jesus. And ultimately, they answer to Him, not to the latest church growth trends.

Here's our takeaway: We are farmers, builders, and stewards, too. Whether it's your education, relationships, or spiritual life, what foundation are you building on? Are you constructing your life around personalities and temporary values? Or on Jesus?

Paul gives a mini-job description for pastors in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2: “A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God. In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.”

The most liberating truth is that neither your faith nor your church depends on having the "perfect" leader. When we stop expecting our pastors to be celebrities and let them be simple servants of Christ, Jesus becomes the main attraction. And honestly, He's the only influencer worth following anyway.

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

Use the S.O.A.P. Method to study God’s Word.

• SCRIPTURE: What stands out to you in today’s passage?
• OBSERVATION: What is this text saying? What is the context? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? Are there any commands, instructions, or promises? 
• APPLICATION: How can you apply this verse to your life? What does this mean today? What is God saying to you? 
• PRAYER: Respond to the passage in prayer. Ask God to help you apply this truth to your life and spend some time listening to what He may be telling you.