As the city of Corinth was at the height of its glory, the Hellenistic first-century citizens cared little about the true God. They craved health, wealth, protection, and sustenance, not moral transformation. They looked to God for outward change, not inner transformation. They were also stressed about having an identity, pride, esteem, and power. Also, they stressed out about getting the recognition of others. The competition for the attention of others resulted in division. Paul condemns the believers about the division of taking pride in whom they are following Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Jesus. Paul clarifies that we are all different parts of the same Body of Christ. Furthermore, he confirms neither because of who plants nor who waters the plant, but because of God, the plant grows. Even in the 21st century, we are divided like Hellenistic first-century citizens. The same Hellenism plays a critical role today, and we are no different from the first-century citizens. Becoming Jesus’ disciple alone helps us to overcome competitive and divided spirits.
Discipleship requires transformation into the likeness of Jesus. When Jesus transformed Paul into His image, Paul boldly called his disciples to follow him. Vander Laan clearly explains the cycle of coming to the feet of Jesus, getting transformed into the likeness of Him, and going out to bring others to the feet of Jesus. The inner transformation part plays a vital role in the cycle. The inner transformation depends on how badly we want to become the disciples of Jesus and how deeply we read the Word of God. During the transformation process, the Hellenistic first-century citizens were distracted by idols like Athena of Priene, Apollo, Zeus, Asclepius, or Hestia. In the 21st century, we get absorbed by several technological idols like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, and Instagram. The Word of God alone helps us to overcome all the icons. We must let God work with His hammer, the Word of God, to shape us into the kind of stone that He wants to fit into His house for His Glory