Last week, we began a series of blog posts under the broad heading “A New Way of Collaborating.” In this new series, we will spend time looking at the practices, values, and purposes of collaboration in the context of Kairos as well as in the various ways that organizations are collaborating with Kairos.
Today, we explore this new way of being by discussing the principles outlined for us in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. In this passage, Paul points out that a large problem in the Corinthian church was inharmony. Cliques were forming under the teaching of Paul’s name (and not under the teaching of Apollos, another missionary to the Corinthian church). Paul noted that while they have different roles not a single one of them is more valuable than the other.
“You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.”
Paul does not have a problem with his brother Apollos, rather he is troubled that Christians could be so distinctly different to the point of being in competition with one another.
In Kairos, we don’t see our peers or other organizations as competitors. We see them as collaborators. We strive to create a culture that values working alongside others and seeing the ways that we can each enhance our ability to serve the individuals God places in our care.
Paul continues to say, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
The Kairos Project and its partners do not exist to simply award academic degrees; we exist to steward followers of Jesus who flourish in their vocations. We give God the praise and glory for what He is doing in and through Kairos.
We collaborate with schools, ministries, churches, denominations, and like-minded organizations to meet with students where they are and join them on a journey of discipleship. When we see our peers as “co-workers in God’s service” and not as competitors, true transformation and growth can take place not only in the lives of students but also within our organizations.
Join us next week as we begin to take a closer look at the foundation and practices of partnership in Kairos.
This post originally appeared on the Kairos University blog.
