Here Paul arrives at his final answer to the question, What then is Apollos? What is Paul? (1 Corinthians 3:5). He repeats that he and Apollos (and the other apostles and preachers) are servants and adds that they are stewards of the mysteries of God. The mysteries of God are the teachings of the gospel (see also 1 Corinthians 2:7).

The fact that Paul has written so extensively (from 1 Corinthians 3:5 – 4:1) on his and Apollos’ role as servants suggests that the Corinthians have erred dangerously in this regard. They have fallen into the trap of venerating their human leaders.

The word steward describes a slave who is responsible to take care of his master’s household and possessions (see Genesis 39:1–23, for example). If Paul and Apollos are simply slaves and stewards of Christ, then any veneration of them is completely misguided.