No divisions among you ~ 1 Corinthians 1.10-17

NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU.

Brothers, I urge you through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should make up your differences and that you should see to it that there may be no divisions among you, but that you should be knit together in the same mind and the same opinion. Brothers, it has become all too clear to me, from information that I have received from members of Chloe’s household, that there are outbreaks of strife among you. What I mean is this – each of you is saying: ‘I belong to Paul; I belong to Apollos; I belong to Cephas; I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been partitioned up? Was it Paul’s name into which you were baptized? As things have turned out, I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say you were baptized into my name. Now that I think of it, I baptized the household of Stephanas too. For the rest, I do not know if I baptized anyone else, for Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the good news, and that not with wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ should be emptied of its effectiveness. 1 Corinthians 1.10-17



Good Morning, Friends.

Can you begin to feel the flavor of the community to which Paul was writing? Oh sure, they were gifted by God . . . but they were having trouble with what is most important to God . . . loving, and loving well. We have gotten to the body of Paul’s letter, which is written in response to news he had received from Corinth, and a letter from the Corinthians themselves. Word came back that there were factions in the small church—four separate groups that vied for position. The Greek word Paul used was ‘schismata’, which means ‘tears in the garment’. (What a perfect picture of how destructive dissension can be!) This group should have been known to the pagans in town as the most loving community around—instead, the folks were splintering into different groups.

The reason for their lack of unity is actually rather interesting—it had to do with the leaders they followed. One group claimed to be following Paul—probably mostly Gentiles, since Paul preached Christian freedom and the end of the law. Their struggle would have been with taking too much license in their behavior; after all, they were not free under salvation to sin, but free not to sin. (And don’t forget: license in Corinth meant a Pandora’s Box of sin was brought into the church.) Another named Apollos as leader—who was a brilliant orator, and drew followers given to lofty philosophy and wisdom, so prevalent in Greek thinking. The third followed Cephas, (the Hebrew name for Peter), and were most surely Jews, who heard the gospel message in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. Finally, there was a group that seemed to name ‘Jesus only’ as their leader, though in reality, something was askew or Paul would not have named the group among those who were quarreling.

From our perspective, it is easy to see that the church would be constantly crippled by her disunity. Surely we know this first hand--as who among us hasn’t seen this scenario played out in business or social settings, and unfortunately, in our churches as well? We love to talk about the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace … which Paul listed in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23, but in the preceding verses, Paul warns of the deeds of the flesh—and included in the list are disputes, dissensions, and factions . . . of which Paul says, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” So, we are to have no part in dissension, factions, or divisive activities; they are antithetical to cooperation, mutual concern, peaceful coexistence, edification in love—all of which are byproducts of loving, and loving well.

Practically speaking,

>it means that you do not engage in idle chatter about another person

You will be held accountable for your words. Matthew 12.36-37

“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give

an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will

be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

>it means believing the best about others and their intentions

>it means giving folks the benefit of the doubt

>it means ‘getting along’ even if you have to subjugate your own will at times

>it means when dissension is afoot, you do not engage or have any part of it



Nothing is as important as the gospel of Jesus Christ, and sharing that with those around us—the world looks on while Christians shoot their own wounded, instead of giving them a hand back up. Let’s lay aside that which entangles us, and love . . . and love well.

With love,

Christine

podcast: www.pastorwoman.com