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Unity and Division in the Church: Paul’s Plea for Harmony
1 Corinthians 1:1-17 (NIV)
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Church Divided Over Leaders
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”;still another, “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Monday 8th January
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the beginning of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, a major city in 1st century Greece. As with all his letters, he is writing to a community of new believers, whom he says is are “called to be his holy people”. The church today is no different – we remain the people who are called to be Christ’s holy people. What do you think this means? If you were to discuss this with others you might well find that there are different ideas about this – some people will emphasise some areas of doctrine and practice, perhaps, and disagree with others. Have differences of this sort affected your Christian life in any way? Sometimes our instinct is to part company from or avoid those who think differently from ourselves, but note what Paul says here – we are called to be “his holy people – together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That means all Christians throughout the world! How do you react to this? If you were to write a letter to the church – what would you want to say to your fellow Christians?
Tuesday 9th January
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you were to write a letter to the church throughout the world, would the first thing you do be to give thanks for your fellow believers? I suppose the question is, are we able to see the grace of God in others, even when we disagree with them, or when they are causing us problems, or when relationships break down? This is something of a tall order, I think! Yet this is what Paul does at the beginning of a letter to a church which, as we shall see, is full of people causing problems and difficulties. Take some time today to pray for the church of God throughout the world. Paul goes on to say that God has called us all into fellowship with Christ. How do you understand this – is it a privilege, a responsibility, a gift, a struggle? Give thanks that even when his church wavers in its attempts to follow Jesus, God himself is faithful.
Wednesday 10th January
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”;still another, “I follow Christ.”
Paul has just asserted that God is faithful to his church – which is just as well, because no sooner has he said this than he begins to delve into some of the problems besetting the church at Corinth. The first is a serious case of lack of unity. Paul, who is the founding pastor of this community, has received some news of the congregation which he would rather not have. There are serious divisions amongst them. The problem is this – members of the congregation are following different leaders. Some people are loyal to Paul, while others are declaring themselves to be followers of Apollos. Still others say their allegiance is with Cephas, while others avoid the problem altogether by saying (perhaps rather smugly?) that they belong to Christ. I suppose an equivalent today would be people who prefer one preacher over another, or one way of leadership over another – even one writer of bible studies over another! We all have our preferences, but the problem is that at Corinth, this was causing quarrels! It can be very tempting to think that our preferred leaders, preachers and writers are superior to others, and by extension, that our group is superior to others. Pray today for unity in our churches and for wisdom as we follow those who teach, preach and lead.
Thursday 11th January
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul’s response to the problem of “leader worship” in Corinth is interesting. He does not, as we might expect, defend his own position or decry the other leaders. Rather he refuses to be the object of “hero worshipping” of this sort. He reminds them that it is the name of Christ which matters in the church, not that of any human leader, influencer or “guru”. He does say that he is a preacher, but he immediately downplays his gift, saying that he preaches with neither wisdom nor eloquence. Paul refuses to allow the community at Corinth to idolise him – they are there to worship Christ, not any human being. It is well worth our while thinking about how we treat our leaders. Are we tempted to “set them up on a pedestal?” If you are a leader yourself, are you ever tempted to enjoy or cultivate the adulation of others? Pray that God will give our leaders humility in leading and followers wisdom in following.
Friday 12th January
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
We will consider this verse again next week, but today, it is helpful to introduce ourselves to the theme of weakness. It is worth our while thinking about what we value in today’s society. In first century Greece people admired wisdom and eloquence – that is to say, they admired those who could speak well in public and convince the crowds to follow their own particular brand of philosophy. Part of the problem at Corinth was that people were giving too much credence to human power of this sort – they were enthralled by gifts of public speaking and charismatic performance. Preachers and leaders can be very powerful, and we can be so entranced by the power of human talent and charisma that we forget that our very faith is premised on weakness. Today, the media tends to promote political influence, wealth and personal appearance as things to be admired. Would you suggest any others? How can we ensure that the popular values of our age do not gain undue influence in the church?
Saturday 13th January
It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
Sunday 14th January
5 How great are your works, LORD,
how profound your thoughts!
6 Senseless people do not know,
fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, LORD, are forever exalted.
Marion Carson
Chaplain
