No Divisions Among You

Posted: February 4, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrity, Christ, Church, Cleverness, Community, Conflict, Confrontation, Cross, Gospel, Jesus, Sermons | Leave a comment

When I was in my later teens, my parents would often leave my sister, who is two years younger than me, and I alone to fend for ourselves for 3 weeks while they went off to do what my dad called his beach ministry in Florida. Mom and Dad had one rule, “No fighting!” Anybody have that same rule of no fighting when your parents went away leaving you at home? “No fighting” is a common command from the lips of our fathers and mothers. It is also a common statement by our Heavenly Father and Brother Jesus Christ by those speaking on God’s behalf. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and we are going to focus on being united. I preach this at a time when I sense we are very unified so this is not trying to be like a political party whip uniting a caucus. However, we must be vigilant to maintain unity. If you don’t have a Bible, please raise your hand and we would love to give you one. We are continuing our series called Holy Together in the Gospel. So far we have covered the Apostle Paul’s introduction to his letter to the Church in Corinth in verses 1-3 two weeks ago. We learned that we as a church are called by God to represent Jesus, be saints together holy like Jesus, pray to the name of Jesus, and receive grace and peace from Jesus. This is amazing! “Paul chose to emphasize who the saints at Corinth were, not what they were acting like.”[1] Last week we were reminded that God is faithful to give us everything we need in Christ – in our speech, our knowledge, our spiritual gifts, our perseverance and our fellowship with Him. Let’s read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 to encourage us to be united in Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.  

We were talking about this passage as pastors this week and came to the conclusion that the Big Idea is: Be united in Christ with the same mind and same judgment. We don’t create, but maintain what Jesus has already united. That takes the pressure off because trying to obey the command to not fight often doesn’t work in our own effort. We need the uniting power of Christ and then we cooperate with Him to maintain unity with our efforts. Even thinking about Jesus stretched out arms open wide on that Cross fights fighting! Remembering that Jesus died for your sin and my sin should be a motivator for forgiveness, reconciliation and unity. 

However, there are threats to our unity. Satan, our enemy, loves to get in between people. Have you experienced that recently?  Here are threats to our unity: 1) conflict (v. 10-11). Some of you may say, “Duh, of course a threat to unity is conflict.” How boring!  However, let me unpack this by defining conflict and getting specific from the text. First, I need to define that unity is not disagreement or difference of opinion. Oneness is not sameness initially. Most of us here have different opinions about a lot of things: sports teams, views on parenting, schooling, and some of the minor points of theology. However, we try to major on the majors and minor on the minors. I was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church of America, which emphasizes the “Significance of Silence – we will discuss and debate, but we will not divide over secondary issues.” So we leaders here at Temple will speak the last 10% in love and if we don’t speak, then silence is agreement. This differs from the silence in violence campaigns we have encountered the last few years in the culture. We recognize as the late great pastor Warren Wiersbe taught, “Division has always been a problem among God’s people.”[2] However, majoring on the majors and putting the other person first helps to fight conflict and specifically, what we read in verses 10, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” Paul was calling upon the Corinthians. “‘Beseech’ doesn’t mean ‘I beg,’ but ‘I call upon you.’”[3] Unity is a calling in light of what Christ has done and His authority.

 We fight conflict in two ways: a) commitment to Christ and each other. This is the same mind and same judgment. “Paul urges unity by twice repeating the words ‘the same.’”[4] We may not be the same initially. We debate out a matter and then agree upon it. We are united – of one mind. We are committed to Christ, which means we are committed to each other.

The second way we fight conflict is: b) confronting sin. We see this clearly in verse 11, “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.” This is really important. Notice who reported the problem of quarreling to Paul. Who was it? Chloe’s people. “We know nearly nothing about Chloe or her people.”[5] They may have come to visit Paul who is now in Ephesus. Scholars believe “Chloe was probably of the freedman class.”[6] What this verse does demonstrate is that women can have great influence in their homes and family, and yet still report to the highest authority. Women, please speak up to us male leaders if you have tried to confront an issue and got nowhere. This is following what Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15-18, “15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” I think we can presume that Chloe and her people followed Jesus’ instructions because if not, Paul would have instructed them to do so. They now are coming to Paul as the apostle and church planter and looking for help on a very dangerous problem – divisive quarrels. We are required by God to confront sin. This includes women. Often your softer approach as a woman is winsome. It is not tattling to confront sin because you are trying to get somebody out of trouble, not into it. But as Bible Scholar Richard Lenski warns, “Beware lest ill-will as secret malice prompt you to report.”[7] You always have to check your motives when confronting and reporting on sin and be vigilant about not falling into that same sin. As Paul exhorts the Galatians in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Notice the gentle approach accompanied by a guarding against temptation. Be united in Christ fighting the threat of unity by committing to Christ and each other while confronting sin.

There is not only a threat to unity from conflict, but also chasing 2) celebrity (v 12-16). Paul goes in verses 12-16 to explain, “What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know where I baptized anyone else.” Notice that chasing celebrity was rampant in the Church of Corinth. Every single Corinthian believer was choosing sides – “each one of you.” Should we move on because surely this is not a problem in the church today all around the world? Of course, even the ones who claim to hammer celebrity have their favourites like the prophetic voice against celebrity of Paul Washer. The reality is that in that day and this day there were “fan-boys” and “fan-girls’ ‘ of their favourite preacher. There is nothing wrong appreciating the ministry of leaders. Otherwise, we would be hypocrites. We gave you before Christmas free access to Right Now Media, where you can receive teaching from a plethora of Bible teachers. However, what we can’t do is what I heard recently about a smaller town where the three gospel-preaching churches held a joint service on Easter and all three pastors preached 7 minutes each. One man was asked what he thought and suggested that the churches, “vote on their favourite preacher.” This is a problem and benefits no one. Some churches even call pastors based on their favourite preacher. Celebrity is a massive threat to the unity of the church. “In Jewish thought, a person’s name carried the weight of the person’s authority and reputation.”[8] I coach preachers and almost all of us preachers suffer from what Dr. Rick Reed said, “Internal Insecurity.” But we preach because God calls us to. Celebrity is a massive threat to the unity of the church.

Gordon Fee goes on to explain, “A careful reading of 1:10-4:21 indicates that at least 4 issues are involved: 1) There is quarreling or divisiveness among them, with their various teachers or rally points (3:3-9: 4:1-2); 2) The quarreling is in some way being carried on in the name of ‘wisdom’; 3) Their quarrels took the form of boasting (1:29-31; 3:21; 4:7); and 4) A judgmental attitude even towards Paul (1:16-17; 2:1-3:4), despite his past ministry and present relationship to them.”[9] But I want to be clear, the threat to unity is celebrity, not necessarily the celebrities themselves. Paul is not attacking Apollos and Cephas (aka Peter) and certainly not Christ. We should be thankful for the leaders and teachers God raises up to guide and feed us God’s Word. The problem is more with the follower than the leader. The fan-boys and fan-girls of Corinth were picking their favourites. Paul was probably mentioned first because he was the founding leader and the most popular. Paul goes on to remind the people that he didn’t baptize them in his name. In fact, he hardly baptized any of them. “Baptism in Paul’s name would have meant to place the mediatorial saving power in Paul’s person.”[10] Paul despised this thinking and fandom. Even today, I have encountered many whose theology is based solely on the teaching of Paul and forget that Jesus is the focus. I think the Gospels were written after Paul because people had forgotten about Jesus. Let’s remember Paul was used by God, but he was simply a messenger. His message was Christ – a name mentioned 14 times in these 17 verses.

The next celebrity was Apollos. “Apollos may have represented logical thinking,”[11] which the Corinthians would have loved with their bent towards Greek thinking and philosophy. “The art of rhetorical persuasion was highly valued in the Greco-Roman world and professional orators frequented large cities like Corinth, giving impressive displays of their ability to entertain and obstruct.”[12] You can just picture how much the educated of Corinth would have loved Apollos saying, “Give me some of that old time philosophy with sprinkling in a bit of Christ.” There is a danger when we have a favourite intellectual like Jordan Peterson and our imagination soars if they are won to Christ. We elevate these intellectuals up as our champions. There is danger in that thinking. We know Apollos was a great orator, competent in the Scriptures from Acts 18:24-28:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” Notice it was Priscilla and her husband Aquila who heard him and had to explain the gospel more clearly to him. What a reminder to follow Christ more than eloquence or the apologist who sounds so smart, but is not living for the gospel. Apollos could powerfully debate the Jews in public (Acts 18:28), but then he showed the Scriptures pointed to Jesus. Apollos was used by God, but he was simply a messenger.

Another celebrity mentioned is Cephas (aka the Apostle Peter). “Peter probably represented the Jewish thinking.”[13] Peter struggled as a Jew to not revert back to the old ways of law and justice. We read this in Galatians 2:11-14, “11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Our default as human beings is towards legalism – self-righteousness through control often by trying to live by rules including extra-Biblical ones. We love messages that just tell us what to do and we do it, even though we don’t really do it. Maybe some at Corinth loved Peter’s message of discipline. Cephas was used by God, but he was simply a messenger. And this probably why Paul said in verse 10 that they be of the same mind and the same judgement.

There was a fourth party beyond the parties of Paul, Apollos and Peter. There was the Christ party – I follow Christ. These may have been the hyper-spiritual who followed Jesus. Of course, Jesus must be the focus. The problem with the Christ party is that they were proud about it. My dad would often say when having a theological debate or light sparring, “Well, you serve the Lord in your way and I’ll serve in His!” Pride can creep in so easily.

This is why we fight celebrity by focusing on Christ. “Christ is one, absolutely and always one.”[14] It is centering on Christ where the power really lies. We see this in a few of the people Paul mentioned. “Gaius may have been Titius Justus, an earlier convert to Judaism who lived next door to the synagogue.”[15] Then there was “Crispus is the lake ruler of the Jewish synagogue, one of the very first converts to be gained in Corinth (Acts 18:8).”[16] Sosthenes took over for Crispus. One of the profound moments in my life and ministry is when I realized that the gospel was not just for my justification, but also for our sanctification. This is the gospel-driven ministry that has so revolutionized the church. However, we cannot become proud of our Christ-centeredness like the Christ party did.

Be united in Christ fighting the threat of unity by committing to Christ and each other while confronting sin and the threat of celebrity by centering on Christ. However, there is a third threat to our unity:  3) cleverness (v. 17). Notice what Paul says in verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” This may be shocking to some of us. Our ministry isn’t baptizing first, but to evangelize. We know this because Jesus didn’t baptize, but entrusted baptizing to His followers (John 4:1-2). What a reminder to me who loves baptisms. Baptism doesn’t save anybody by itself. And “Whatever obscures the cross deprives the gospel of its power.”[17] And sometimes we can try to be clever where it is better to be clear. I remember a time in my early ministry that my father came to hear me preach when I was pastoring in the U.S. He was so encouraging, but then he gently said, “Jonathan, stop trying to be a great preacher and instead, try to be God’s messenger.” That stuck with me. My job and your job with whomever will listen to spread the message of Jesus Christ. We don’t need to try to be clever or cute or impressive. We fight cleverness with clarity about Christ! As Jenn Wilkin has said, “Clarity is kindness.”

So where are you on the continuum of unity? Maybe you are skeptical or hostile to the church and would like to destroy it. Let me ask you, isn’t the unity that the church has something that you can’t explain away from these past 2000 years? Maybe you are spiritual and have your own private spirituality? Isn’t there something missing – community. You literally don’t commune in unity. Maybe you are religious? You might be the most dangerous to unity because when things don’t go your way or your favourite rules aren’t followed, you are prone to criticize and attack others. Maybe you are new to the faith and are susceptible to celebrity? Centre on Jesus. Read the gospels a lot. Maybe you are a seasoned saint? Pray to maintain unity. Be united in Christ and confront sin. Work at being clear about the gospel. Where are you on the continuum of unity?

_________________________________________________________________________

Divisive                                                                                                                                   Unity

(conflict, celebrity, cleverness)                                             (commitment, correction, clarity)

[1] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 568.

[2] Wiersbe, 569.

[3] Richard H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Columbus: Wartburg Press, 1946), 38.

[4] Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistles to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1987), 53.

[5] Lenski, 41.

[6] Hodge, 10.

[7] Lenski, 42.

[8] Mohrlang, 1930.

[9] Fee, 48-49.

[10] Lenski, 47.

[11] Bruce, 33.

[12] Frank S. Thielman, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 2193.

[13] F.F. Bruce, The New Century Bible Commentary – I & II Corinthians (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1980), 31.

[14] Lenski, 44.

[15] Roger Mohrlang, The NLT Study Bible (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2017), 1929.

[16] Lenski, 46.

[17] Charles Hodge, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1964), 18.