1 Corinthians 1:I0-25 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, 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. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 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. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Paul is upset with the Corinthian church because they are entertaining disputation and quarreling in their midst. Rather than have unity, they are divided by championing certain individuals as their spiritual fathers. They argue about something that has little to do with their new life IN CHRIST. Paul understands that this kind of division and discord can lead to much more serious things, such as apostasy or a walking away from the truth of the gospel, which is Christ in us the hope of glory. Paul considers such disputation as a sure sign of immaturity or worldliness. They are still carrying around in them parts of the old man, enumerated in Galatians 5:19-21: impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy. These are attributes of the devil and his darkness, not of Christ and his light. Immaturity and fleshly thoughts have deceived the Corinthian church, clothing them in discord and dissensions. This is troubling to Paul for he taught them only the Good News and had clothed them with the light of the Lord. His ministry consisted of elevating Jesus as the Son of God and that He was crucified and resurrected by the hand of God through the power of his Spirit. Yet, now they have allowed the devil’s spirit to invade the living church in Corinth. Jesus taught oneness to his disciples, oneness with him and God. Oneness is the message of the Holy Spirit to the church. Failing to heed this message is very dangerous. Paul understood where this discord within the church would lead: schisms. Multiple schisms had divided the church from the very beginning. Some were big divisions in the church of the living God; others were divisions within one church or denomination. Usually along with this discord would come words of hate, bitterness, and even physical violence. God’s cardinal rule of loving your neighbor as yourself is shattered for sure when you do not love your enemy as Jesus taught. Jesus addresses this kind of darkness in teaching his disciples that they should remain one in the Spirit. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. (1 John 2:9-11) In Deuteronomy 12 we see how much God hates this kind of discord. Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses. Miriam is struck with leprous skin. In proverbs we see that God hates a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverb 6:19)
Of course the body of Christ should always be aware of apostasy creeping within the fundamental beliefs of the Good News. Some ideas are not a danger to the church’s existence or testimony, but others can destroy the appeal of the Good News in a secular community. So the church should be alert in protecting the essence of salvation: Christ crucified for the sins of the world and Christ resurrected from the grave, revealing that eternal life will come to all who believe in Jesus’s work on the cross. However schisms in the church have happened over many things, not essential to the message of unity IN CHRIST. Paul is dealing with the division within the church over something that is not essential to the core message of Jesus as the Savior of the world. They are fighting over who they wish to follow in their walk with Christ: I follow Paul”; “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ. Paul asked the obvious question Is Christ divided? Of course not, Christ's work is whole, complete and final. People ought not to follow any other man but Christ and his works alone. Sad, but true, division, arguing, quarreling cause the hearts to be corrupted with feelings adverse to unity. Paul tells the Ephesians, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32) Jesus understood that wolves would come in the flock to destroy and corrupt his sheep. He had protected his disciples with his presence. He lost only Judas who was never a part of his flock. Judas lived for himself, stealing from the money people gave to Jesus’ work on earth. Eventually he sold Jesus to the priests. But for the others, Jesus was concerned about leaving them alone without his presence, so he prayed to the Father, keep them one as we are one. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. (John 17:10) Jesus wanted no schism in his disciples after He left them, to die on the cross. He encouraged them to know that He will return to them one day and that they should be in unity when that day arrives. He wanted them to know that the Father God was with them because of their trust in him as the Son of God. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:17-20) Paul was now encouraging the Corinthians not to be divided in their thinking, but to dwell securely in Jesus and the Father, for they are one in unity. Therefore, they should be one together in God and the Son.
Paul is preaching unity to the Corinthians. He does not even want them to think of him as being their spiritual father if it causes disunity. He desires that they fix their eyes on Jesus, and through the work of the Spirit, glorify Christ in everything they do. They are to glorify Christ in their lives, not lift up any person as the reason for their Christian walk. Christ alone is their leader and the Holy Spirit has been given to them to lift up Christ in their lives. If Christ is truly their leader and if their hearts are attuned to the Spirit’s voice, they will emulate Christ in everything they do, not some man or leader. Paul dismisses the wisdom and knowledge of this world as carrying little clout in saving the world from destruction. Salvation, eternal life with God, comes only through the cross. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? When Christians divide the church over what they consider to be wise and knowledgeable, they are walking on dangerous ground. Today’s text says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. Paul tells Timothy, Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. (2 Timothy 2:14) Errant words and ideas that are away from the Good News of Christ crucified for the salvation of all men should be avoided, but to quibble on ideas that are not destructive to the essential message of Christ being Lord of all should be considered not important enough to divide the church of the living God. Divisive words, discord, dissension in the church destroy the work of Christ in any community. Often these kinds of words come from those who wish to be followed. They do not originate from the Peacemaker but from the flesh. Where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:16-18) Dear friends around this breakfast table, do not sow words of bitterness and division within the church. Let your wisdom and knowledge be as a peacemaker. Paul struggled with the Corinthians because so many of them were functioning out of their own wisdom and knowledge. They were immature, still quarreling about non-essentials. Paul knew they were in danger of splitting apart. The secular Corinthians would see this and consider Christianity as not necessary in their lives. Let us be true servants of God, emulating only Jesus in our speech, actions, and lives.
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