1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Is Christ Divided?

1 Corinthians 1:10-17  I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.  My brothers, 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 into the name of Paul?  I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into 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 words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul indicates his disappointment with the Corinthians because they are allowing factions within the church, which interferes with their primary purpose as members of the body of Christ: to reveal the One True God, Creator of all things.  As Paul told the church in Ephesus: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called —  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:3-6)  When believers openly disagree, they detract from the truth that God loves them and desires for the church to live in unity through Jesus Christ his Son.  In the Corinthian church, rather than simply lifting up the name of Jesus, some were claiming Paul as their leader, others looked to Peter, another group followed Apollos, and yet others were saying they accepted only Christ's teaching as revealed to them.  By choosing to follow the doctrines of men, even as they interpreted Christ's teachings, they were allowing the effects and the force of their message to dissipate the power of the Good News of the gospel of the living Christ brought by the Holy Spirit.  They were divided, and such divisions did not come from hearts fully yielded to the will of God.  When Paul describes to the Ephesians the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to individuals in the body, he mentions the separate gifts, but then he says they have been given to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:12-13)  This is the maturity and unity in Christ that Paul wants from the Christians in Corinth.  He realizes their emphasis upon individual leaders rather than upon Jesus Christ their Savior has caused quarreling and will lead them down a path to destruction.  As he writes in Galatians: If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  (Galatians 5:15)

Paul appeals to the church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because he wants peace for them in the church, and he wants them to shine as a testimony for the Lord.  When Jesus was preparing to go away, He told his disciples: A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  (John 13:34)  Love would be the distinguishing feature for recognizing the sons and daughters of God, those who name the name of his Son and call themselves Christians.  A careful reading of the New Testament reveals this message of love.  In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul said, May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  He went on to say, Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  (1 Thessalonians 3:11 & 4:9)  Peter gives this description of the church of the living God: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1 Peter 2:9)  This is who we are in Christ who truly has brought us from the darkness to the light, from the kingdom of the evil one to the kingdom of our glorious Lord.  We are the people of God, and we should show forth his praises and not the petty grievances and divisions of this world.  Peter makes this very clear when he writes: Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.  For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.  He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it."  (1 Peter 3:8-11)  This is not a church divided.

With love, compassion, and humility as our calling, we have our marching orders; and we do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The only way any of us will accomplish what we have just read is to love unconditionally as Christ loved us and to serve his church.  When James and John asked Jesus if they could sit on his right and his left in glory, He told them they did not know what they asked, and He went on to say: Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  (Mark 10:43-45)  If we are to be as Christ was on Earth and to love as He loves, we must lay down our lives and take up the cross and follow him.  We must be willing to be servants, giving our lives freely to the work of God's kingdom.  Sometimes we say our prayers so easily, but can we really pray and mean the words, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven."  Are we able to pray with our Lord, "Not my will, but thine be done."  Yes, that is the desire of our hearts, but our flesh gets in the way; the world gets in the way.  We have forgotten the power of the cross, our purpose in life.  When Jesus first appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, He first rebuked them for not believing those who had told them He had risen; then He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  (Mark 16:15)  In other words, Jesus was not daunted by their unbelief.  He chastened them for not believing but immediately sent them out on their mission.  That is exactly what Paul is doing with the Corinthians.  He is correcting their inappropriate behavior, but he is reminding them of the power of Christ at work in them.  Today, dear friends in Christ, be reminded of your position in Christ, the call to love one another, your mission to spread the Good News.