DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH

1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-17

Once upon a time there was a body. It had enjoyed a healthy birth and a normal growth. Although there had been times of brief sickness and discomfort, these went through the usual healing processes and the body continued to grow and to function.

Then one day, the toes began to discuss among themselves the importance of wearing comfortable shoes. In the course of the conversation, it was observed that no other part of the body was in the habit of wearing shoes.

"But shoes are necessary for the protection of the body!" exclaimed one of the big toes. "We need to convince the other members of the body that they should also take to wearing shoes. But alas, the other members of the body could not see the need and would not comply with such demands. The toes decided that, for the good of the body, they would separate themselves from the other members of the body.

This had raised the question of what the various members of the body ought to wear. The legs stated that trousers were the only proper apparel. The torso claimed that a shirt ought to be worn. The hands disagreed, claiming that nothing was necessary, but that gloves were acceptable upon occasion.

The members of the body began to quarrel with one another with the result that each member decided to withdraw from those other members with whom there was disagreement.

In the end, the body died.

Sounds a little silly, doesn’t it? Yet this simple story serves to illustrate why there are so many dying churches in the world today.

Corinth was a church divided. There were divisions within the church. These divisions were threatening to tear the church apart. In far off Ephesus, Paul had heard the news of these divisions that plagued the church. He moved to deal with this problem.

The church at Corinth had some serious problems. They had polarized themselves into a series of "clicks." If you were not a part of their particular group, then you did not count in their eyes.

Notice also that the case of this disunity was not of a doctrinal nature. There may have been some doctrinal problems in Corinth, but this disunity was not a part of that.

There are times when there ought to be division in the church. When someone holds to a false teaching or when someone rejects a Biblical teaching, then it is time for some disunity. A person who rejects the teaching that Jesus is the Son of God does not belong in the church. A person who does not believe that salvation is a gift from God has no place within the community of believers.

But this was not a doctrinal division at Corinth. These groups had not been formed on the basis of their doctrinal beliefs. We know this because we know something of the leaders that were used as the centers for each of these groups.

These Corinthians had held a popularity contest and there had been four nominees. They had separated themselves four groups and they each claimed to be following after a man.

1. The Paul Group.

2. The Apollos Group.

3. The Peter Group.

4. The Jesus Group.

Paul does not advocate any of these groups. He does not even advocate the Jesus Group. He says that they are all wrong because they are all dividing the church. People were arguing over which group you ought to belong and they were disassociating themselves rom anyone who did not belong to their exclusive group.

There is a lesson here. It is that the church of God ought to be UNIFIED. When we speak of the church, we often think of a building where you go on Sunday to hear the teaching of the Bible. But this is not the church at all. The church is not the building, but the people inside the building. The church is a living thing. It is a body.

Notice that Paul’s exhortation comes by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:10). When we read this, we ought to remember that Paul could speak ex cathedra. He was an apostle. He could say, "You guys straighten up or I’m going to come and bust some heads!" But that was not his approach. Instead he gives an exhortation by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He says, "In light of the fact that you are now saved and in fellowship with Jesus Christ, I am giving you a message in the name of that One with whom you have been identified."

Paul calls these Corinthians "brethren." They were believers in Jesus Christ. They were already Christians. That means this is a family letter. If you are not a member of the family of God, then this is not written to you. You are an outsider who is looking in. But you don’t have to stay on the outside. You can come and join God’s family. You can trust in the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross and you can receive the free gift of eternal life. If you do so, you will find that this exhortation is also written to you.

Notice the specifics of Paul’s exhortation. It is an exhortation...

• That they all agree.
• That there be no divisions among them.
• That they be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

These three points can be summed up in a single word. UNITY. There is to be unity among the members of the body of Christ. Paul says, "Because you are in fellowship with Jesus Christ (1:9), you ought to be in fellowship with one another."

Paul asks a series of question. These are rhetorical questions. The answers to these questions are obvious. They point to the supremacy of Christ.

Paul was not crucified for you, was he? You can take out Paul’s name and replace it with Peter’s or with that of Apollos. You could replace it with the name of any popular religious leader of today.

The problem hasn’t been limited to the church in the first century. The church in every age has faced the temptation to exalt certain men higher than they ought. Martin Luther, the famous Protestant Reformer, made this plea against the growing trend toward denominationalism in his day:

I have no intention of picking on the group that has taken the name of Martin Luther. Other groups have been just as guilty of taking a single man and elevating him to a position that only belongs to our Lord.

The point is that Jesus Christ is to be seen as preeminent. If we are in Christ, then we are welded together by a common bond of unity that supersedes and denominational boundaries.

There are many people with whom you will disagree over minor matters. But on the major issue of Jesus Christ, we are called to be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment (1:10).

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, tells of a dream that he once had in which he was transported to the gates of hell. He stood there and called out:

As Wesley thought on this last answer, he was suddenly transported to the gates of heaven. Once again, he called out:

There is coming a day when all of the party denominations and separations will be done away. One of these days we will see Jesus and then everything else will come to be unimportant by comparison.

Paul goes on the record to show that he only baptized a handful of people at Corinth. Why does he want to make this point?

Evidently there was quite a large group at Corinth who were claiming to be disciples of Paul. Some might have been bragging, "Paul himself led me to the Lord," or, "I was baptized personally by Paul." He goes on record to tell exactly who were the people that he did baptize at Corinth. He does this in order to knock the props out from under those who would place their status upon their identification with Paul. He says, "I didn’t baptize you, so you can’t possibly be identified with me."

Then he says by way of explanation, Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel (1:17). He was not sent to start a cult of people who could be baptized by him. Neither are we sent forth to call people into membership of our own particular denomination. We are sent in the same way Paul was sent. We are sent to preach the gospel.

This brings us to a question. What is the gospel?

How do you get it? Not by working for it. Not by being good. Not by being baptized. Not by joining a particular denomination.

It is a gift. Like any gift, it does not depend upon the person receiving the gift, but only upon the giver. God has given you this great gift that you can receive by faith.

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