WebAnd you know, that gives me some idea of how important this is to God, because from 1:10 to the ninth verse of the sixteenth Chapter, he just talks about the errors in the church. One of them being the reason to follow a specific pastor. The followers of Jesus may have believed in Jesus words only, and did not believe that the writings of Peter, Paul, and the other apostles were really Scripture. [Then he thinks of another group that he had baptized] (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Their relationship to Christ was the unifying factor of the church. Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). There are the Calvinists and the Arminians and the Dispensationalists -- these are some of the things that are held up as the "summum bonum," the highest good, in theology. Paul is going to go on to describe this radical force that is so different than anything else there is nothing like it in the world. That is always the unifying factor in a church, and that is the mind that is to be among us, the mind that does not consider itself the most important thing. As we read through First Corinthians, I think we will see how very much like modern day churches this ancient church of Corinth was. Paul knew this and said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony about God. (1 Corinthians 1:12 RSV) Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. Now, almost every group does this. We feel some sense of connectedness to the teachers (pastors/leaders) whose teachings we sit under while they count us as proof of their effectiveness (numbers). Paul goes right on, in Verse12, to describe the forms that these divisions were taking in the church of Corinth: What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas" [another name for Peter], or "I belong to Christ." Polhill says, every Corinthian had their own favorite preacher (237). Going off of what Cody is saying, in todays church everything needs to be just right. There was nothing wrong with Paul baptizing people, but Paul didnt want people to boast about the fact that he baptized them. If we sacrifice quality for numbers I dont think we are being good stewards of our gift of leadership. The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. If Paul were to visit one of these churches, he would see a good-looking man in a custom suit standing over everybody else, and his mind would go straight to the orators of his day. God, therefore, has designed that there be many teachers, many preachers, many viewpoints, in a church. There were: the followers of Paul, the followers of Apollos, the followers of Cephas or Peter, and the followers of Christ. In the year 1 054 the Church was divided into two parts: 1) The Greek Eastern Church 2) The Roman Western Church. In fact, there are still many divisions that exist today in modern churches. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. They love to listen to someone because he turns them on emotionally. Other divisions were to follow. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? When I say worn out I mean people say that it is not usable in the modern world so its words become little more than foot rests in the pew. Some followed Apollos whom they honored above Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4; Acts 18:24 to 19:1). He was a rhetorician who was especially capable in the allegorical style of teaching of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, this has effected our outreach. Throughout this 2000 year process of normalizing divisions among believers, we have consistently neglected the fact we Jesus should unite us, and unless we choose to make a change, we will continue to forget this fact. There are several important terms in this passage. I used to attend a Navigator group which met in Honolulu on Sunday afternoons. The elders should make their decisions with the same mind and the same judgment. Not even a three-fourths vote should carry a motion. Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. Some considering Paul their authority, other Apollos, others Peter, and still others accepted only Jesus as their authority. Christ did not send me to take scalps or to cut notches on my gun handle as to how many converts I've won." It is well known that division in the church of Corinth was over leadership. Its all about who looks the best, how much money is made, and how big our churches are. It wipes out all the petty distinctions that men make among themselves. (1Corinthians 1:12 RSV), Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) Every Navigator had to have a Scofield Reference Bible; that was the only "Authorized Version." They were boasting over who had baptized them. The Corinthian church had many problems, and most of them were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. Paul rejects this disunity, telling the church members to focus on Christ. The Corinthian Church. Then comes that great Christological passage where he describes how Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Was Paul crucified for you? The other reason is the division among churches of the same denomination. Orators have to be so careful not to let teaching become a pride thing rather than a gift they share to better the other. When you call them back to an understanding of the meaning of the cross, you will find all the divisions disappearing; they fade away like the morning mist. If you survey the church scene all over America today, you find people dividing up this way. This division in the church was over their own selfish ambitions evidenced in what they wanted. Church has become about the pastor and not about his message. We all know what a clique is. Every piece of that jigsaw puzzle is different, isnt it? Teaching to be effective first needs to effect/transform the life of the teacher and then connect with those who hear. I agree with Greg, I see a lot of times where Pastors begin to care more about the number of the congregation rather on the connectedness of it. Was Paul crucified for you? I always have, and always will believe that this overly exaggerated concept of denominations is a problem. I do not think things have improved much since the first century. Were you baptized into the name of Paul? So they said, "When Peter came, we really felt that we were on solid ground. I'm nobody, just like you!" That is what they were doing with baptism here in Corinth. 13Is Christ divided? The basic meaning is to put back together and make one again something that was broken or separated. In comparison to modern churches, its easy to say that there are hardly any divisions among Christians and differing churchesbut could these divisions still exist today? And just as the Corinthian church was not above the petty rivalries of its time, neither is the modern church above becoming involved in such shouting matches. These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. The groom and his attendants are in their places. This is really what is behind his disclaimer on baptism in 1 Cor 1:14-16. I think that some of the ways we have failed to de-paganize is because we are still so focused on the little things that make up the church. (Peter, evidently, had been through Corinth and had preached there.) Obviously sin is at the heart of these divisions, but I am encouraged to hear that at least in your corner of the world there is some unification and revival. Many of the other problems were flowing out of this division within the congregation. That does not mean that everybody has to think alike. The Corinthian church had many problems, and most of them were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. Like Greg, I recognize this tension in some of the churches I have served in and find it appalling (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). He recognizes that we share a common life if we have come to Christ; we are brothers and sisters because we have his life in us. Paul rejects this disunity, telling the church members to focus on Christ. They failed to take seriously the power of evil; their behavior caused divisions in the church and led to a lack of concern for other members. I have had people say to me, "Oh, Mr. Stedman, when you speak I see so clearly! The cross of Christ cuts across all human value systems. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. All are mere teachers; there is only one Lord. The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. It is possible, though, that the divisions among (Philippians 2:6-8 RSV). This is a radical principle that we need to understand, because, when you understand the cross, there will be no room left for the divisions of men. What is a clique? Let's get back to the beginnings. Some followed Apollos whom they honored above Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4; Acts 18:24 to 19:1). Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. WebAccording to Paul, the communitys problems were the consequence of the Corinthians mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. The same viewpoints are still dividing people. That was the mark, that was the identification badge. You may be reminded by his words in Verse10 of the similar passage in his letter to the Philippians where, in Chapter2, he says to that church, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind," (Philippians 2:1-2 RSV). 1-False prophets (2 Corinthians 11:13). In 2019 he published a commentary. They were dividing over this whole issue, and Paul says it is all wrong. I Corinthians 12:12,13 says, For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. Like I talked about in the first posting, the emerging church makes me question a lot of things they are doing. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. Whenever this attitude of gathering around a man is allowed to perpetuate itself, it is the source of much trouble and difficulty. This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. When the Corinthians divided into factions, it wasnt so much about core doctrine (nature of God, nature of Christ, the Gospel, the nature of man). 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. For a local church to be spiritually healthy and effective, and for there to be harmony in the local church, there must be doctrinal unity. Paul does not want to be considered a philosopher who is gathering disciples, nor does he want that for Apollos or Peter or any man. And there are others who are drawn to some speaking style that has attracted them. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons our churches are so split and why we act more like the world rather than more like Christ. To an unbeliever, this looks like we cannot agree on our own religion. The first thing Paul says is that it tends to chop up Christ and parcel him out as though his person and his work came in various packages, thus you lose perspective of the whole of Christian theology. It is possible, though, that the divisions among Her nose is bloody! He does not say we should stop baptizing because of this problem. The human condition is, unfortunately, one of comparison that seeks to place oneself or their beliefs over another. Some pigged out at the Lord Supper; others had barely enough to eat. (1Corinthians 1:13 RSV). What should our evaluation of a ministry look like I wonder if its not by numbers? It would destroy the unity of the congregation and split them up and provide an inaccurate testimony to the Person of Christ before the watching world. The Lord Jesus is praying to the Father, and this is part of His prayer for us: I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me. Paul, however, was a good leader. Gods people who are moving in revival (like we have been to experiencing right here in Brisbane these last few months) have no qualms about getting together to see the nation of Australia come to Christ. You could spot the Navigators going up and down the streets of Honolulu. Now, how could that be? When you follow one man you are getting a view of Christ, but there is no teacher in the church who has ever come along -- including the Apostle Paul himself -- who has ever had a totally complete view of Christ. Phil Long is correct, we have not improved much since the first century. Now, Paul says this is all basically, fundamentally wrong. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. By focusing on Jesus we can see how important the parts of church really are. Paul did not want to present the Gospel as an orator, competing for students as they did. The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. Thank you, Father, for this time here contemplating the cross. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings in 1517 (see Chapter 1 0). 2- The Churchs division. If it is to expand the congregation and further the work of the Lord in that area, and he had the whole agreement of the leadership of the church behind him, then it is fine to take part of the congregation and go away and begin another work. His bride, the Church, has been fighting again!. Sometimes a church leader can have so much clout that he begins to have cult status. 10 I appeal to you, brothers,[ a] 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. I have been in many places where they were having church fights and almost invariably the thing that gives away that a church is in trouble is when people start talking about "my church," not in the sense that is perfectly proper as meaning, "The church where I go," but leaders of the church actually saying, "This is our church," and telling other people they have no rights to do something because the church belongs to them. The cross strips away our illusions and brings the pride of men tumbling down from that high place where it exalts itself against the knowledge of God. But when doctrinal beliefs keep churches from working together to further the gospel. It is sad to see that our world appears just as divided today as it did back in the first century. 2 Corinthians A. Furthermore, would the apostle not also be concerned with other divisions within the individual church body? In Matthew 12:25 the Lord Jesus says, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.. You only have to listen around you today and you find outstanding leaders being held up by their congregations as almost the equal of the Lord himself in their value to the church. In what ways have we failed to de-paganize? It seems like it would be better to ask in what ways have we been re-paganized. Then not only did they have the Bible, but every Navigator who was anybody at all had to have an index drawn in on the pages of the Bible, a kind of a ladder that gave you a clue to where the books were so that with your thumb you could turn up any book in the Bible almost instantly. There he indicates that the problem with cliquishness is that it tends to overemphasize the significance of the human leader. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. Members follow him blindly and whatever they do seems right to them. When the Corinthians divided into factions, it wasnt so much about core doctrine (nature of God, nature of Christ, the Gospel, the nature of man). My impression is that the same sorts of problems evident in Corinth are clearly evident in the contemporary church, whether that is West Michigan or Brisbane. Because I am a little defensive it seems like they are almost my enemy. That, of course, is as it should be. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. Obviously, here at Peninsula Bible Church we cannot do that. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. Now, it cannot. It wasnt even about secondary doctrine (the second coming, the nature of baptism). Now, we all have our favorite preacher, and up to a point that is not wrong. A young pastor who was facing that problem in his church called me this week from another state. It took four viewpoints to report his earthly life and ministry accurately enough to us. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. We had some great meetings and great times together. This consumerism that we face today in the end doesnt seem all that much different from the way the Christian faith was treated like just another philosophy back in the days of Paul. 2- The Churchs division. 7-False zeal for spiritual gifts. This also brings up another Pagan influence which is naming the days of the week after the planets. In other words, there must be agreement with Christ, with His will, and with His Word. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who WebThe spirit that wrought such mischief at Corinth has been busy in the Church ever since. Paul here introduces that which can cure divisions, both negatively and positively. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. They were caused by Cliques (1:12; 3:4). Some boasted of their special spiritual gifts; others felt left out. For example, in the first section from 1:10 to 4:21, it's errors regarding division. The word divisions comes from the Greek word schismata, from which we get our English word schism. WebThe Christians at Corinth were dividing the church by pledging their loyalties to different celebrities. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. Something shows up sooner or later as an identifying badge that marks them as "special," with special privilege and special status in that group. WebPaul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. Now, here the apostle makes very clear that the tendency among groupies is to distort the meaning of symbols. One of his biggest goals is to double our congregation so we have 5,000 members. It was considered honorable for you to stand up for yourself in this way. Acts 18:24 says that Apollos was an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man. He chooses various channels through which to work. We go back to the Lord alone. Now these things were good. Sometimes two or three hundred sailors, all of them Christians, would be there. In verse 11, Paul gives the reason for his appeal for unity in the church at Corinth. WebThe Christians at Corinth were dividing the church by pledging their loyalties to different celebrities. I believe that if people would take their eyes off man and stop putting man up up so high and put THE MASTER BACK FIRST in their lives it wont be so much division in our churches. My answer was that it all depends on the motive. The congregation then is to submit to the elders because it has confidence that their decisions were made under the Holy Spirits direction and power. They embraced the values of their Roman society, which divided over ethnicity (e.g., Jews vs. Gentiles) and social rank (wise vs. foolish, powerful Her hair is messed up! Only the Lord Jesus Christ could pay the penalty for our sins because only He is the Son of God. I lead a small group so I sometimes have to sit in meetings where the pastor shares things about the vision of our church. He finds that there is a great deal of parallels between the disciple-teacher relationship in the culture of Corinth and the problem of divisions in the church over the authority of teachers. That is not the work of men; that is the work of God himself. Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. They are his family in Christ. No man is the Savior; no man can deliver us except Jesus. It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. There was still a fourth group, and in some ways I think they were probably the worst. The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. For permission to use this content, please review 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospelnot with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. If we are, all our differences and difficulties would soon come to an end. It is the popular thing today to cry, "Back to the Reformation!" I do not identify my self as being a follower of anybody but Jesus (although there are certain theologians that I do hold in higher regard than others). He is the ground, always, of unity. 4-The churchs failure to discipline. Aside from this acceptable division within the modern church, there are also two other reasons for division which should not exist. What is a clique? 10I 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. They were caused by Cliques (1:12; 3:4). So, just a few texts and there are so many more. One of the celebrities was Paul himself some believers at Corinth actually claimed to be his followers. The Corinthian church had many problems, and most of them were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. We all know what a clique is. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. Instead of directly saying that we follow Paul, or Apollos, we say that we are Baptist, Reformed, or even Catholic. They were hard to get in those war years, and every shipment that came in went out like hot cakes. I told them that I do not foresee and end to these divisions anytime soon (sadly). How important was unity to our Lord Jesus Christ? (Even non-denominationals do this, just without claiming a denominational title). They were drawing themselves up and saying, "Well, you may be of Paul or of Peter or of Apollos, but we are of Christ! Alexandria was a center for learning and philosophy. WebThe Corinthians were basically making a mockery of Communion. This is not what the Church was meant to be like, and I fully believe that Paul would be appalled by our actions today as a Church of believers in Jesus Christ. Paul, however, was a good leader. And there were some who said, "Well, when Peter came through, he baptized me. In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). Now, in one verse he introduces to us the cure for these divisions (Verse17): For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom [literally, "wisdom of words"], lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. In verse 17, Paul says that his calling of God was to preach the Gospel, and the focus of the Gospel is the cross of Christ. Anyone who claims that he or she has an exclusive part in Christ is wrong. I told them GBC and they said something along the lines of, Oh a Bible college? In what ways have we failed to de-paganize? How important was unity to the apostle Paul, and to the Holy Spirit who moved Him to write this letter to the Church in Corinth? God wants the local church congregation and the local community to see the beauty of a church that is unified and fitted together in love. The anxiety of the childs mother continued to grow, for she knew that her boy was somewhere out in the darkness where wild animals were constantly on the prowl.