A Divided Church

1 Cor 1:10 – 17

Connection/Tension

For great portions of my life, I have felt insecurity and anxiety over my failure to stand out from others. Do you not also struggle with the same sort of thing? What makes me unique? What defines who I am?

Does that insecurity ever drive your attention inward toward introspection or outward toward distractions or some sort of attention gaining behavior? I can remember times in recent years waxing eloquent about some controversial topic to get a reaction from people- which would then place me at the center of attention in the room.

Now, when I’m engaged in these sorts of things, I’ve noticed something about myself: I’m not focused on others, and I’m certainly not focused on God. My life has a shallow purpose and I’m living to knit the family of God together or to advance the cause of Christ.

According to this passage, our insecurity drives us to seek fame and recognition in unhealthy ways that makes us a threat to the unity of Jesus’s church.

How do we respond to this alarming reality and keep ourselves from harming the family Jesus pursued at the cost of his own blood?  

 

Context

Pastor Sam preached the last two weeks on the introduction sections to 1 Corinthians. Now, we move into the main part of the letter. [1] For the next fifteen chapters, Paul is going to address ten different problems in the Corinthain church. Some of these things he heard about (1:10) and some of the things the Corinthian church wrote to him about (7:1).[2] Andy Naselli has broken down these ten topics and titles the first issue (which we will begin focusing on today) “dividing over church teachers.”[3] This first issue will carry us all the way through the end of chapter 4- it’s the one Paul spends the most time on.

He just mentioned the “fellowship” the Corinthians shared in Jesus (v. 9), and now he is going to transition addressing their disunity.

 

Revelation

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 begins the main section of his letter with a “strongly urging.”[4] He writes to “brothers,” which is referring to the sibling-like nature of fellow believers in a church.[5] “Brothers” is not a term that overlooks women or prioritizes men in the least. Rather, it’s an image of a sibling-like relationship that defines the church (and we will get back to more of why that image is important soon).

Now, in the next few words, we see that this appeal couldn’t hold any higher importance for Paul. In fact, he could not invoke anything greater than what he’s about to. He appeals to the Corinthians by the “name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” And lest we become confused by what any of those titles mean, another way you could translate “the Lord Jesus Christ” is “our leader Jesus, the king chosen by God.”

What does this Apostle find so important that he invokes the highest name of all?  What is so burdening his heart that he begins this letter here?

“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 judgement.”

Paul’s priority is the unity of the church. There are other important things he will get to – like sexual immorality and public lawsuits- yet all of these will wait and take a back seat until he can address this topic of the upmost importance.  This church is a divided church- and that will not do if Jesus is their one king.

How did Paul find out they had division and what did they divide over? Paul writes in the next verse,

11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

Paul heard from “Chloe’s people” -who are likely members of her household or her business associates if she was a wealthy person-[6] that there is quarreling. At this moment, Paul for the second time refers to the Corinthian church as, “my brothers.”  He’s drawing attention to the family identity of the church.

“Brothers” is shorthand for “brothers and sisters” and references the family-like bond these quarrelling brothers shared and made their conflict that much more unbearable.

So, here is Reason 1 that the church cannot tolerate disunity: it rends apart the new-creation family Jesus came to create through his death and resurrection.

The old human family- the one Jesus died to renew- has quarrelling as a chief characteristic. The mention of “quarrelling brothers” echoes the conflict of Cain and Abel. In that story, envy and the desire to be superior motivated the older brother to kill his younger (Gen 4:4).

In the beginning, God had created a unified family that shared him as king (cf. Gen 2:25)- unity and life characterized this first family. The work of our enemy, the deadly serpent, was not just to bring division between God and man, but between man and wife and brother and brother (cf. Gen 3:11). He brought destruction and death to the human family through bringing division.

Question, if the serpent was able to bring destruction and death to the first human family by bringing division among them, what do you think he will do with God’s new creation family, the church?

It’s no mystery why this issue has felled so many churches and so many works of God. It’s the same ancient strategy that has brought chaos to God’s people through the generations.

There is a contrast between life and unity in Eden and hostility and division East of Eden. The first lovely and desirable the second is ugly and repulsive (and oh that we would have spiritual eyes to see disunity for what it is and to hate it more and to love unity more than anything we could divide over).

Paul’s language in these first couple verses highlights the contrast between these two alternatives. On one hand, the word “united” refers to “restoration” or repair.[7] In the gospel, God has taken a divided, hostile human family and stitched them back together through the blood of Jesus. Do you have any idea how precious each local church is to the heart of God?  If the process he went through to obtain the unity of the church was the death of his Son, shouldn’t we conclude that our unity is priceless beyond imagination?

When you think of it that way, the word “division” becomes even more unimaginable. It’s a word that refers to “tearing” or ripping apart.[8] When we divide, we are ripping apart the family that God stitched together with his love and grace.

Has anyone here ever had stitches? Just think of how careful you are to protect a wound that is healing- how important that limb or that part of your face becomes to protect while the process of healing unfolds. Think of how horrifying it would be if any of those stiches ripped or broke. Should we not think of division in our church family with the same degree of horror. Of all things, we must not tolerate division.

Now, let’s continue with what Paul wrote, and learn more about the source of division in this church (and in own as well),

12 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.”

Paul shares here the most concerning part of the report from Chloe’s people: the church in Corinth had divided into factions who identified with different teachers.

First, you have a group that’s loyal to Paul, the founder of the church in Corinth (Acts 18:1 – 16). Yet, Paul is completely discontent with any honor the church shows him, if it reduces the honor they show to Christ.[9]

Another faction follows “Apollos,” a powerful preacher in the early church (c.f. Acts 18:24 – 28), and another “Cephas,” another name for, “Peter,” a leader of the Apostles (1 Cor 15:5).

A last group identified with “Christ,” whom you might think Paul would say, “that’s right!” But rather, he gives them some squinty eyes and says, “I see what you’re up to…” Chrysostom explains it this way,

“Even those who said they were of Christ were at fault, because they were implicitly denying this to others and making Christ the head of a faction rather than the head of the whole church.”[10] In other words, they were not seeking Christ’s honor by unifying with God’s people under his lordship, but falsely using his name to exult their own faction.

The Corinthians are looking for some identifying marker to pull them above their fellow Christians in recognition and honor. In other words, the reality of sharing God as Father and Christ as king is not sufficient for them to accept one another as family and unite under the banner of Christ. Instead, they are trying to claw their way to the top over one another and ripping apart Christ’s family in the process. Paul will not stand for it! He writes,

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

These questions all assume an answer of “no.” Paul asks them rhetorically for greater emphasis and force.

“Is Christ divided?” In other words, “Christ is not divided!”

“Was Paul crucified for you?” means, “Paul was not crucified for you!”

“Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” means, “You were not baptized in the name of Paul.”

“Is Christ divided?” Is a mysterious question. Anthony Thiselton says, “the probable meaning of [this Greek word] is ‘has Christ been apportioned?”[11] As in, everyone is splitting up and getting their portion of him like when a married couple separates, and they divide their possessions between themselves. Do you think Jesus is going to tolerate his people treating him that way?

The next question, “Was Paul crucified for you?” Paul cuts to the heart of things. No one has died for the church except for Christ and so no one is the Lord of the church but him! We rob Jesus of honor when we try to elevate ourselves by attaching our identity to something besides him.

Finally, “were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Baptism is the entrance ceremony into the people of God. It visibly shows Jesus’s forgiveness of sins as the starting point to belonging to his family. Therefore, we baptize in Jesus’s name. God uses a ceremony that shows we solely belong to and depend on Jesus to form us into a local church, and makes our common dependence on Jesus the source of our shared identity and unity.[12] How could we divide when these things are so?

Yet the heart of self-exultation, that expressed itself in the Corinthians, often shows up in each one of us. And we have an opponent who wants to use our grandiose hearts to fuel competition and division in God’s family.

Here we find Reason 2 we can’t tolerate division: when we divide, we act as if Jesus didn’t die and rise for us and there is not power to unite in every circumstance.

In what way are you tempted to exult yourself above others and divide Jesus’s family? In what ways is the world in which we live or your own flesh leading you into a pattern of self-exultation?

Do you gravitate towards a friend group that has become a clique and excludes other brothers and sisters?

Do you have an agenda to advance a political or lifestyle ideology and quarrel with others over it?

And here is one with which we can all identify: Do you want to show yourself superior to others in some way for a sense of validation? Do you take pride in your intelligence, your appearance, your social skills, your financial success, or even your sense of spiritual maturity or humility?

You know if you compare yourself to others if your emotions rise and fall based on whether you perceive you are superior or inferior to those around you.

Here’s the point: when we identify with someone/something other than Christ as the foundation of our identity, we drive division into Christ’s body and become a threat to his community. How so? Because when we seek to rise above others, we do so at other’s expense- we put them down rather than love them. We can’t deeply love and compete with our brothers and sisters at the same time. It must be one or the other. And if we chose competition over love, we are working for the cause of division not unity.

You show me disunity in the church and very likely, if you look at what’s underneath, you will find human pride. If we cannot resolve conflict in a healthy, loving way, most likely someone (or more than someone) has an agenda of winning over loving.

I have this group of college friends and we recently had our biggest conflict yet. We were enjoying our regular sushi date, and a conversation about something small erupted into something big. I was shocked. Before I knew it, one of my friends left angry and everyone else was trying to process what happened.

That friend who left angry searched his heart and prayed over the next few days. When we spoke again, he confessed he was more concerned about “winning” than he was about honoring God and loving his friend When we hold onto Jesus + something else, we are willing sacrifice the community for our own interests. And my friends, we all have this same tendency towards winning lurking in our hearts- it’s our natural frame of mind and our default.

So, what do we need to fight this temptation to lift ourselves above others- that seems so present that it’s almost unbeatable?

We need the story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection to form and remake our hearts.[13]

You see, the gospel is the opposite of self-exultation. When Jesus laid down his life, he was seeking to honor his father and rescue his people and willingly received shameful treatment to do so.

In our own attempts to elevate ourselves, we sacrifice others for our own advancement. In the gospel, Jesus sacrificed himself to give life to others. He created a family through self-sacrifice, and that family maintains the unity Christ gave us through following his model of self-sacrifice for the other.

There is no such thing as irresolvable conflict with someone if you both follow the same crucified Lord. If the way he made peace with us was to sacrifice his own life, how much do you think he wants us sacrifice to have peace with one another?

He wants to make us a community of peacemakers who care more about relationship than our reputation- who prize knowing God and loving people more than standing out as superior.

What self-interest do you need to die to this morning so that you can be a creator of unity in this church body?

What active conflict are you in right now with someone in this community? What step do you need to take to be at relational peace with that person? Our unity is not optional, our king requires it of us.

Just a quick note on pursuing unity: there are genuine conflicts we can have with others who are in unrepentant sin and refusing to turn. The question then is not, “is there no conflict?” but rather, “am I pursuing this person in the most humble, godly way possible?”

And, if you are in conflict with someone where neither of you are in obvious disobedience to Scripture, then there is no excuse that should keep you from unity.

Now, Paul keeps going,

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

Who agrees with me that these are strange verses? We get the sense in these verses that Paul is a real man writing a real letter. He doesn’t remember everything. And yet, God is using this human being to reveal unchanging, inspired truth.

He’s thankful that he didn’t baptize anyone except these two men- who were probably leaders in the Corinthian church (cf. Acts 18:8). What’s his reason?  “so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name,” that is, there is less ammunition those who want to boast and exult themselves. Paul is now a demonstration of the gospel himself: he cares less for his own reputation than the church’s unity. He would rather God use someone else if it means less division in the church and more glory for Jesus.

And then Paul concludes,

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.

In a couple weeks, Daniel is going to unpack this amazing idea more when he preaches on the next verses that unpack these ideas.

Preaching explains the gospel to our ears through words.

Baptism illustrates the gospel to through a picture.

Paul, the Apostle had the task of preaching the gospel because preaching the gospel leads to baptism for those who believe which leads to the commitment of a local church community. As a traveling Apostle, Paul likely let others in the community who could keep walking with someone administer baptism after he did the work of preaching.[14]

He speaks not in a manner that seeks to impress people and draw attention to himself. He speaks in a manner that gives attention and focus to Jesus.

As Paul narrates how own example in loving and serving this church, he shows that everything he did had this one aim- lifting Jesus high. Therefore, everything he did has the effect of drawing Jesus’s people into one. He lays out his life so we can imitate it (cf. 1 Cor 11:1).

Insecurity and attention-seeking or self-exulting behavior did not characterize Paul because he had someone bigger than himself to live for. I don’t have to live this way anymore and neither do you.

Would you join me in living for the glory of Jesus in the world and in this church and leave personal grandiosity and pointless conflict in the dust?

Let’s pray.

Meditation

What self-interest do you need to die to this morning so that you can be a creator of unity in this church body?

What active conflict are you in right now with someone in this community that you need to resolve?

Do you need to bring in a mediator to help you solve conflict with someone else?

Is there someone who has asked you for forgiveness but you’re holding out?

 

Benediction

2 Cor 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

[1] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 111.

[2] Guy Prentiss Waters, The Lord’s Supper as the Sign and Meal of the New Covenant, ed. Dane C. Ortlund and Miles V. Van Pelt, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 99.

[3] Andrew David Naselli, Tracing the Argument of 1 Corinthians: A Phrase Diagram (Andrew David Naselli, 2023), 9.

[4] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 765.

[5]  Stephen T. Um, 1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 23–30.

[6] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 121.

[7] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 526.

[8] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 981.

[9] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 263.

[10] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 10.

[11] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 136.

[12] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries on I and II Corinthians, trans. Henry Beveridge, vol. XX (BakerBooks, 2009), 67.

[13] I got this language from Tim Keller’s book, Preaching.

[14] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 264.