This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. Now, the second thing Paul says is, "Was Paul crucified for you?" 2- The Churchs division. In desperation, they returned and held a meeting. Sometimes a church leader can have so much clout that he begins to have cult status. There were: the followers of Paul, the followers of Apollos, the followers of Cephas or Peter, and the followers of Christ. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. At that time it was under the leadership of its founder, Dawson Trotman, and it was my privilege and delight to be a close friend of his, to have spent a good deal of time with him and to come under the influence of his teaching and his methods. There should be oneness of mind, no matter how long it takes. One of his biggest goals is to double our congregation so we have 5,000 members. So undoubtedly there was a big group that followed Paul. Just as there was competiveness for honor and prestige among the orators of the first century, it also seems like there is competition between the pastors and churches of today. I will jump on the bandwagon here and say that division is definitely an issue today. It wasnt even about secondary doctrine (the second coming, the nature of baptism). They did not try to hide the problems. Like Greg, I recognize this tension in some of the churches I have served in and find it appalling (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). Austin Hellier Brisbane Queensland Australia. To all of this Paul would say to us, as he says to Corinth, Is Christ divided? The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. The news went out but no one had seen the little fellow. 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. We see similar situations today, with political debates often devolving into a shouting match in which the person who yells their opinion the loudest and the longest is the winner. WebPaul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. I think that if you put the teachings of a man over the teachings of Scripture then you have a problem. What should our evaluation of a ministry look like I wonder if its not by numbers? To resolve this issue, he encourages communal love. 3- The presence of an immoral member. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. There are three different causes of divisions in churches that Paul mentions in I Corinthians. Acts 18:24 says that Apollos was an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man. And some of them are really gross. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who RayStedman.org/permissions. There was extreme competition among the orators for honor and power. Some considering Paul their authority, other Apollos, others Peter, and still others accepted only Jesus as their authority. We all know what a clique is. Unlike most of his other epistles, Paul plunges right into the heart of the practical problems that were affecting this church, and the first of these, the problem of divisions within the church, he begins to deal with in Chapter1, Verse10. If you limit yourself to one speaker or one teacher and feed only on him, you are getting a distorted view of Jesus Christ; you are chopping Christ up, dividing him and taking one little portion as one man reports it and ignoring the rest, thus your view of Christ is deficient and unable to satisfy you as it was intended to do. On a large jigsaw puzzle of a thousand pieces or more, its almost impossible to put it together upside down! A. I would like to close this service by reading what one man wrote about the cross: It is well that we should think sometimes of the Upper Room and the Last Supper, and of his soul, "exceeding sorrowful unto death"; of Gethsemane and the deep shadow of the olive trees; his loneliness, prayers, and disappointment with his disciples; his bloody sweat; the traitor's kiss; the binding, the blow in the face, the spitting, the buffeting, the mocking, the scourging, the crown of thorns, the smiting; the sorrowful way and the burdensome cross; the exhaustion and collapse; the stripping, the impaling, and the jeers of his foes, and the flight of his friends; the hours on the cross; the darkness, his being forsaken of God; his thirst, and the end. Like the world, Christians are too concerned with being right and having our way. Thats not the way a jigsaw puzzle was meant to be put together. The better the orator, the higher the fee, and the more disciples he will attract. When it comes to seeking the spiritually lost for Christ, we can be much more effective if we are perfectly joined together in an unfailing zeal for Gods glory, not our own. It wasnt even about secondary doctrine (the second coming, the nature of baptism). These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. Now, almost every group does this. I told them GBC and they said something along the lines of, Oh a Bible college? Paul is putting his finger right on the problem when he asks, "Was Paul crucified for you?" I dont remember Paul seeing any thing like these issues as other than trivial. 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 sacrifice quality for numbers I dont think we are being good stewards of our gift of leadership. Paul gives the church a stern warning about their actions and the proper way to participate. WebDivisions in the Church. 7-False zeal for spiritual gifts. WebPaul goes right on, in Verse 12, 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." Unity in the church is something that requires cooperation with each other and with the Spirit of God. Sermon 5: Who is the Most Important? When everybody decides to put the things of Christ first, and is willing to suffer loss that the honor and glory of Christ might be advanced, that is what brings harmony in a congregation. You could spot the Navigators going up and down the streets of Honolulu. They are still acting just like the world. This is the challenge of the divisions in 1 Corinthians how does the modern church act just like the world? Now, it cannot. When you divide up among men you lose something, that is what he is saying. It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. It was expected. Although the modern church has improved in many ways compared to the ancient churches, there is still the issue of division that exists among differing churches as was in the ancient churches. The divisions of Christendom are the scandal of Christianity. When you get men's eyes off all these status symbols, and call them back away from following men to the Person of Christ and his cross, all the divisions will disappear. WebThe spirit that wrought such mischief at Corinth has been busy in the Church ever since. We worry about how the power points are going to look, if we should have one or two singers, drums or no drums, electric guitars or none at all (I feel like you get my point) its almost as if we worship these things! How important was unity to our Lord Jesus Christ? They forget, of course, that the church never belongs to anybody but the Lord. So they were splitting and arguing and quarreling over the relative merit and authority of these various teachers. He is the ground, always, of unity. That is what they were doing with baptism here in Corinth. That is what Paul speaks about. Long has taught full time at Grace Christian University since 1998, specializing in Bible and Biblical languages. Members follow him blindly and whatever they do seems right to them. Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). In verses 10-17 of Chapter 1, Paul establishes the fact that there are divisions and begins to deal with them. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. I agree with P. Longs last statement in that things have not improved much since the first century. On opening it you found a loose-leaf notebook with many of the small, half-page materials that the Navigators printed their Bible helps on. This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. That is why the apostle appeals to it. Some had no problem with consuming meat that had been sacrificed to idols; for others, it was a real offense. Alexandria was a center for learning and philosophy. Offshoots had disturbed the church. Other divisions were to follow. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. In verse 11, Paul gives the reason for his appeal for unity in the church at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1-4 Division in the Church, division in the church of Corinth was over leadership, 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 Lawsuits Among Brothers, Corinthiaka in New Testament Blogs | Corinthian Matters, The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World. That is the mind Paul is talking about. It is possible, though, that the divisions among In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). 1 Corinthians 1:10: 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.. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. The search went on until nightfall, but no answer came to their urgent calls. Take the various mega-churches for example, whose charismatic pastors live in mansions. Some say, "I am of Gothard," and others say, "No, I am of Bright." Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. Now, how could that be? Let's get back to the beginnings. All are mere teachers; there is only one Lord. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ.". 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. We came to life in Christ by Paul, and Paul is the one we're going to listen to above all others." Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Some boasted of their special spiritual gifts; others felt left out. I told them that it is a concern of mine as well. We all know what a clique is. God, therefore, has designed that there be many teachers, many preachers, many viewpoints, in a church. Not when some people in the congregation wont look at, speak to, or even acknowledge the existence of certain other people in the congregation. Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. Some considering Paul their authority, other Apollos, others Peter, and still others accepted only Jesus as their authority. There were, first of all, the loyalists who said, "We are of Paul. I'm nobody, just like you!" It is interesting how quickly we forget where our gifts come from and think we are the cause of success. Therefore our boasting should only be in the Lord (1 Corinthains 1:26-31). 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. 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. Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. 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. We need to be perfectly joined together in the love of Christ. Paul exhorts them to agree. That is why Paul calls us back to it. From the book of Acts we learn that Apollos was an outstanding orator in a world that loved and appreciated oratory. Apollos was an intellectual. Will we do so by the strength which God alone can and will supply? Now to this, there should be a division that exists considering that there are some denominations that do teach correct biblical doctrine, while other churches deviate from correct biblical doctrine in order to teach their own false doctrines. Paul doesnt want these divisions to continue, so he offers them an alternative. There are several important terms in this passage. There is no other name big enough, great enough, glorious enough, and powerful enough to gather everybody together, despite the diversity of viewpoint and the differences of background or status in life, than the name of Jesus. The bridesmaids have come down the aisle. In 1 Corinthians, Paul consciously avoids disciple-teacher language. If we are, all our differences and difficulties would soon come to an end. WebThe Christians at Corinth were dividing the church by pledging their loyalties to different celebrities. The elders should make their decisions with the same mind and the same judgment. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. 2 Corinthians The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. Paul enters this world of wretched Sophists and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By focusing on Jesus we can see how important the parts of church really are. The cross of Christ cuts across all human value systems. It seems so bland compared to all the other choices out there when really it presents and encourages people to live out a very different and exciting life in the opposite direction of the world. There is not a single teacher who ever lived who can heal the hurt of a broken heart, or supply energy and adequacy to someone who feels worthless and unable to function in society, not one. For example, in the first section from 1:10 to 4:21, it's errors regarding division. Thanks for the thoughtful comment Austin. Why? Ones honor and reputation were valued highly and if someone attacked your reputation it was expected that you would defend yourself and retaliate by publicly bashing your attacker. 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. In verses 10-12, Paul begins by giving an appeal for unity. (Philippians 2:6-8 RSV). I was taking my break and a person I work with asked where I went to college. Like I talked about in the first posting, the emerging church makes me question a lot of things they are doing. It builds him up too much; it makes him a rival, to some degree, of the Lord himself. 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).

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