Sermon Tone Analysis

Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Native American warriors on horses, dressed for battle.

The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, "What are we going to do?" Tonto replied, "What you mean 'we,' Whiteman?"

Edward Dobson, In Search of Unity, p. 20-27.

*672** The Perfect Church*

I think that I shall never see

A Church that’s all it ought to be:

A Church whose members never stray

Beyond the Strait and Narrow Way:

A Church that has no empty pews,

Whose Pastor never has the blues,

A Church whose Deacons always deak,

And none is proud, and all are meek:

Where gossips never peddle lies,

Or make complaints or criticize;

Where all are always sweet and kind,

And all to other’s faults are blind.

Such perfect Churches there may be,

But none of them are known to me.

But still, we’ll work, and pray and plan,

To make our own the best we can.

There were no perfect churches at the time of the NT and there will be no perfect churches until Christ returns.

Our obligation as Christians then is not to find the perfect church, or most pure church, and leave that church whenever we find one more pure.

Rather, our obligation is to find a true church in which we can have effective ministry and in which we will minister, continually working for the purity of that Church.

So until Christ returns, we should be working, and praying, and planning with all of our strength on making our own the best we can.

I plea for this and I urge for this as does Paul.

* *

*1)      **The Problem *

* *

a)      In verse eleven, we are told that Paul receives a visit from “Chloe’s people” who report to him that there is quarreling among the church over church leaders.

i)        We know little to nothing about Chloe and her people.

Her name is a nickname for the goddess Demeter, and we know that Corinth was a major site for this cult.

ii)       Because of this connection, her name probably reflects servant origins but is now a freedwoman.

iii)     Since Paul does not tell the Corinthians who she is, they must have been acquainted with her.

iv)     Whoever her and her people are, Paul regards them as reliable witnesses and assumes that the Corinthians would recognize that their testimony carried weight and could not be lightly dismissed.

b)      So, Paul is struggling with a church divided against him and a church that is full of quarreling factions.

That it is divided over and against him is evident from the whole of chapter four, especially 4:1-6 and 4:18.

That it also struggles with inner strife among the members is evident from 1:12.

c)       The church of Corinth is full of quarreling (1:11), boasting (3:21, 4:7), pride (4:6), worldliness (3:3), and jealousy (3:3).

d)      The quarreling, boasting, pride, worldliness, and jealousy are not the causes of division but rather symptoms of a difficult issue.

Why is this?

What is causing such things?

While we cannot be dogmatic and say this is why they were divided, we can at least say we know these are some of the reasons why, though perhaps they are not all the reasons why.

There are at least two obvious causes.

i)        First, they have serious misunderstanding and confusion over the gospel.

A gospel that is righty grasped and appropriated does not lead to quarrelling and division.

ii)       Second, they have serious misunderstanding and confusion over the nature of the church and its leaders, and the leader’s relationship to that church.

A true understanding of this will lead to a stronger, united church.

e)      So, in this passage of Scripture, 1:10-4:21, we learn something concerning the nature of the gospel, what it is and what it is not, how it encompasses all of life, and not just part of it.

How it is the wisdom of God, but foolishness to the world.

We learn about the nature of the church, how it is a field, building, and temple,  and church leadership, and the relationship of the leaders to the church, and we learn about the nature of Paul’s ministry and servant like authority.

f)       This is a rich section of scripture that today’s church has much to learn from.

It deserves close study and examination because today’s church seriously fails to appropriate the full gospel in its doctrine and in its lifestyle, and today’s church seriously fails to understand its true nature and the role and relationship of its church leaders and as a result the church of God is hurting.

There is still some Corinth in today’s church, more than we would perhaps like to admit.

g)      Lets dig a little deeper into the problems at Corinth.

There are two words used in verses 10 and 11 that open up a window for us to look into the heart of the problems at Corinth, the first word is “scismata” from which the NIV gets “division.”

The word literally rendered means “rent,” or “tear” but metaphorically speaking it refers to a “division,” or “dissension” in people groups.

i)        We see this word used in its literal sense in Matthew 9:16 where Christ says, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.”

ii)       It is used in its metaphorical sense in John 7:40-43 – “When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet.’

Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’

But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’

So there was a division among the people over him.”

In John 9:16 we read, “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’

But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’

And there was division among them.”

In 1 Corinthians 11:18 we read that there are divisions among them and in 1 Corinthians 1:12 we come across what those divisions are.

h)      Here in 1 Corinthians 1:10 when we read “division” we have the metaphorical usage.

Paul says he does not want there to be “divisions” among the Corinthian believers.

He says the same in 1 Corinthians 12:25, “there should be no division in the body.”

However, the most significant thing to realize about this word scismata is it does not mean “break.”

It is not as strong as the English word “schism.”

It means a division, not a break.

There is a tear in the fabric of the church, but it is not completely broken up yet.

That is the first word.

There are divisions and dissensions between some people in the church, but the church as a whole is not completely broken.

The church is still holding together.

We would be wrong to think of the church in Corinth as deeply divided with warring factions and irreconcilable differences.

There was no break-up yet, but there was some nasty quarreling and strife about leaders.

i)        The second word that gives us a glimpse into some of the problems at the church is found in verse 11 and it is “erides” from which the NIV gets “quarrels.”

This word literally rendered means “strife,” “debate,” “contention” and “wrangling.”

It  refers to “hot dispute, the emotional flame that ignites whenever rivalry becomes intolerable” (Welborn 1997).

j)        It is a word that appears often in Paul’s list of vices

i)        Romans 1:28-32 - We find this word used in Romans 1:29 to describe the works of the unrighteous!

It says starting in Romans 1:28, “And since they did not  see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.

They are full of envy, murder, *strife*, deceit, maliciousness.

They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

ii)       Romans 13:13 – “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not *in dissension* and jealousy.”

iii)      In 1 Corinthians 3:3 Paul says to these very same Corinthians, “you are still of the flesh, for while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”

iv)      In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul lists the works of the flesh and includes “strife” as one of them.

v)      In Titus 3:9 Paul says to “avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.”

k)       We know from verse 12 that this quarreling is over church leadership.

Some members of the church have divided with factions forming around favorite leaders.

l)        Thus again, let me be clear of the situation that is presented in Corinth.

There does not seem to be an actual breakup of the congregation along party lines.

They are not split into many different little groups that have nothing to do with each other.

Rather, they are a divided congregation in the sense of having factions forming around favorite leaders.

Should all of this continue, they are well on their way to a complete break, but as of right now the fabric of the church is torn, but not completely ripped apart.

m)    So, we see that the Corinthians are in hot water.

Instead of demonstrating the gospel in their lives, instead of seeking to live out the full implications of their belief in a crucified Christ and their unity in him, they are demonstrating works of the flesh that are unprofitable and worthless, which God says those who practice such things “deserve to die.”

n)      Something has gone terribly wrong at the Corinthian church with these hot contentions and strife.

They are failing to live Christ like lives.