Pursue Unity
There is great division in our country. We live in a time fraught with Red vs. Blue, Democrat vs. Republican, black vs. white, pro-mask vs. anti-mask. Yet what can you expect from the world?
Unfortunately, the church often looks much like the world. Many of my own church experiences have looked much the same. I’ve experienced some long, contentious business meetings. There has been great division in a great number of churches. There certainly was in the Corinthian church. Therefore Paul writes to them concerning this division. He encourages the church at Corinth to pursue unity that can only be found in the message of the cross.
1 Corinthians 1:10–12 CSB
10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. 11 For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you. 12 What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”
Cults of Personalities
My youth minister growing up frequently used the phrase “drinking the purple Kool-aid.” Most of you probably know what he was referencing, but for those who may not know:
Jim Jones was considered by some to be a great preacher. He was ordained by a Pentecostal association and by the Christian church. He eventually began his own church that eventually came to be known as Peoples Temple. It was initially an interracial mission, but it evolved into something entirely different: a cult, with Jones as the leader. In 1978, he led those who followed him to drink grape-flavored “Flavor-Aid” laced with cyanide, with 918 people dying that day.
Committing to follow a man can have devastating effects, but this is what was happening to an extent in the Corinthian church. The church was greatly divided because they were choosing to follow men instead of Christ. This prompted Paul to write to them in
An Appeal for Unity (v. 10)
Last week we concluded with Paul’s reminder that the church was called into fellowship with Christ Jesus. Verse 10 is connected with verse 9. Since you have been called into fellowship with Christ, you are also called into unity with one another. Paul appealed to the church to be unified in thought and action.
In making this appeal, Paul first appeals to them on a familial level. Have you ever had some family members that weren’t getting along? I have two brothers that are only about 18 months apart. Since there were three, we almost always had one that was left out and in disagreement with the other two. When I was not one of the involved parties, I would try to get my brothers to work out their differences because I loved both of them and wanted them to get along. Paul begins his appeal out of love for them, urging the brothers (and sisters) to come to an agreement.
Paul also appeals to the highest authority, the name of Christ Jesus. As an apostle, Paul was sent by Christ. He had an authority, not found in himself, but grounded in Christ to exhort them to unity. They were to be of one mind and one heart. The believers needed to say that same thing and be joined together in the same mind and same outlook.
Yet the fact remains that the church was not united, but were divided by cults of personalities.
Reports of Divisions (v.11-12)
While writing this letter, Paul was likely in the city of Ephesus. Some people belonging to Chloe, perhaps family members or servants, had travelled to Corinth. They had witnessed the division in the church. When they returned, they brought the message to Paul.
“Hey, Paul. We just got back from Corinth, taking care of some business there. While we were there, we went to the church you founded there. You won’t believe what is going on there. There is a great rivalry happening. People are divided with some saying they belong to you, some belong to Apollos. Some say they belong to Peter, while others claim they belong to a special class of Christ.”
There was so great a division that the people of Chloe called it a rivalry. I picture some extreme sibling rivalry happening in the church.
My best friend in high school had a brother just a year older than him. They both played football and they both wrestled. And they fought like cats and dogs. One day, his brother walks in with a cast on his arm. I thought maybe he had broken it in football or wrestling. Nope! He broke it when he went to punch his brother in the face and Bob dropped his head.
This church had rivalry greater than an OUTexas or OUOSU football game. It wasn’t just limited to two teams - there were four! Paul was the founder of the church. Some claimed to follow him. Apollos came later and was a skilled speaker. Some followed him. We don’t know if Peter ever came to Corinth, but apparently some knew him and claimed to follow him rather than the other two. And then this final group that no one really knows what was happening, but they seem to be claiming that they and they alone were following Christ. We may debate over the nature of the division, but that there were divisions in the church is an established fact.
Modern Church Cults of Personalities
Friends, far too many of our churches are divided today. You have people that want are more concerned with following after a certain teacher or preacher. Think about this: if we were to have a revival and we didn’t put the name of the revival preacher, how many people do you think would come?
Why is it that when the regular preacher is gone and the youth pastor is going to preach, the attendance drops?
Why is it that when someone with the last name Graham stands to speak, people flock to hear the message, but if someone with no big name stands to speak, he is lucky to have an audience? Is the Word not enough?
The modern church has a problem with a cult of personalities. We all tend to listen to certain preachers because they are “big names.” One Sunday school class I visited a few times seemed to preach John MacArthur more than they preached Christ!
One of the longest running versions of this that I see even from pastors is Calvinism vs. Arminianism. Do you follow John Calvin’s doctrine or that of Jacob Arminius?
Maybe you came to this church under Kevin. Or maybe under you became a member during Bro. Mike’s ministry. Perhaps Bro. Ken or Jeff. Maybe you have been here much longer than them. Could you imagine if each member were more a follower of the pastor than of Christ? That is what was happening in the Corinthians church.
But Paul calls out their ridiculous divisions and rivalries by pointing to the cross of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:13–17 CSB
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
Coalition of the Cross
Here Paul uses an interesting construction: Is Christ divided? Most would say it is a rhetorical question, which it well may be. It calls out the absurdity of the situation. Of course Christ is one. Almost every version translates this as a rhetorical question, but it is written as a statement. The fact is that Christ is divided. Later in this letter, Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body to describe the church as the body of Christ. He therefore paints a shocking portrayal of Christ’s body being torn into pieces from the inside out.
Maybe you know someone with an autoimmune disease. On a basic level, autoimmune disease occurs because the body’s natural defenses — the immune system — attack the body’s own healthy tissue. These can be extremely painful. Common symptoms are fatigue, fever, swollen glands, abdominal pain, and skin problems. The body is literally working against itself. When a church is divided, picture the body of Christ, tearing itself apart from the inside.
The only solution is to:
Rally Around the Cross (v. 13)
There is only one who could be crucified for the sins of all people and it be sufficient. If any of these men: Paul, Apollos, Peter, John MacArthur, or John Piper, if any mortal man were to be crucified, it would be justifiable. In Romans 3, Paul wrote that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every single mortal man has rebelled against the God of creation. God could rightfully bring His accusation against every single one of us and would be completely right and just to do so. We all deserve nothing but death for our crimes against Him.
But in His great mercy and love, that same God, whom we have wronged so greatly, He chose to send His only begotten Son to live among us and to die on a cruel cross though He had done nothing wrong.
It wasn’t Paul that was crucified for the church at Corinth. It wasn’t Billy Graham. It wasn’t Peter or Apollos. It wasn’t Calvin or Arminian. It was Jesus Christ. All of humanity can be united only at the cross of Jesus Christ. We are all equal before Him. Equally sinful. Equally saved.
The church can only be united under the headship of Jesus Christ. Not under a pastor. Not under deacons. Not under elders. Not under anything or anyone else except the Jesus Christ!
Paul went on to say that they weren’t baptized under the name of Paul, but that of Jesus Christ. His mention of baptism seemed to prompt him into a digression regarding baptism.
Baptism is Useless without the Cross (v. 14-17a)
Though Paul founded the church and was pastor there for about 18 months, he did not do much baptizing. He says he only baptized two people, but remembers later that he also baptized the household of Stephanas.
For many pastors, to say that you didn’t baptize many would be seen as a failure. Baptist churches report every year on how many people they have baptized. Paul’s metrics weren’t based on baptism. He doesn’t say that baptism wasn’t important, but it wasn’t primary.
Paul says he is, in fact, thankful that he didn’t do more baptizing if that meant people would be following him. Perhaps Paul even delegated the responsibility of baptism to other members of the church. He would’ve been following the example of Jesus. Jesus didn’t baptize anyone, but rather delegated that responsibility to His disciples (Jn 4:2).
The fact is that baptism does not save. Some believe in the idea of “baptismal regeneration,” but is baptism were to save, wouldn’t both Jesus and Paul have made the issue of baptism of greater concern?
Water baptism is simply a testimony and demonstration of the faith one already possesses in the work of the cross. It testifies to the transformation of a person that has already occurred. You must already be made a new creation before going through the baptismal waters or you are only going to get wet.
I am afraid that there are too many people in our churches that walked down an aisle, repeated a rehearsed prayer led by a pastor or deacon, and took a bath in front of the congregation without ever having believed in their heart that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and confessing Jesus is Lord. They have been plunged, but not born again.
What about you? You may have been baptized in the water, but have you been baptized in the Spirit?
Baptism is useless without the power of the cross in your life. It is the power of the cross that saves from sin. It is the power of the cross that brings new life.
Church, baptism is rightly required to become a member of the church, but the goal isn’t to add to our membership roll. The goal is to add to the kingdom of Christ. If our focus is on baptizing people into our church, we are as bad as the Corinthians. The Corinthians were more concerned with who performed their baptism than the body of Christ which they were baptized into. Paul says he is glad that he didn’t baptize more of them. Further, his purpose wasn’t to baptize, but to preach the gospel in the power of Christ Jesus.
The Cross is Powerful (v. 17)
The last part of this sentence is Paul’s main thrust of this section as he will begin to expand on the theme of the opposition of human wisdom and God’s wisdom in the next unit. We will look more at that next week.
The message of the cross is powerful. It works for the salvation of any man, woman, boy, and girl. It is a glorious but solemn duty to step into the pulpit and proclaim the message of the cross. Because of this, there is great power in the pulpit. Unfortunately there have always been those who try to take advantage of the power of the pulpit. Instead of proclaiming the glories of God and mercies of Christ, they promote themselves. What Paul is denouncing in v. 17 is preaching in a “status-conferring manner.”
At the end of every service, of every sermon I preach, I don’t want to hear how I preached well or how my sermon was great. I don’t want to hear how my preaching was better this week than last week. I certainly don’t want to hear that it was worse than last week. I don’t want you to walk out of here saying “What a great preacher Joel is!” What I want to hear is “What a great Savior Jesus is!”
The message of the cross is opposed to a message that promoting a person other than Jesus. The message of the cross is powerful, but to take the message of the cross and dilute it with any other message is to render the message empty and ineffective.
In presenting the gospel, there is no need for great oratorical skill or manipulation. You can share the gospel with anyone as long as you know the message:
That God the Creator so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son to die on a cross and pay the penalty for your sins and whoever believes in Him will not spend eternity in damnation, but will enjoy life with Him for all eternity.
Have you trusted in the message of the cross for your salvation?
The Message of the Cross is the Power to Unite
When you are living by the wisdom of man, division is the result. But when you live in the power of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, He draws you into unity. You begin to have the same outlook and the same mind-set because you say the same thing: I follow Jesus Christ.
Is this your confession? Can you say with certainty: “I follow Jesus Christ!”? If not, won’t you do so today?