Do Not Be Divided
After a brief introduction and greeting, Paul gets right to his first point:
Vs. 10-17 Now I urge you, brothers, 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. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you. What I am saying is this: Each of you says, “I’m with Paul,” or “I’m with Apollos,” or “I’m with Cephas,” or “I’m with Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
Paul says, there are things that are dividing you and causing unnecessary friction. The Corinthian church is on it’s way to a split – and not over doctrine or theology, but over which disciple or apostle they attached themselves to. There were even those who attached themselves to Christ out of piety or to sound good, but Paul saw right through this and calls it out. The word for division here is schisma. We get our word schism from this. A schism is a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief. This wasn’t just a little disagreement. This was a full blown church splitting disagreement made up of several factions. Paul really gets on to the church and Instead, says they need to be united or knit together. The word used here for united is katartizó, which means to complete or prepare and to bring things into it’s proper condition. For me, this was a whole new way of looking at unity in our churches. It is not just about being in agreement, it is about being complete. We can’t be complete when we are fighting about worldly things that have nothing to do with truth. There will always be disagreements – that is a part of being human. But these disagreements should not divide our congregations. We can still have a unified doctrine, a unified gospel, and a unified purpose.
Does this word hit home today or what! How many churches have split in the past 20 years? How many denominations have come to the point of schisma? I’m not talking about doctrine here, although that has come into play in recent history, but I’m taking about things like politics, aligning with a certain pastor or teacher, or how we worship. I know churches right now who have separate worship services because they can’t figure out how to worship together as one body. One doesn’t like “praise” music while others don’t like those “old” hymns. Some don’t want a guitar or drum playing while others don’t want the organ. We have turned into churches of the “young” service and the “old” service, dividing our body over song. In the last year, we have divided over politics, whether to mask or not to mask or whether to social distance or not. We scoff at those that take the mask/social distance road or shun those that don’t. There are those who don’t speak to one another because of their political alignment. And what do you suppose Paul would say to our congregations? He would say – this is not what church is. Church is not how we worship or which political party we support. Church is not based on a certain pastor or teacher. Church is about the body of Christ. We are to be about what Christ was about – and I can tell you it was NOT politics. It was not about how the synagogue worshiped. And, it was not about which rabbi was teaching or which religious faction was popular. It was about a cross upon which He died, becoming the Lamb of God for us so we might be able to be in relationship with God. It was about going and telling and baptizing and teaching in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It was about taking the gospel of Jesus the Messiah into all the world. Paul would say to us – get back to the heart of what the church is there for.
Vs. 18-25 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts. Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Here it is in a nutshell – the church is is about the message of the cross. The word for message here is logos, which means word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning,,,The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:1-2; 14. The reality is, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The wise think they know best, the scholars, the philosophers etc. But they do not know what is truly important. It is the cross of Christ. He is the way the truth and the life. This is the heart of the church and the message that we speak. This is the message the world does not understand. They see the message of the church as foolishness and a stumbling block. But we, who trust in God, are saved by that “foolish” cross. We trust in God’s wisdom, which the world sees as beyond understanding. But here’s the thing – the most “foolish” thing of God is wiser than all human wisdom put together. God’s weakest thing is stronger than all of human strength. Christ going to the cross looks to the world as weak – after all he went humbly and willingly without a fight. He spoke of the power of God in His words and teachings, so going to the cross seemed foolish – yet it is the reason we have abundant and eternal life. I can tell you this – it doesn’t matter which political party we align ourselves with – it will not save us. It doesn’t matter the type of worship music we sing or play – if it is not to the glory of God, it is worthless. It doesn’t matter which pastor or teacher we follow – if our hearts are not right with God, no amount of teaching will give us abundant or eternal life.
Vs. 26-31 Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
Finally, Paul wraps this portion up with this – It’s all about God. It’s not about us. God chose what was foolish in the eyes of the world to bring about salvation. I mean, whoever heard of death bringing life? Whoever heard of an instrument of torture bringing about healing? Whoever heard of shame bringing about abundant life? But that is what the death of Jesus Christ on the cross did. God is in the business of turning what is foolish and despised into wisdom and strength. In Luke 4, Jesus stood up in the synagogue and quoted Isaiah 61:1-3 says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify Him.” He was rejected because they couldn’t see anything but a simple carpenter and son of Joseph and Mary. That He was the Messiah was foolishness to them. But God is in the business of taking our ashes and turning them into something beautiful. He is in the business of taking our mourning and turning it into a festive praise. He is in the business of using shepherds to proclaim the coming of the Messiah and fishermen to be the ones to take the gospel into all the world. He is in the business of exalting the widows mite and a young boy’s two loaves and five fish. All of it is foolishness to the world – but we, who are in Christ Jesus, boast of God’s “foolishness” as it is the the way of salvation for the world.
Let us not be divided by those things that are not important. Let us not spend our energy on things that will not last for eternity. Instead, let us be one body, in Christ, who embrace the foolishness of the cross as our way to salvation. Let us in one voice proclaim that He is LORD and, in Him, we will be made whole and complete.
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