Division In The Church

DIVISION IN THE CHURCH

We might sum up the divisions in this church this way according to Parsons:

i. "I follow Paul" -- This group may have taken the attitude that Paul started this church and he will always be the leader. These are the traditionalists.

1. They always live in the past and never want to move on into the future: They like saying, "Leave everything the way it was; this is what the Lord wants! Paul saw Christ, so we will only listen to what He tells us to do! He is the founding apostle, and we need to do church the way he does it!"

2. McLeod from sermoncentral.com states: The "claim to fame" of the first group was this: "We are of Paul and therefore better than you! Anyone knows Paul is a great doctrinal preacher, and that's the only kind to have."

ii. "I follow Apollos" -- These people may have put great emphasis on the knowledge of Scripture. Apollos was mighty in his use of the Word (Acts 18:24, 25). These may have been the Bible intellectuals.

1. "Listen, we need to follow after Apollos because man that guy can preach with charisma! Paul is dry and boring and people have even fallen asleep in his meetings! So church is all about the preaching of dynamic messages that are powerful."

2. McLeod from sermoncentral.com states: "The second group would probably retort, 'We are of Apollos, and anyone with any sense at all will agree that Apollos is an eloquent preacher and can preach circles around Paul any day.'"

iii. "I follow Peter" -- These people may have put great emphasis on the church and were taking the attitude that Peter had been given the keys to the kingdom, instituted the church on Pentecost, and they would follow him. They may have been great "church" men without going further.

1. This group claimed divine apostleship as the only link to doing church the right way. They were for using a style that peter promoted an emphasis on Jewish tradition mixed with Christianity. A in your face type church that was bold and aggressive a true apostolic church -- one that followed the leading of Peter only because he lived with Jesus.

2. McLeod states: "The third group might then answer, 'We are of Cephas, and you can brag about doctrine and eloquence all you want to, but there's just nobody as down-to-earth and practical as Peter.'"

iv. "I follow Christ" -- These people may have been saying, "We don't need anyone or anything but Jesus."

1. This group was the spiritual elite who said "We only do things Jesus' way and the rest of these idol worshippers need to repent! We know the truth it's all Jesus and these others are people chasers not God chasers!"

2. McLeod states: "The fourth group could thereupon be pictured as looking down their long spiritual noses at the other three and piously saying, 'We are of Christ, and therefore look to no human preacher to lead us and feed us.'"