Brag About Jesus, And Belonging To Him (1 Corinthians 1:10-30) Series

Today, we're going to try cover the rest of 1 Corinthians 1, all at once. It's a pretty big section, so let's just dive in.

1 Corinthians 1:10:

(10) Now, I urge you, brothers , by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

(in order) that the same thing you may/shall all speak,

and (that) there may/shall not be among you divisions,

now , (that) you may/shall having been prepared (for a purpose) with/in the same mind

and with/in the same understanding.

The first appeal Paul makes in 1 Corinthians is for... what? Paul urges them to become a unity. He wants them all to be on one page, working together as one people. When they speak, they should all say the same thing. It doesn't matter who you talk to you in the church, they are all in agreement. They all have the same focus, the same goal, the same purpose. They have the same mind, the same understanding.

What they shouldn't have, is divisions. Divisions will keep them from fulfilling God's purpose for them.

We find ourselves wondering, what exactly is going on in this church? Paul then strengthens his argument in verse 11, using a "for" statement. This is what "for"s do. They strengthen, or maybe explain, an existing point. So this will help us:

(11) For, it was revealed to me about you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that rivalry among you there is.

Verse 10 is good advice to any church. There shouldn't be divisions. Everyone should have the same mind, and the same understanding. But verse 10 is not just a general command, or warning. There is a specific problem in the church, and Paul is upfront about telling them that he knows what's going on. Specifically, the "ones of Chloe" told him that there was rivalry among them.

English Bibles usually translate this word "rivalry" here as "quarrels" (NIV, ESV, NRSV) or "contentions" (KJV, Young's). But the idea isn't that people are simply bickering or arguing about something-- like over what the worship songs should be, or how long a service should be, or what a church's name should be. It's the word used in Philippians 1:12-17 (and 2:3). I'm going to use Young's Literal Translation:

12 And I wish you to know, brethren, that the things concerning me, rather to an advancement of the good news have come,

13 so that my bonds have become manifest in Christ in the whole praetorium, and to the other places -- all,

14 and the greater part of the brethren in the Lord, having confidence by my bonds, are more abundantly bold -- fearlessly to speak the word.

15 Certain, indeed, even through envy and contention, and certain also through good-will, do preach the Christ;

16 the one, indeed, of rivalry the Christ do proclaim, not purely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds,

17 and the other out of love, having known that for defence of the good news I am set:

Then, skipping down to Philippians 2:1-3:

2 If, then, any exhortation [is] in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

2 fulfil ye my joy, that ye may mind the same thing -- having the same love -- of one soul -- minding the one thing,

3 nothing in rivalry or vain-glory, but in humility of mind one another counting more excellent than yourselves --

This is a church with divisions. And fighting. And the source of these divisions is rivalry. Different groups view themselves as being in competition with each other. They try to outdo each other. They want to be the best-- the most important. My guess is that there are different house churches in Corinth, and they are fighting over which is best.

I've been in churches that have talked this way. They look at the surrounding community, and they know that there's only so many Christians in town. Christians are a scarce, valuable resource. And some Christians are going to different churches-- or even considering leaving your church, to go to a different one.

This is unacceptable. Your church should be the one that's growing. You should be the best church in town, with the best preaching, the best worship, the best youth group. This church, should be THE church in town-- the successful church, the winning church. And so you find yourself engaged in rivalry with other churches. If you're the teacher/pastor, you find yourself listening to the sermons of other pastors in town. You try to decide, are your sermons better? Is your worship team more gifted? Your goal in everything isn't so much excellence. It's not about serving Jesus to the best of your ability. It's more simply, to be better than the church down the street. To win in the marketplace that we call "Christianity."