Divisions In The Church Series

I remember a lady who came back from a conference who was especially blessed by one of the preachers. She desperately wanted our whole congregation to hear him and seriously suggested that one Sunday, instead of having the congregation listen to my sermon, we put the TV behind the pulpit and play his sermon to the congregation!

Now, I do want to say that God has blessed his people with great preachers and teachers. We should learn from them and be blessed by their teaching. However, we should never sink to the point where we pit our favorite preachers against one another.

It is interesting to note that the Corinthian “heroes” (Paul, Apollos, and Cephas) preached the same gospel and they were not pitted against each other. No. It was the Christians in Corinth who were dividing over loyalty to their favorite leader.

IV. The Absurdity of the Divisions (1:13)

Fourth, think about the absurdity of the divisions.

Paul responded to the absurdity of the divisions by asking three questions. By the way the questions are stated in the Greek it is clear that Paul expected negative responses.

First, Paul asked in verse 13a, “Is Christ divided?” The kinds of divisions among the Christians at Corinth could perhaps be justified if Christ’s own resurrected body had somehow been dismembered. Elsewhere, Paul described the church as the body of Christ, the community of those joined to him and to one another by faith (Romans 12:3-5; Ephesians 3:6). If Christ had been dismembered after his resurrection, the divisions within the church might have been theoretically acceptable. But since Christ remained whole, the church needed to do so as well.

Second, Paul asked in verse 13b, “Was Paul crucified for you?” Because some members of the Corinthian church identified themselves as the followers of Paul, Paul asked if he himself had been crucified for the believers in Corinth. By this question he made it clear that to identify oneself as a follower of Paul was to insult the saving work of Christ. Paul was the servant and apostle of Corinth, but he was not their Savior.

And third, Paul asked in verse 13c, “Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” The New Testament makes it plain that Christian baptism was performed in the name of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19). This formula was often abbreviated as baptism “in the name of Jesus” (Acts 2:38; 19:5). Even so, nowhere in the New Testament were believers baptized in the name of an apostle or church leader. The loyalties of believers in all ages must be directed toward Christ alone.

Basically, Paul is urging Christians to understand that our unity is found in Christ alone. It is not found in any leader, no matter how effective and gifted that leader may be.

The importance of unity is seen in the Word of God. The Psalmist says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). The apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Rome, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:5-7). And there are many other passages that stress the importance of unity in the Word of God.