Live In Harmony

Alba 1-19-2025

LIVE IN HARMONY

I Corinthians 1:10-17

Today's message is Live In Harmony. Here is something that was in Readers Digest. This person said, “To save money, I suggested to one of my grown sons that we all live together in one house. I could tell he didn’t think it would be cost-effective when he asked, Who’s going to pay the therapist?”

That is something to think about. We love our families, but if we spend too much time together in close quarters, it can be hard to get along. The same is true with our church family.

Last week, in the first part of First Corinthians chapter one, we saw that Paul was thankful for how God's grace was making a difference in the lives of the Christians at Corinth. Yet, it was a church full of problems.

If anyone thinks that everyone is perfect in church, they will be shocked by what they read in First Corinthians. In the first six chapters, Paul deals with all the problems within the church. And the church was FULL of them!

In I Corinthians 1:11 the apostle Paul says, “For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.” This is the only reference in the New Testament to Chloe. It has been suggested she was a business woman in Ephesus, with an office in Corinth.

Anyway, some of her family members and/or employees told Paul about the problems in the Corinthian church. He is not working from rumor or speculation, but rather, he is dealing with first hand truth. They were contentious. The original Greek word for “contentions” could also be translated “quarrels” or “factions.” Back in verse two, the church people there are referred to as “saints”. The problem is that while Christians are called saints in the Scriptures, the sad part is how often we act less than saintly.

Verse ten, in the New King James Version of our scriptures, begins with "Now...". Paul is saying, "OK, now let's get down to business." He calls on them to speak the same thing, and to not have divisions among them. The root problem is that people were losing sight of what was important: The unity we have in Christ. They were starting to become the “Me First” Church and were focusing on everything but what was truly important.

As Christians, we need to rid ourselves of any factions, prevent any factions from developing, and repent of any divisive attitudes we might have. So how do we do that? How do we make sure that contentions and divisiveness will not interfere with what God calls the church to be and to do and live in harmony? Well, first we must live:

1. Under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ

In verse ten, Paul begins his call to unity by making all of us to understand that call comes from the Lord Himself. He says, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is an outright appeal to them to seek unity under the lordship of Jesus! Do you see what He’s saying here? He is saying no divisions, no cliques, and no parties are allowed in the church of Jesus Christ. And he appeals to the authority of Jesus Himself. He is telling the Corinthians that this directive comes from the Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, if we all truly follow Jesus as we should, we will all be going the same direction. And there will be no room for disagreement or dissension or division.

Listen to this insightful observation of A.W. Tozer: “One hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other. They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship” (The Pursuit of God, p. 90).

The Greek word for “division” in verse 10 is “schisma” which means to “rip” or “tear”. If we allow division in the church, it is never a clean tear. It always leaves damage. If you’ve been in a church where there is division it is like tearing a piece of cloth. It is messy and hard, and it ruins everything.

In verse 13 there is the question, “Is Christ divided?” This means, has Christ been split up into different groups? Would He want His body, the church, fragmented? Of course not! We are unified in Christ, and the body of Christ is to fully demonstrate that wonderful oneness. Here in these verses we are being told to be united, not untied. And notice, the words united and untied are spelled with the exact same letters. The difference only depends in which position you place the "I." It is when we are in submission to the authority of Christ that our own wishes and desires take second place.