PRESCIPTIONS FOR A HEALTHY & HOLY CHURCH:
A Study in 1 Corinthians Applied To The Church Today
Sunday AM, January 22, 2005 Rev. Todd G. Leupold
II. DEALING WITH THE OBVIOUS DISEASES - 1 Corinthians 1:4 - 6:20
CANCER (Divisions in the church) - 1:10 – 4:21
1.Unhealthy Multiplication (too many independent sub-groups) - 1:10-17
INTRODUCTION:
Illus: A woman driving over the Cascade Range in Oregon ran into a snowstorm and became very frightened. Then she peered ahead and saw a snowplow. Whoopee! She closely followed the snowplow while it removed snow from the road. At times the heavy snowfall almost cut off her view, but her faithful guide kept on leading the way. After some time, the plow stopped, and its driver got out and walked over to her car.
“Lady, where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m on my way to Central Oregon” she replied.
“Well, you’re never going to get there following me! I’m plowing this parking lot!”
It really does matter who we follow and where they are going, doesn’t it! Even so, it’s not always about the “who.” Sometimes it’s an idea, philosophy, strategy or plan. It may be our own, it may be another’s. We follow it diligently, but in the end we go nowhere!
Illus: Or, sometimes it’s like being an NFL running back who has been handed the ball only to discover that his teammates aren’t all running the same play. As a result, he is forced to run (demonstrate) to and fro, side to side and in circles trying to find a hole to run through. In the end, he has run the equivalent of 10 yards only to discover that it was all sideways and backwards – the line of scrimmage hasn’t changed! Have you ever felt like that in your own life?
As introduced last week, we are embarking on a new sermon series based on 1 Corinthians, “Prescriptions For A Healthy & Holy Church.” Last week, we received what we called the “Medical History” of the Corinthian church. The problems in the Corinthian church were not so much a matter of theological heresy, but rather a problem of pride and immaturity. In response, Paul – inspired by the Holy Spirit- sent this prescriptive letter to help cure their ills.
This week we begin the first major section of 1 Corinthians, which we refer to as “Dealing With The Obvious Diseases.” The first disease that we see the church must deal with is “Cancer” and the first aspect of this cancer we must understand is its propensity for “Unhealthy Multiplication.”
Think about it, what is cancer? As a byproduct of our daily activities (such as breathing and digesting) our bodies produce harmful molecules know as “free radicals.” These free radicals are unattached oxygen molecules that are searching for something to bind with. When the body is functioning properly, it has ways to keep these free radicals from binding or to get rid of them altogether. But sometimes, the body’s defenses break down and the free radicals are allowed to latch themselves onto healthy cells, causing them to become unstable. Once “hijacked”, the cancer then re-programs the cell to give it a new ownership, a new identity and new marching orders. Suddenly, the cells aren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing. They take on a new role, they mutate, they don’t know when to stop and they keep dividing and reproducing more such cells. The result? When these cells are left alone or inadequately dealt with, they continue to multiply, the body begins to have problems functioning properly, organs are damaged or destroyed and the whole body may ultimately die. Even where survival is possible, it requires very strong medicine that can cause more pain and discomfort before it cures.
Folks there is also such a thing as spiritual cancer in the church. It functions much the same way as biological cancer and it is what we will be addressing here this morning and the next several weeks.
SCRIPTURE READING: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (“The Message”)
PRAYER
I.THE PRIMACY OF UNITY (v. 10)
* We’ve all heard it said, any time a group of people spend enough time together, there ARE going to be disagreements. But, must disagreements denigrate into disunity, whining, polarizing and feuds?
* In their book about conflict resolution, “Tell It To The Church”: Lynn Buzzard & David C. Cook (1982) provide a list of surefire ways to turn a disagreement into a feud:
1.Be sure to develop and maintain a healthy fear of conflict. Keeping it all inside of yourself until you explode in anger.
2.If you must state your concerns, be as vague and general as possible.
3.Never divulge the names of anyone that makes a statement to you. This will ensure that it can’t be verified that you heard it and are repeating it correctly.
4.Assume you know all the facts and that you are totally right.
5.Announce your willingness to talk and discuss the problem. Then close your mind to their point of view.
6.Do your best to show that the other person is doing this because they are jealous of you.
7.Judge their motivation as a way of getting even with you for something you may have done.
8.Keep track of any angry words, angry looks and angry gestures.
9.Always view the issue as a win/lose struggle. Avoid possible solutions other than yours at all cost.
10.Pass the buck when ever possible.
(pg. 23, appearing here as modified by Roy Fowler for a sermon on the same topic)
* I hope and pray that we can see both the humor and the truth sarcastically represented in this list. Contrary to this, Paul in verse 10 is describing how NOT to turn disagreements into feuds or let the church degenerate into division.
* Paul very clearly and specifically presents the three truths we must properly understand and accept if the church is to be mended together for a useful purpose rather than divided by deep trenches. We must be united:
A.IN IDENTITY: WHO WE ARE
+ Brothers. The Scriptures clearly instruct us that all who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ are no longer spiritual orphans, but adopted children of the Heavenly Father.
+ Thus, we are all siblings – brothers and sisters – unto one another. Now, hold on, before you start thinking about your own biological siblings. In Christ, we are to be even more than that. We are brought into one family, empowered by His Spirit and expected in that to function and relate as ideal siblings living in the spirit and resembling their Heavenly Father should! Blood is thicker than water, and His blood is thicker than our own.
B.IN OWNERSHIP: WHOSE WE ARE
+ in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We belong to Him, He bought us when He died on the cross for our sins. We accepted His ownership when, in faith, we surrendered our lives to Him and asked to become His child.
+ We need to resemble our current owner, not the former one. The problem is that when we cease to remember that we are God’s child, we begin to think and act like the devil’s child instead!
C.IN PURPOSE & PASSION
that you all say the same thing. . . be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.
+ Did Christ die on the cross, save us and bring us together as His Body, the Church, simply so that we can run our own show or act as His critics of the church? NO! What we are to say, understand and keep to with deep conviction is His Great Commandments and Great Commission. And, as Paul says later in this letter (10:31) we are to do this with the attitude of seeing ALL things (even the mundane, our civil disagreements or response to the immaturity of another) as an opportunity to bring glory to God!
PP: If we are to be His church, that will bring Him glory, then we need to be very aware and united in who we are, whose we are and what our purpose and passion is to be!
II.DIVISION: THE USURPER OF UNITY (vv. 11-12)
* Imagine that, there were QUARRELS in the church?! People who took sides, didn’t exactly like each other, avoided or ignored certain people just because they didn’t like what they think or might say, whining, complaining and fighting when they don’t get their way, gossiping to undermine someone’s influence, even choosing to befriend at the moment on the basis of who is or is not most in agreement about a particular cause, issue or person. Somehow, you all don’t seem too surprised. We’ve all heard or even said something like, “Of course a church would have quarrels and such, every church does – it goes with the territory.” But, Paul makes very clear that this is not how it should or has to be! Nor is it what any church should ever settle for!!! It is NOT a sign of reality, but rather it IS a sign of immaturity!
* Ill.: Think of students on the college campuses getting into heated arguments, not so much about the facts, but about the teachings and interpretations of one professor versus another. Or the person or politician whose votes and arguments are based on what is best for themselves or the party rather than what is best for the city, state or country as a whole.
* And, so in Corinth, Paul identifies that much of this quarrelling is related to their differences and divisions based on their identification and devotion to different teachers within the body. The reference to “Christ” is likely not one to Christ as we know Him, but to a group that sees him through the eyes of the philosophies of the day – as some sort of mystical, New Age Christ of secret wisdom, etc. – and ignored the significance of the cross.
* There is no indication that any of the leaders named (Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), Christ) knew let alone approved of these factions using their names. It is quite obvious that at least Paul certainly had no clue. So what was it? Most likely it was groups of people who bonded together in distinction and even opposition to others, based on their own interpretation of the teachings of one particular leader over the others. It was a form of “spiritual elitism.” It was something proclaimed not to brag on the leader, but to puff themselves up based on their perceived connection with the wiser and better leader. Think of it as a spiritualized, adult version of “My daddy can beat up your daddy!”
* It is also important to pay special attention to the repeated use of “I” not “we.” Commentator Gordon Fee writes: “As Munck further suggests, the whole church has fallen prey to a love for disputation, in which various members exalt themselves (‘boast’) by supposing that their wisdom has been taken over from one of their renowned leaders, on of those close or well known to them, or in some cases even from Christ himself.”
* In our American Christian society today, we often see this in people falsely claiming to have a special gift to receive “special words of knowledge” from Jesus, or bragging about their spiritual wisdom and maturity based on their faithful listening to a famous preacher such as a Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, Joel Osteen, etc., or based on which denomination or church they belong to, or even to their Sunday School or Small Groups leader (present OR past). In all of these cases, the common thread is believing that one knows more or better than others because of the group they associate themselves with.
* Ill: George Whitefield was a great open-air evangelist in England and the American colonies in the 1700s. He remained a member of the Church of England throughout his life, yet he counted many Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and yes, even Baptists, as his close friends. He was also a strong Calvinist. One day, someone asked, “Mr. Whitefield, do you think we will see John Wesley in heaven?” (Wesley, or course, was the founder of the Methodist church, and an Arminian that was a vocal opponent to the theology of Whitefield.) Whitefield responded, “No, I doubt we will see Mr. Wesley in heaven. He will be so close to the throne of God that we will be fortunate to even catch a glimpse of his back.”
George Whitefield understood that the differences that divide Christians down here on earth will not divide us in heaven. Isn’t that right, Dale?
John Wesley also understood this. Someone once asked him, “Rev. Wesley, will there be any Presbyterians in heaven?” Wesley replied, “No, there won’t be. There won’t be any Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, or Episcopalians in heaven either. In fact, there won’t be any Methodists. There will only be Christians in heaven.” (thank you Paul Decker for these illustrations)
PP: If we are to be His church, as He desires it, then we need to be united in who we are, whose we are and what our purpose and passion is to be!
III.THE CANCER KILLER: THE CROSS OF CHRIST (vv. 13-17)
* Folks, the church as a Body, must be attentive to its own “free radicals” which may unintentionally, incidentally, or diabolically attach onto healthy cells and form a cancer that rapidly multiplies. (By the way, these “free radicals” aren’t always individuals. They can be groups, ideas, ambitions, “sacred cows.”) And once such cancer is diagnosed, it must be eradicated immediately. When doctors seek to kill cancer in our human bodies, it is necessary to turn to such bittersweet treatments as surgery, chemo, or radiation. Often, these treatments at least initially can seem to cause far more discomfort, pain, misery and damage than the cancer itself. But, in the long run, they have the potential of eradicating the cancer completely, while the body will eventually recover from the effects of the treatments. The same is true when it comes to treating cancer in the Body of Christ, the church. Wherever there is cancer, it takes submission to the doctors and unpleasant medicines and sacrifice in order to get healthy again! That is the lesson of the cross.
* And it is exactly the prescription that Paul gives to the church in Corinth in verses 13-17. The whole point of Paul’s admonishment here is to make the church understand that this division is but the symptoms of their real cancer. The cause of the cancer is the forgetting or minimizing of the cross of Christ!!!
* Remember, Biblical baptism is the outward recognition of what Christ has done for us through His death and resurrection and our being identified with that by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! The whole point of Paul’s talk here about baptism is to say: “Who are you really identified with? The person who baptized/taught you or the Christ of the Cross? Who died for you Christ or your favorite teacher, pastor or philosopher? What is our purpose as a church, to impress others with our ability to speak persuasively or to simply preach the full power of the cross?! To advance the latest ideas of the time’s ‘hottest’ leaders/writers/speakers in their name or the Kingdom of God in Jesus’ Name? Do you wish the community to know you as Rick Warren’s church, Charles Stanley’s church, Joel Osteen’s church, or Christ’s church?! Have you given yourself to one of these, or completely to Christ?”
* “not with clever words (words of wisdom), so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.” In other words, it is the content – its focus and accuracy - that is important, not style, eloquence or the acclaim it produces. The reference here to “words of wisdom” is the Greek word logos, which was popularly used by philosophers of the day to refer to a mysterious, ephemeral wisdom which only some can obtain or understand and is demonstrated through superior rhetoric. Paul, says, that is not so. The only wisdom, which saves, gives life and is worth boasting about is the power of the cross! In the next couple of weeks, we will further explore this idea along with Paul and under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
CONCLUSION
* The reality and power of the cross is the only thing those in the church should be concerning themselves with and boasting about. Amen?! However, unlike philosophy, the message of the cross is often not very eloquent, rational or popular. And so, like the cancer patient we must choose. A more prolonged life and opportunity for meaningful accomplishment with chemo and its side effects, or a more popular and attractive, but short-lived life without? Accept and pay the price of eradicating disunity and division in the church, or ignore it as long as we think we look good?
* Conflict shouldn’t be feared it should be avoided. And when that doesn’t work, it should be resolved. Resolution is the result of intention, nothing is ever resolved by ignoring it.
Illus: Sub. Preacher. “All of you who have come to worship Pastor Smith may leave. All of you who have come to worship Christ may stay.”
PP: If we are to be His church, as He desires it and that will bring Him glory, then we need to be united in who we are, whose we are and what our purpose and passion is to be!
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