WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
- Speak on the goodness of our being together this morning
- This series called “We Are Better Together”
o Intentional in pointing our minds to unity as a church family and as part of the churches of Christ.
TOO CHEAP FOR GRACELAND
On the morning of June 24, 1977 (around 1 AM), two teenage punks were beating up a third kid in front of the Skyland gas station in Madison, Wisconsin.
Suddenly, two limousines rolled up and stopped at the red light. One of the limo doors opened and out jumped the King, Elvis Presley. He was in town for a concert. Elvis immediately assumed a “classic karate stance,” challenging the punks to a fight saying, “I’ll take you on.”
That stopped them in their tracks. The kids shook hands with Elvis and each other.
“Is everything settled now?” Elvis asked.
When the boys promised not to fight anymore, Presley got back in his limousine and sped off, remarking to one of the other people in the car, “Did you see those guys’ faces?”
This incident would likely have been forgotten forever, had the King not died less than two months later. The fight remained fresh in local memory for 30 years and in 2007, a granite marker was placed on the spot. Skyland station is long gone; today it is a car dealership. But the marker still stands.
In this case, a fight was broken up by the King. This morning, we are going to see how Paul appeals to the people’s love of the King of kings should guide them in loving one another, abstaining from strife and quarrels, and coming together in unity for the Gospel.
Today’s lesson is called: “Who Do You Follow?”
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-17 [3 Slides]
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christians are also called “saints” in the Scriptures many times. The sad part is how often we act less than saintly. As I have mentioned in previous messages, I’ve been part of a church that has split (or at least a large group of people left the church to begin another). It was not necessarily a good feeling. To this day, I am not sure what it was over. During our time away, our little church grew to love one another a lot and I made good friends with a few boys. But it was even sweeter to go back and reconcile with my childhood church.
In this passage we have a church that is dividing and arguing about who they were baptized by. For this church, the clout they were trying to gain by being baptized by the better disciple was fragmenting them and causing them to focus on the wrong thing. Paul’s desire was that they simply be brothers in Christ.
Deeper still today, I can see that our children are walking away from Churches of Christ maybe because of our focus not being on the right thing either. Hear me clearly: I am not saying our children are walking away from Christ. They haven’t given up on Jesus. They are not giving up on worship. They are not giving up on being servants. They are not giving up on discipleship. They are not giving up on a conviction to be part of a church or how to make a difference in our broken world.
I believe our children love the church and want to be active. I believe it may have to do with a similar attitude when it comes to how we do church and our fragmenting because of things like what Paul dealt with.
Jack Reese captures this heart with his 2005 book “The Body Broken.”
[QUOTE NOT IN SLIDES] “Some young people are leaving Churches of Christ desiring to experience something profound in worship, something engaging and relevant: they want to encounter the presence of God. Some find this in our assemblies; some do not. Several have said to me that they do not feel they have worshipped simply because they have participated in certain acts and rituals determined decades ago by people they’ve never heard of. They are not likely to measure their worship externally, that is to say, by whether thy merely have done the right things in the right ways for the right reasons. When they worship, they want to do so through means and in language that captures their minds and hearts.” (pg. 42)
So what do we do? What did Paul do?
Paul appealed to who it is they found their faith in to begin with. That should be our mission as the church of the 21st Century. We should be aligning ourself with the mission of Christ in today’s culture. This may mean some things in our practice, but let’s focus on the heart of Paul’s plea for the Corinthian church.
1. Paul called them to unity.
His first appeal is in 4 parts:
A. “all of you agree...”
How many of you can say you agree with all of your brothers and sisters in Christ? I have to say I don’t think anyone can say that…unless…that’s not what Paul is saying.
Paul is asking them to agree on the main tenets of the faith. We find these in Ephesians 4:1-5
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We are going to spend some time in 2 weeks on these Seven “Ones” but today let me say this much: this is what we can agree on and should be the basis of our faith and our unity.
One body
One Spirit
One hope
One Lord
One faith
One baptism
One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all
Let us agree on this.
B. “no divisions among you...”
How can a people who agree on these Seven Ones who have love and humility, gentleness, patience, divide? If we are called to unite under these things then we cannot divide and leave our brothers and sisters.
C. “be united in the same mind…”
This is a case where the ESV doesn’t do this part of the translation justice. The Greek word here is katartizo. The translation says “united” but that doesn’t go far enough in understanding this passage. Katartizo means to be made complete; to mend; to be made perfect. The NASB and New King James render this idea.
We are called to not just be united together, but to mend relationships and restore what was once whole. By doing this, the body is perfected and complete. It isn’t good enough that we unite and join going forward, but we ask forgiveness from brothers and sisters over past hurts. We find ways to reach out to those we have shamed. We are imperfect as a body if we do not mend past hurts. Which brings me to the last subpoint.
D. “be united in the same judgment.”
We are not the judge, but we make judgments and decisions for this church and we do so as best we can. But sometimes we’ve judged people harshly over a disputable matter. We have said people are not welcome to hold a differing view over secondary and tertiary issues in the church. You may not even think that my idea of a secondary issue is the same as yours. But we do not hold judgment over someone for thinking differently over these disputable matters. We hold our judgment for God alone and we continue to fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
Let’s move onto the rest of Paul’s teaching in this passage.
2. Paul asks them who they are really following
Each person is saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
Who do you follow? Are you following Jesus? Is Jesus the one who told us to not associate with the church down the street? Is Jesus the one who said we cannot fellowship with another Christian because they don’t hold the same view of music as me? How many have done this in our past as Churches of Christ?
I follow the Millennial Harbinger! I follow the Christian Messenger!
I follow Lubbock! I follow Pepperdine! I follow Bear Valley!
Even more recent:
I follow Burton Coffman! I follow Leroy Brownlow!
I follow Big Don Williams! I follow Max Lucado!
I follow Francis Chan! I follow John MacArthur!
I follow David Young! I follow Mike Lewis!
I apologize for using names. If someone is offended I used their name in this illustration, I send my sincerest regret. I also feel like if someone said that they follow me, I’d be disappointed. There is a better man to follow. His name is Jesus. And this is Paul’s point! He downplays his own knowledge, experience and background. He does this in 2 Corinthians 11 when he gives his history.
My point and Paul’s point is that these are good men. But we follow Christ. Sure, Paul does say follow me but he says, only as I follow Christ. Meaning, he is pointing to any success he has it is because of Jesus. Look to Him!
We have these eloquent words of wisdom to share. I want to share things that challenge us and get us to look to the Master. But Christ didn’t send me to Tulsa to baptize but to preach the gospel. He didn’t bring me to Tulsa to knock you off your feet every Sunday. Jesus didn’t want me in Tulsa to be famous. He didn’t want me here to even make any of this about me. Jesus wants all to know the Gospel and to see the cross of Christ in its majesty—the power of the cross!
We as people of Jesus need to show this world the power of the cross. Not based on our own abilities and skills but in spite of them. We might be able to share some pretty fun things. I share these fun stories at the beginning of my lesson to get your ears and hearts ready—if you knew where I got them you might be disappointed. It’s a trade secret. I don’t want you to know—it doesn’t matter—lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was for our salvation. We ought to live in such a way that this cruel death puts others in awe. When they hear from us, they are in amazement and wonder. That’s how people responded when Jesus taught and when he performed his miracles.
MATTHEW 7:28-29 [his teachings]
“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
MATTHEW 9:6-8 [his miracles]
“…he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
MATTHEW 27:54 [the cross of Christ]
“When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Jesus’ message wasn’t about this world but the next. Yet, it was about this world now. If we are going to live for the Gospel, we will see the Kingdom of heaven at hand right now. Go back and read the verses before Matthew 27:54 and the things that happened at the death of Jesus at that moment! The power of the cross of Christ was something that should have all of us in awe every day.
If we are not in awe, we might have some things to adjust in our lives to realize fully what it means to be a Christian.
R.C. Sproul, a theologian who passed in 2017, once said in a message:
“People in awe never complain that church is boring.” How can unity be boring? How can loving our brothers in Christ be boring? How can serving and helping another person in need be boring? Our humanity is lost if we find the message of the cross boring.
Paul says, maybe it’s us being merely human. Thinking this that we do is about us.
Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul reiterates the points he is making in Chapter 1. In chapter 3:4 “For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?”
The message of the Gospel, a life in Christ is beyond human. Being a Christian makes us sons of God. We are co-heirs with Christ. We have a salvation that puts us in line for resurrection; a resurrection of this mortal body. Our fears and pains relieved. We are no longer just merely human. We are spiritual and we should be in awe.
We are one body living through the pains of life and the blessings we share.
We have one Spirit that inhabits all of us—who guides us and convicts us.
We have this one hope of the glorious return of Jesus but also of the way God is active now in our lives.
We have one Lord who came to this earth incarnate to teach us what it means to be holy and righteous and to show grace and peace.
Because of this we have one faith that should unite us all. This faith in Christ’s message, his death, his resurrection.
One baptism that as we are submerged in the water, we take on the same death as Christ, we are buried underneath, and come up out of the water to a new life.
One God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all. And because of God, we have this life and a responsibility to honor Him every day in everything.
May we be these people.
May we be the ones who show the world they will not divide us.
When the world makes fun of us for believing what Scripture says, May we pray for them for God to soften their hearts.
May we be willing to humble ourselves when we don’t have all the answers.
May we be willing to admit when we are wrong and ask forgiveness.
May we give grace to our brothers and sisters because I know I need grace. I don’t have it all figured out. I don’t know that my beliefs, my actions, my doctrine, or the way I do things is perfectly correct.
May we be united under the cross of Christ.
May we follow Jesus.
INVITATION
