SERMON TITLE: An Undivided Church
SERMON TEXT: 1Corinthians 1:10-17
Preached by Louis Bartet on 11-16-03 at Point Assembly of God.
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10But, dear brothers, I beg you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11For some of those who live at Chloe’s house have told me of your arguments and quarrels, dear brothers. 12Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul”; and others say that they are for Apollos or for Peter; and some that they alone are the true followers of Christ. 13And so, in effect, you have broken Christ into many pieces. But did I, Paul, die for your sins? Were any of you baptized in my name? 14I am so thankful now that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15For now no one can think that I have been trying to start something new, beginning a “Church of Paul.” 16Oh, yes, and I baptized the family of Stephanas. I don’t remember ever baptizing anyone else. 17For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; and even my preaching sounds poor, for I do not fill my sermons with profound words and high-sounding ideas, for fear of diluting the mighty power there is in the simple message of the cross of Christ. (The Living Bible)
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ALL OF US WANT TO BELONG
All of us want to belong, to be a part, but our carnal nature makes us want to be a part of not just any group, but of an exclusive group. We want to be a part of some Inner Circle.
Belonging and the desire to belong are not bad, but the desire to gain status by belonging is dangerous. This desire causes us to compare ourselves with others and to be depressed when someone else gets in and we are left out. We adjust to insure acceptance into the inner circle. We pretend to agree when we secretly disagree. If necessary we use insincere flattery to gain the approval of those in the inner circle hoping that they will give us admittance. In short, we compromise to be a part of the exclusive Inner Circle.
Even so, the Inner Circle turns out to be like the ripples in a pond. Once we make it to a certain circle, we find out there is yet another one. We also discover that no circle, no matter how exclusive, can confer on us the sense of worth we so badly desire. Why? Because our worth does not come from without, but from within. Our value is not increased by belonging, but by being.
By definition, every society includes
• people who connect, who belong to one another and
• people who feel left out,
who don’t get chosen at recess,
who fail to make the ball team,
whose invitations to dance get turned down,
who get blackballed and
cold-shouldered and
voted off the island.
We exclude others because of pride or prejudice or fear or ignorance or the desire to feel superior.
In his book, Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them, John Ortberg wrote about his experience aboard an airplane:
• The first-class passengers were served gourmet food on china and crystal by their own flight attendants; those of us in coach ate snacks served in paper bags with plastic wrappers.
• The first-class passengers had room to stretch and sleep; those of us in coach were sitting with a proximity usually reserved for engaged couples in the back row of a movie.
On almost every flight, once the plane is under way, a curtain gets drawn to separate the two compartments. It is not to be violated; it is like the Berlin Wall or the veil that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Holy of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem. The curtain is a reminder throughout the flight that some people are first class and some aren’t. Those who aren’t first class are not to violate the boundary. They can’t even see what’s going on behind the other side of the curtain.
On a recent flight, a voice came on the intercom system, telling us that because of new security measures, the attendants were not allowed to fasten the curtain. But the airline wanted all of us in the Court of the Gentiles to know that we were not allowed to use the facilities in the Holy of Holies, even though there was one restroom for eight people up there and two restrooms for several hundred of us (mostly children under six who had been drinking Jolt Cola the whole flight) on the other side.
He suggests that the curtain stands for the tendency of the fallen human spirit to exclude and that in the act of exclusion, we divide the world up into "us" and "them."
Citation: John Ortberg, Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them (Zondervan, 2003)
In every society, in every school, in most churches and in the workplace, there are little groups of people who are on the "inside." Membership in these groups is reflected by the use of nick names, special privileges and invitations to certain events. As we get older, the names of the groups change, but the dynamics stay the same.
In "The Inner Ring," C. S. Lewis shares: "I believe that in all men’s lives…one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside."
THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM
In the early days of the church its members were together in mind and heart. They were undivided in their passion and purpose. There were no big "I’s" or little "you’s". They were merely people with differing ministries and giftings. There was no distinction between the "haves" and the "have nots".
• In Acts 2:44 we are told, "And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common."
• In Acts 2:46 Luke declared, "And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and singleness of heart."
• In Acts 4:32, we are given a keyhole view of the Church’s health although under adversarial pressure: "And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul…."
The first threat to the church’s unity did not come from outside or in the form of doctrinal differences, but from within and the issue that revealed it was, of all things, food distribution. Luke tells us, "…while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food" (Acts 6:1). Simply put, the Greek speaking Jews were complaining that the Hebrew speaking Jews, who were in charge of food distribution, were discriminating against the Greek speaking widows in the daily allocation of food.
Please note: this unity threatening issue and complaint arises at a time when the atmosphere was thick with miracles and successful evangelism.
Perhaps the problem was legitimate, but was it enough to justify division? Fortunately, those in leadership, endowed with Godly wisdom, resolved the problem before it fractured the Jerusalem church into two groups.
LESSONS FROM CORINTH
At Corinth the church was divided into four groups that had congregated around their leaders. There was…
• the group that followed Paul,
• the group that followed Peter,
• the group that followed Apollos and of course
• the, we are the only real followers of Christ group.
The problem as it is introduced here is a “follower problem” rather than a “leader problem,” in that the followers are at fault. In each case the issue is one of "pride." Each group feels that it is superior to the others.
The most dangerous group of all in these four examples is the last. Surely Paul means for us to assume “guilt by association” here in verse 12. Paul uses the same words, only changing the name in the case of the last group. It is true that we all should be followers of Christ. But we should not be proud of ourselves for doing so. This fourth group is no less proud or arrogant than the others who are condemned. I am afraid that I understand Paul all too well in this fourth example. Those who think of themselves as being “of Christ” also think of the rest as not being “of Christ.”
Exclusivism is wrong, even the exclusiveness of those who think themselves superior to all other believers because they follow Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or Christ. Those who boast of their following Christ are effectively declaring themselves to be the leaders. Those who are “of Christ” do not need Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas. They do not need an apostle. They can discern Christ’s mind by themselves without any outside help from others. These autonomous folks are the most frightening group of all.
Doug Goins - http://www.pbc.org/dp/goins/4509.html
PAUL’S CORRECTION
According to Paul, these ministers were merely God’s farm hands, who had planted and watered God’s field.
In 1Corinthians 3:6-9, Paul declared: "Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of the process but God, the God who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs done to accomplish the growth of God’s people, but God will reward His servants according to their individual labors. Remember, you are the field in which God had us, His laborers, working."
We do not determine the vessel God will use, but we can determine what we will receive from that vessel. For example:
• If we reject the ministry of Paul in favor of Apollos, we accept God’s seed-planting ministry but reject His watering ministry.
• If we reject the ministries of Peter and Apollos in favor of Paul, then we will miss much of what God has to say.
ANSWERING AN OBJECTION
Admittedly, there have been times when doctrinal error and abusive leadership has demanded that faithful disciples distance themselves from errant pastor/teachers and start afresh. This is a far cry from church splits that are the result of personal rivalry, power struggles, animosity, intolerance, and other petty issues that have nothing to do with sound doctrine and the preservation of the Gospel.
Controversial views on water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the timing of the rapture, women in ministry, and numerous other items should not stand in the way of intensive cooperation among a wide variety of churches in a given area for the accomplishment of the larger purposes of the Kingdom.
THE UNITED CHURCH AND ITS POSSIBILITIES
Disunity within the Church remains one of the greatest scandals and hindrances to the witness of the contemporary Church. The potential of a united Church, evangelistically and otherwise, is mind boggling.
It’s occurring on the mission-field where Assembly of God and Baptist missionaries often join forces and cooperate to effectively fulfill the great commission. Instead of focusing on building their church or their denomination, they focus on combining their resources and gifts to reach people with the Gospel and build the Kingdom of God.
Whatever forces work within a given congregation to promote rivalries around human leaders, factions that form around styles of music and preaching, divisions over matters not fundamental to preserving the true gospel of Jesus…these must be lovingly but firmly dissipated. This may require us to set our preferences aside to accomplish the purpose of God. It will definitely require us to subordinate our interests to the will of God and the accomplishment of His purpose.
We must learn to rejoice, not only when Point Assembly is experiencing increase, but when the Kingdom of God experiences increase. There may be times when we water what the Methodist have planted and God chooses to give the increase to a Baptist congregation in town. Instead of finding fault with our Baptist brethren it is then that we should rejoice in their growth and pray for their continued unity.
BRIDGING THE GAP TO PROMOTE UNITY
The Church should be a place where people who have no other natural reason for associating with each other come together in love and, in love, serve one another and God.
I am blessed when I see Dick Hancock bridge the gap between himself and a teenager, without demanding that the teenager achieve instantaneous maturity or give up his youthful musical preferences. All we ask is that you turn the volume down a little.
I’m blessed when I see people in our congregation who have nothing in common except Jesus Christ, fellowshipping with one another.
I find it exciting to observe people giving up what they prefer, so that God might have His way in reaching those who are different from them.
It’s encouraging to watch experienced ministers, who can do it better, give place to those with lesser skill, but a definite call.
I am overjoyed when I hear of some member of our fellowship that will not let an absent, fallen brother or sister out of their grasp. They keep on making every effort to help them back on their feet and restore them to full fellowship.
I love it when someone from first-class takes the curtain down, folds it up and puts it away, and then shares their amenities with those of us in coach.
God is calling us to lovingly deal with the issues that separate us. He wants us to eliminate the misunderstandings that exist because of ignorance or diversity. This will require that we sit down and get to know one another. It will demand that we set aside our suspicions and risk our security, but it will enable us to experience aspects of God that we cannot know while living in isolation. It will enable us to do corporately what we cannot do individually.
Robert Putnam says that sociologists distinguish between two kinds of connections: bonding and bridging.
• Bonding happens when people who perceive themselves to be similar develop deeper connections.
• Bridging takes place when people who have been separated actively seek to develop relationships with those they have been separated from.
• Bonding activities might involve people in the same ethnic group, denomination, or economic status.
• Bridging connections, by definition, are "outward looking and encompass people across diverse social cleavages."
This is what Coach Harold Jones did.
ILLUS: In the movie RADIO, Cuba Gooding Jr. plays James Robert Kennedy--nicknamed ‘Radio’ because of his vintage radio collection and his love of music. Radio is severely retarded and a loner living in Anderson, South Carolina, whose major occupation is that of pushing his grocery cart up and down the streets. He speaks to no one and is rarely spoken to, until one day, Coach Harold Jones, one of the town’s most respected men, and coach of the popular high school football team, befriends him. Radio is suspicious at first. But Coach Jones is persistent. Jones’ friends and family are taken aback, because until he met Radio, all his energies were poured exclusively into football. Slowly, Coach Jones earns Radio’s trust and opens up a new world to him. He invites Radio to help out at football practice and during games and to sit in on his classes at school, despite the initial misgivings of Principal Daniels. He also champions him to the football players, the students and faculty. Coach Jones’ life is also enriched by Radio, from whom he learns to value friendship and family ties as much as he does coaching football. Still, there are those in town who believe that Coach Jones’ devotion to the young man is distracting him from his duties as head coach of the football team. There are several attempts to have Radio barred from the classroom and, after his mother’s untimely death, remanded to a mental-health facility. Coach Jones valiantly fights off these efforts, but he is finally forced to make a difficult decision, which will impact both his growing friendship with Radio and his career as a football coach. He chooses to give up his coaching job in favor of his family and his friendship with Radio.
This heartwarming movie challenges us to bridge the gaps that may exist between us and others in this house. It encourages us to bridge the gaps that exist between this local fellowship and those around us; to bridge the gaps between us and other congregations in our area.
I can assure you that it is hard, no, next to impossible for Satan to divide a Church where people have built bridges, where love has bound hearts together, and where people understand their God given purpose.
Let me conclude by reminding you of Paul’s words in verses 10 and 17 of our text: "10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you may be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 17For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; and even my preaching sounds poor, for I do not fill my sermons with profound words and high-sounding ideas, for fear of diluting the mighty power there is in the simple message of the cross of Christ." That’s our task and we must do it as one.
• We must focus on Christ rather than exalt human leadership.
• We must allow petty issues to be lost in the shadow of the message of the cross of Christ.
• We must resolve to remove every barrier that has been erected to prevent fellowship and service among God’s people in this world.
• We must continue to give an on looking world a visible demonstration of love based unity.
PRAYER
John 17
Father, it’s time. Display the bright splendor of your Son in the midst of the people who call upon your name. Put Him in charge of everything in your house, so that He might give life to all that is under His charge. May the people in your house come to know you, the one and only true God and Jesus Christ, your Son.
Father, make us one in heart and mind, just as you and your Son Jesus were one. Forgive us for suggesting to an on looking world that your people cannot get along together. Help us to give this godless world evidence that you’ve sent us and loved us in the same way that you sent your Son, Jesus.
Apology
I apologize to every one of you who has been hurt in the house of God. I ask you to forgive my brothers and sisters, those who wounded you with their words and unethical behavior. They beat you and left you for dead on the Jericho Road, and when they turned to walk away you hear them whisper, "In the name of Jesus." Please know that they do not accurately represent the Savior in whom they have trusted.
I ask those of you whom I have wounded with my words or by ignoring you when you needed to talk, please forgive me.
It’s time to recommit ourselves to promoting and preserving the unity God commands in His house.
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SOURCES: I am indepted to various authors and sources for the ideas set forth in this sermon. This is a regurgitation of great ideas I’ve received from many different ministers. It merely reflects my ability as a hunter gatherer. :))
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