My answer was that it all depends on the motive. Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. God wants the local church congregation and the local community to see the beauty of a church that is unified and fitted together in love. I always have, and always will believe that this overly exaggerated concept of denominations is a problem. If you limit yourself to one speaker or one teacher and feed only on him, you are getting a distorted view of Jesus Christ; you are chopping Christ up, dividing him and taking one little portion as one man reports it and ignoring the rest, thus your view of Christ is deficient and unable to satisfy you as it was intended to do. Therefore, the only basis upon which you can get Christians to agree is by setting before them the Person of the Lord Jesus, and calling them back to that fundamental base. The Corinthian Church. His dissertation was published as Jesus the Bridegroom by Pickwick Books in 2012. He says, in effect, "You don't cure divisions in a church by identification badges. It builds him up too much; it makes him a rival, to some degree, of the Lord himself. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. And there are others who are drawn to some speaking style that has attracted them. Throughout this 2000 year process of normalizing divisions among believers, we have consistently neglected the fact we Jesus should unite us, and unless we choose to make a change, we will continue to forget this fact. Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. 4-The churchs failure to discipline. Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. When you get men's eyes off all these status symbols, and call them back away from following men to the Person of Christ and his cross, all the divisions will disappear. I agree with P. Longs last statement in that things have not improved much since the first century. Alexandria was a center for learning and philosophy. WebPaul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. Paul condemns their behavior in verse 13 by saying, Has Christ been divided? In other words, have different amounts of Christ been given to different people? Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? So we have the possibility for this very thing right here. No man is the Savior; no man can deliver us except Jesus. Paul doesnt want these divisions to continue, so he offers them an alternative. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. 2- The Churchs division. There was nothing wrong with them, they were very helpful, but it was not very long before they became status symbols, and they were used to put down, not always intentionally, those who did not have them. This division in the church was over their own selfish ambitions evidenced in what they wanted. WebThe spirit that wrought such mischief at Corinth has been busy in the Church ever since. That is why Paul calls us back to it. This is what Paul does here. So undoubtedly there was a big group that followed Paul. The followers of Jesus may have believed in Jesus words only, and did not believe that the writings of Peter, Paul, and the other apostles were really Scripture. I do not identify my self as being a follower of anybody but Jesus (although there are certain theologians that I do hold in higher regard than others). The human condition is, unfortunately, one of comparison that seeks to place oneself or their beliefs over another. I understand the fact that people have different beliefs and would like to stick to those (it is good to sick to what you believe) but when you get so segregated that you cannot work together anymore, it becomes a serious problem. Since November 2021, Reading Acts is edited by Sarah Westphal. In verse 11, Paul gives the reason for his appeal for unity in the church at Corinth. If you will turn in your Bibles with me to John 17:20-23, I will read the passage to you. There are those who are emotionally attached to some great Christian leader who has helped them, and they will only listen to him. One of these influencing factors is consumerism which finds its way into even the way Christians think. WebAccording to Paul, the communitys problems were the consequence of the Corinthians mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. Just looking at America, there are political divisions that have destroyed relationships, there are social divisions that have sparked riots around the nation, and there are even religious divisions that have pitted millions against each other. WebPaul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. Even though the churches within a certain denomination agree to the same biblical teachings, some churches within those denominations may begin to disagree with the biblical teachings and break away from the denomination to become affiliated with another denomination that aligns with their beliefs. When the lifeless body of the little one was carried back to the anxious mother, she cried aloud, Oh why didnt you join hands before?. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) Polhill says, every Corinthian had their own favorite preacher (237). There are even discrepancies inside single denominations (which means we have division inside our divisions, great). In desperation, they returned and held a meeting. It is possible that these divisions represent competing house churches, some founded by Paul, some by Apollos. Paul here introduces that which can cure divisions, both negatively and positively. WebWhat were the causes of division in the Corinthian Church? Paul is going to go on to describe this radical force that is so different than anything else there is nothing like it in the world. The church in Corinth was a group of people who were tearing themselves apart! They embraced the values of their Roman society, which divided over ethnicity (e.g., Jews vs. Gentiles) and social rank (wise vs. foolish, powerful We pray that it may be rich and real in our hearts as we live this week together. Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. It is not merely that the Church is everywhere split up into sections, but that this has led to party strife and jealousy. They became symbols of prestige and standing that became divisive factors among the men. So they said, "When Peter came, we really felt that we were on solid ground. It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. A number of churches in this postmodern era have begun to resemble the Corinthian church in alarming ways. WebPaul goes right on, in Verse 12, to describe the forms that these divisions were taking in the church of Corinth: What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas" [another name for Peter], or "I belong to Christ." On opening it you found a loose-leaf notebook with many of the small, half-page materials that the Navigators printed their Bible helps on. Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). 10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. It is well known that division in the church of Corinth was over leadership. (1 Corinthians 1:12 RSV) Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. One of them being the reason to follow a specific pastor. Dio Chrysostom complained that Corinth was filled with wretched sophists, many of whom were debating one another with shouting and abuse near the temple to Poseidon. However, I would like to approach this in a different way than the comments already present here. So rather that detailing their accomplishments as orators, Paul describes their functions (Paul planted, Apollos watered, etc.) In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). He begins the process of developing them into leaders who will also preach the gospel and found more churches. These are not the only causes of divisions in churches today. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons our churches are so split and why we act more like the world rather than more like Christ. In the same way, thats not the way the Church was meant to be fitted together. That is what Paul speaks about. Its pathetic that people should get so angry about whether drums are used or if the AC unit is kept at 71 or 70. Its pastors, bishops and others who fear the loss of their livlihoods as their former sheep move on in God towards the new wine skins of revival that want to maintain the old wine skins which brought them an income. WebAccording to Paul, the communitys problems were the consequence of the Corinthians mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. With Pauls harsh criticism of said divisions, you would think that we might have learned how to move beyond that in the 21st Century, however, that is not the case. I appreciate the perspective given by the author and agree 100% that the body of Christ is divided. The Corinthian Church. I have had people say to me, "Oh, Mr. Stedman, when you speak I see so clearly! Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. Paul gives the church a stern warning about their actions and the proper way to participate. Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. That is why the apostle appeals to it. It wipes out all the petty distinctions that men make among themselves. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. With that spirit of self-righteous smugness, they were separating from the rest, dividing up the congregation and quarreling with one another over these things. I am sure there were many in Corinth who were saying, "Oh, I love to hear Apollos! That is always the unifying factor in a church, and that is the mind that is to be among us, the mind that does not consider itself the most important thing. Just as there was competiveness for honor and prestige among the orators of the first century, it also seems like there is competition between the pastors and churches of today. What should our evaluation of a ministry look like I wonder if its not by numbers? In verse 10 we see both Pauls affection for the Corinthian church, and his authority as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can the presence of divisions be described as worldly?, Bruce Winter details the Greco-Roman practice of discipleship in the second chapter of After Paul Left Corinth. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. It was expected. Webdivided. Its all about who looks the best, how much money is made, and how big our churches are. Divisions never really ended with Pauls letters; they just appear to have evolved into having more sophisticated names. Here are our first clues as to what is wrong with this kind of cliquishness in a church. One day in Africa, a small boy was lost. The countless denominations and different beliefs of Christianity are often not appealing to non-believers. So they were splitting and arguing and quarreling over the relative merit and authority of these various teachers. What he says we'll listen to, not Paul or Peter or anyone else -- it makes no difference to us." We need to be perfectly joined together in the love of Christ. There are several things that split the church today. It took four viewpoints to report his earthly life and ministry accurately enough to us. Todays church is a lot like the church of Corinthians. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings in 1517 (see Chapter 1 0). Christ did not send me to take scalps or to cut notches on my gun handle as to how many converts I've won." Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. It would destroy the unity of the congregation and split them up and provide an inaccurate testimony to the Person of Christ before the watching world. The divisions of Christendom are the scandal of Christianity. A. Although the modern church has improved in many ways compared to the ancient churches, there is still the issue of division that exists among differing churches as was in the ancient churches. The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. If you survey the church scene all over America today, you find people dividing up this way. The Corinthian church had many problems, and most of them were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. The basic meaning is to put back together and make one again something that was broken or separated. It seems unbelievable at first to think that this kind of division exists within the modern church, but more often than not it is actually one of the most common reasons for division. This Bible was pushed by the Navigators, and everybody had to have one. Four groups had formed in the Corinthian church. (Peter, evidently, had been through Corinth and had preached there.) That is what they were doing with baptism here in Corinth. The real problem behind the divisions is that the church continues to act like Christianity is just another philosophy, and teachers are in competition with each other just as the Greek orators competed. He come to Corinth to create a community of disciples from which he might receive patronage and prestige. I would like to approach it from an evangelistic standpoint. Aside from this acceptable division within the modern church, there are also two other reasons for division which should not exist. How important was unity to the apostle Paul, and to the Holy Spirit who moved Him to write this letter to the Church in Corinth? Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. Phillip J. WebThe Christians at Corinth were dividing the church by pledging their loyalties to different celebrities. Now, he is not saying that it is wrong to baptize; he himself did it, and acknowledges that he did. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ.". There are the Calvinists and the Arminians and the Dispensationalists -- these are some of the things that are held up as the "summum bonum," the highest good, in theology. This is really what is behind his disclaimer on baptism in 1 Cor 1:14-16. Yes, we have the core beliefs that most Christians will agree upon, but the rest is still very confusing to non-believers. What is a clique? Paul was the apostle to the gentiles. To resolve this issue, he encourages communal love. I think that if you put the teachings of a man over the teachings of Scripture then you have a problem. It was a glorious work. 10 I appeal to you, brothers,[ a] 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. Many of the other problems were flowing out of this division within the congregation. In other words, there must be agreement with Christ, with His will, and with His Word. They were burdened about them, and they went to the right person with them. (1Corinthians 1:10 RSV). For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. All that mattered to Paul was Jesus! If I was not raised in a Christian home, I think that I would have the same concerns. Lewis.". This also brings up another Pagan influence which is naming the days of the week after the planets. Faith rests on Gods shoulders alone- its not by our wisdom and ability (Polhill 237). It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. I have been in many places where they were having church fights and almost invariably the thing that gives away that a church is in trouble is when people start talking about "my church," not in the sense that is perfectly proper as meaning, "The church where I go," but leaders of the church actually saying, "This is our church," and telling other people they have no rights to do something because the church belongs to them. They failed to take seriously the power of evil; their behavior caused divisions in the church and led to a lack of concern for other members. In 1 Corinthians, Paul consciously avoids disciple-teacher language. These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. Paul exhorts them to agree. Today we have followers of Rob Bell, Rick Warren, and even Joel Osteen (for some reason). And some of them are really gross. The ground, of course, is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It tells about the most climactic moment in a wedding ceremony. I'm nobody, just like you!" You could spot the Navigators going up and down the streets of Honolulu. 1-False prophets (2 Corinthians 11:13). Paul says that he does not preach in cleverness of speech because the power of the gospel lies in the facts of the gospel, and not in any mans presentation of them. If I am not out of line I seem to remember that Constantine played a large role in allowing Pagan influences back into the Christian Life. In her book, The Key to a Loving Heart, Karen Mains includes a parable about the church entitled The Brawling Bride. 5-Members going to pagan courts to settle disputes. Now, almost every group does this. All are mere teachers; there is only one Lord. They were dividing over this whole issue, and Paul says it is all wrong. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. WebThe members of the Corinthian church we disunited because they were pledging their allegiance to human leaders rather than God. God only sees one fold, (John 10) and there is only one faith, one Lord, one baptism etc. Webdivided. The elders should make their decisions with the same mind and the same judgment. I told them that I do not foresee and end to these divisions anytime soon (sadly). The cross of Christ cuts across all human value systems. People begin to think things about him that are not true, and expect things from him that he is unable to deliver. Then there were the stylists, those who were attracted by the different kinds of preaching, and they had especially been drawn to Apollos. Instead of directly saying that we follow Paul, or Apollos, we say that we are Baptist, Reformed, or even Catholic. As we read through First Corinthians, I think we will see how very much like modern day churches this ancient church of Corinth was. We had some great meetings and great times together. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. The Lords Supper was affected by the divisions between rich and poor and an overall general misunderstanding. I thank God that only a few of you can say that about me." I. PAULS APPEAL FOR UNITY (verses 10-12). When the Corinthians divided into factions, it wasnt so much about core doctrine (nature of God, nature of Christ, the Gospel, the nature of man). 3- The presence of an immoral member. The church was divided into factions, and one group was urging him to take half the congregation and go to another part of the city and start a new church. He didnt focus on himself being superior to all the rest of the church leaders. He was introduced in a rather extended and flowery way, but he came on and in his great, booming voice said, "I'm not Dr.Oswald Hoffman, the great preacher of the Lutheran Hour. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. Other divisions were to follow. My impression is that the same sorts of problems evident in Corinth are clearly evident in the contemporary church, whether that is West Michigan or Brisbane. They take an innocent teaching medium, in this case baptism, and make it into an identification badge. Obviously sin is at the heart of these divisions, but I am encouraged to hear that at least in your corner of the world there is some unification and revival. 1-False prophets (2 Corinthians 11:13). They are his family in Christ. Paul, however, was a good leader. 10 I appeal to you, brothers,[ a] 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. There is not a teacher among us today, or at any other time, who is able to open the mind and open the eyes of the heart and reveal to us the glory and majesty of God, not one. These preachers draw in masses of people every week who are eager to hear them speak. There are three different causes of divisions in churches that Paul mentions in I Corinthians. Not when we hear of churches with factions or cliques of people who sit on opposite sides of the aisle. (1Corinthians 1:12 RSV), Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. WebAnd you know, that gives me some idea of how important this is to God, because from 1:10 to the ninth verse of the sixteenth Chapter, he just talks about the errors in the church. There was still a fourth group, and in some ways I think they were probably the worst. They may have carried Pauls teachings of justification by faith and freedom from the Law to an extreme and felt free to do whatever they wanted. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. They read only his books or listen only to his tapes. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. Even as Christians, there seems to be the desire of wanting to uphold one pastor over another by comparison and ultimately glorifying certain pastors. God is all about people, not money, and I feel sorry for anyone who tries to take over the current move of God, put it in a box, stick a label on it, and own it they will be swept away. There should be unanimous agreement. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who There he indicates that the problem with cliquishness is that it tends to overemphasize the significance of the human leader. God, therefore, has designed that there be many teachers, many preachers, many viewpoints, in a church. (I suppose that if Dio were commenting on the modern world, he would describe the wretched bloggers shouting abuse at the temple of WordPress!). Some considered Paul their leader, others Apollos, still others Peter. It is not merely that the Church is everywhere split up into sections, but that this has led to party strife and jealousy. Offshoots had disturbed the church. In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. Some pigged out at the Lord Supper; others had barely enough to eat. The bride is limping! While there can be problems with some (no recognised leadership, disorganised, isolated, cultishness, lack of cohesion etc) they can also produce some of the strongest disciples Ive seen for many years, and yet, they could easily claim to be that fourth division like the one at Corinth the I am of Christ division, where they have no name (no favoured preacher/teacher) but are still divided off. And, after all, Peter even walked on water!" This consumerism that we face today in the end doesnt seem all that much different from the way the Christian faith was treated like just another philosophy back in the days of Paul. They failed to take seriously the power of evil; their behavior caused divisions in the church and led to a lack of concern for other members. Unlike most of his other epistles, Paul plunges right into the heart of the practical problems that were affecting this church, and the first of these, the problem of divisions within the church, he begins to deal with in Chapter1, Verse10. It wasnt even about secondary doctrine (the second coming, the nature of baptism). Public arguments were commonplace in the Greco-Roman world at the time that Paul was writing to the Corinthian church. Whatever you say, I believe." For example, in the first section from 1:10 to 4:21, it's errors regarding division. So Paul is insisting that the Corinthians, and all believers, have doctrinal unity that is clearly based on Gods Word. Other divisions were to follow. His bride, the Church, has been fighting again!. WebThe Corinthians were basically making a mockery of Communion. The first noticeable division would be among differing denominations. Thank you, Father, for this time here contemplating the cross. In what ways have we failed to de-paganize? These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. Not when some people in the congregation wont look at, speak to, or even acknowledge the existence of certain other people in the congregation. Offshoots had disturbed the church. Phil Long is correct, we have not improved much since the first century. 1 Corinthians 1:10: 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.. In this parable, the groom is Christ. If we sacrifice quality for numbers I dont think we are being good stewards of our gift of leadership. It is possible, though, that the divisions among Weve seen how important unity was to the apostle Paul. The Corinthian church had many problems, and most of them were the result of pride and placing so much emphasis on social status. Why are these thing SO important? Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). I agree with Greg, I see a lot of times where Pastors begin to care more about the number of the congregation rather on the connectedness of it. Instead of tearing themselves apart, he urges them to be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. I told them that it is a concern of mine as well. On Friday of this week we will gather again to consider the cross of Christ. (I have been trying for a long time to get my wife to accept that!) I was taking my break and a person I work with asked where I went to college. Many of us are familiar with this common phenomenon in human psychology of thinking that some symbolic thing that is of use to us is so important that we finally make it a badge of the group to which we belong. Now, how could that be? Message transcript and recording 1978 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. Was Paul crucified for you? Every piece of that jigsaw puzzle is different, isnt it? Members follow him blindly and whatever they do seems right to them. He then goes on to explain that it was the Corinthian wisdom that created so much disunity. Sometimes two or three hundred sailors, all of them Christians, would be there. For permission to use this content, please review Since I was working at that time in the ship's service department in Pearl Harbor, we ordered great quantities of these Bibles. In the year 1 054 the Church was divided into two parts: 1) The Greek Eastern Church 2) The Roman Western Church. Not when one part of the congregation meets in one part of the building, and the other part of the congregation meets in another spot. The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. And I say that because some people focus on PREACHER instead of THE SAVIOR. The members started to develop division following different leaders. But it is the exclusiveness that Paul is concerned about here -- people who do not even want to come to a service if someone other than their favorite is preaching. They love to listen to someone because he turns them on emotionally. Now, the Apostle Paul is very concerned about this matter of incipient division in the church at Corinth, and he begins dealing with it in this powerful appeal for unity in Verse10: I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Members follow him blindly and whatever they do seems right to them. (Even non-denominationals do this, just without claiming a denominational title). Then not only did they have the Bible, but every Navigator who was anybody at all had to have an index drawn in on the pages of the Bible, a kind of a ladder that gave you a clue to where the books were so that with your thumb you could turn up any book in the Bible almost instantly. This is a very propitious time for us to consider the cross for this is Palm Sunday, commemorating the day when our Lord entered Jerusalem for his last week. The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. We, as the modern church, say that we hold to Pauls message that we shouldnt be conformed to this world, but when we look at the world, there seem to be just as many divisions. And if you were really on the inside circle, your ladder was drawn by none other than Dawson Trotman himself! That was the mark, that was the identification badge. I think that some of the ways we have failed to de-paganize is because we are still so focused on the little things that make up the church. Paul always expresses great concern about the possibility of a split in the church. Were you baptized into the name of Paul? The Navigators in those days did a great work in the Navy throughout the whole of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and hundreds of young men were led to Christ through their efforts during the war years. In the year 1 054 the Church was divided into two parts: 1) The Greek Eastern Church 2) The Roman Western Church. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. But when each piece is fitted together into its proper place in the puzzle, you have a beautiful and complete picture. WebDivisions in the Church. In verse 11, Paul gives the reason for his appeal for unity in the church at Corinth.