How to have unity

On our devotional guide brings unity as our topic

1 Corinthians 1:10–16 “Now I plead with 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 be perfectly joined together (united) in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.”

Why is Paul telling them to not be divided and be united?

Because there was disunity in the Corinthian church

Not always but often if Paul has to tell a church to do something in particular it’s because they are lacking it

We know this for sure because Paul calls out their pride in later verses

Main reason is that Christ is not divided

If Christ is not divided then the church which exists to reflect Christ cannot be divided

What does disunity look like? Give some examples

One of the descriptions Paul gives is that divisions are usually focused on an individual

An unofficial leader

That a group will follow or do whatever their unofficial leader does

They don’t have to call that person a leader

But they subconsciously follow this leader

Church is not about following me, Pastor Neville, or Pastor Mark

It’s about following Jesus

So students remember when you come to church

Don’t do it because you follow a particular person

Do it to follow Jesus and no one else

Ask yourself am I following a particular person around at church?

Or am I following Jesus?

Let Jesus be your leader and on one else

What does unity look like according to v.10?

Same mind and same judgement

Same way of thinking (internal)

And same decision making (external)

Think of your best friend or someone you feel really connected to

Do you notice you think alike?

And you do notice you act alike?

My closest friend and I think almost exactly the same and we often do similar things

Now imagine student ministry was like that

Not that every single person becomes your best friend

Or that no one is no longer unique

But that everyone thought like Christ

Prioritizing others above yourself

And that everyone loved and cared like Christ

It would look like a student ministry with no cliques

People often thing of high school as the peak of cliques

And honestly that’s probably true unfortunately

But clique mentality can even be brought into adulthood

In a previous church

I was in a young married couples group

And it felt very cliquey

Just feels uncomfortable to be around

Another part of it was this was a big church

This group had at least 50 people in it

But nonetheless a cliquey church

Is not a church that’s pleasant to be around

And what’s ironic is that cliques or formed usually to create unity

But what it really does is create disunity

And conflict between different groups

So how can we be united? How can we have no cliques?

Be united with Christ

Through His Word

Through prayer

And you will naturally be united with others

When you are united with Christ

You receive joy and peace

Cliques are created because people ‘want to fit in’

Because they are lacking on the inside

They are lacking security

And purpose

But when Christ fulfills that in you by being united with Him

You no longer need to ‘fit in’

You ‘fit out’

You begin to fill in the holes that are lacking in the church

That’s unity

1. No cliques (1:10-16)

1 Corinthians 1:17–19 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.””

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

What is a common theme here or repeated word? What does Paul shift the topic to?

The gospel

Why?

The answer is ‘wisdom’

Another part of the source of clique mentality and divisions is pride

But where does it talk about pride?

It doesn’t but it’s heavily implied

Wisdom leads to pride

But I thought wisdom is good?

The wisdom Paul is talking about is worldly wisdom

This is a wisdom that is puffing up someone’s head

Anyone familiar with the term wise guy? Or smart aleck?

These are people who think they are so smart

They become very cocky

They think they know better than everyone else

So they treat others as if they were beneath them

But if there’s anything God hates it’s pride

Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 16:5 (ESV)

Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

This is why

Paul brings up the gospel

Because the gospel is the prime example of God humbling the proud

How is the gospel the prime example of God humbling the proud?

Because people who think they are wise scoff at the gospel

They think it’s a joke

Why might people today think the gospel is a joke?

How can a guy nailed to a cross save me?

Virgin birth? You got to be kidding me?

There’s no heaven or hell

But the truth is that God used those exact things that people think are foolish

To humble them

The ‘foolishness’ of God is better than the ‘wisdom’ of men

Paul isn’t saying that God is foolish

But he’s making an illustration that God is so infinitely above people in wisdom

That if God could be foolish it would still be greater than what people think is wise

Why does God want to humble people?

First and foremost to be glorified

But also you cannot have a united people full of ‘wise guys’

Full of proud and cocky people

Go to a clique at your school

And you will see it is full of the most arrogant people

So if you want unity

Don’t be a wise guy

2. Don’t be a wise guy (1:17-25)

1 Corinthians 12:12–18 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”

What is Paul saying about the relationship of the church and Christ?

Christ is united therefore the church is united

How can there be unity when there are different people?

Different people can fulfill and serve in ways that others can’t

What’s the example that Paul gives of different parts being united?

The human body

How does he use the human body as an example of unity?

If you lose even one part of your body, your eye, your organ, you cannot function

But just as how God carefully designed the human body to work together perfectly

God has carefully chosen and placed every single person at church

If you are here today God has brought you to church for a special purpose

A special task

And that everyone here needs you just like how you would need your own eye

So if you want to be united

Remember you need each other

Look out for one another

Text each other to see how others are doing

3. Remember you need each other (12:12-18)