The Lynchpin

Introduction

Christian unity requires a willingness to …

I. Align with Believers in a Local Church Through Mission, Doctrine, and Relationship (v. 10)

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB95)

10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

A. One Thing

Everything the Holy Spirit through Paul will outline in this letter hinges upon one word:

The success of every marriage depends on this word

The success of every business depends on this word

The success of every team depends on this word

The success of every nation depends on this word

The success of every church depends on this word

Unity

Paul is making a passionate plea to a local church in Corinth to be unified — to be one.

Exhort is the same word used by Legion when they plead with Jesus not to send them into the abyss.

Exhort is the same word used by Jairus when he pleads with Jesus to help his daughter.

Exhort is the same word used by the Centurion when he pleaded with Jesus to heal his servant.

It’s a cry of desperation, it’s Paul pleading with them to get this one thing right.

It’s not a command, it’s a plea as brethren and for Christ’s sake:

Now let’s talk about those two things:

As brethren — brothers and sisters

Remember who you are! You are a part of the family of God.

Those people in your local church are your brothers and sisters in Christ — they are little parts that make up the greater whole.

Paul says I’m journeying alongside you in this as a brother in Christ, as a part that makes up the body of Christ — the Church.

For Christ’s sake — for Christ’s reputation

This plea for unity is not ultimately for Paul’s sake as an apostle. It’s not for the church’s sake. It’s for Christ’s sake.

In other words, for the sake of Christ’s reputation, would you get this right!

John 17:11–13 (NASB95)

11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

B. Be Willing

When we talk about unity, everyone can agree we need more of it.

But if we just needed to agree that unity is necessary, we could just go home.

More than agree, we need to be willing to establish unity.

Willing means ready, ready to act or respond.

In other words, how is the Holy Spirit leading you to act or respond so that unity in Christ’s church may be established?

C. The Local Church

Paul is not referring to unity among the general, universal assembly of believers.

Where do you get that?

1 Corinthians 1:2 (NASB95)

2 To the church of God which is at Corinth

As Christians we often hang our hat on the Church, capital C, when it comes to unity. When unity is simply an abstract concept of believers around the world that we don’t interact with on a daily or weekly basis, it’s easy!

But when it comes to unity among a local body of believers, where you interact with them daily, things tend to get messy.

Why? Because people are messy.

Church hurt

I hate the phrase “church hurt.” Not because “church hurt” isn’t real, not because someone didn’t wrong you, not because someone didn’t treat you poorly, but because more often than not Christians use “church hurt” as an excuse, an excuse to distance themselves from the church, not to grow closer to it.

It’s the reason so many marriages fail today — “marriage hurt.”

It’s the same mentality. One spouse hurts the other in some way, so rather than remembering the covenant that was made when the marriage was instituted, getting to the root of the problem, and resolving the issue, they get a divorce and go shopping for a new spouse. They quit.

Welcome to marriage, welcome to business, welcome to being on a team.

Welcome to church!

If there are real missional, doctrinal, or relational problems within a church, then you should prayerfully consider your next steps.

What those steps are, only God knows, but the first step will always be a willingness to be receptive to how you can respond and act to bring about unity for Christ’s sake. Maybe that means leaving, but not just leaving for the sake of leaving, but leaving to find a local church that you can pour into and serve faithfully.

A local church will always be comprised of broken, messy, sinful people, but if they are unified for Christ, they are a church worthy of your time, energy, and service.

D. The Purpose of Unity

The Holy Spirit defines the unity of the church in that you all agree and there be no divisions among you.

This literally means you all speak the same thing and carries the idea of setting aside differences and living in peace.

If you’re paying attention, unity is that you would all agree! You might be thinking to yourself, I can think of a single person in my life, much less this church, that I agree with on everything.

Paul is pleading for unity, not uniformity.

Unity in the church is in the name of Jesus Christ, it is in the mission of Jesus Christ, it is in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, it is in the relationships of Christians.

Unity is not everyone doing exactly the same thing and working in exactly the same way to accomplish that mission because you are a body.

In seeking this unity though, that you would speak the same, meaning your words, your conduct, your relationships, your life reflects the larger purpose for which you have been called.

The purpose for this unity is that you may be made complete

This phrase comes from a Greek word which means to be in a condition to function well.

It’s the same word used in Matthew 4 when James and John are mending their nets.

There is lots of road construction in the summer. All the roads around here have been getting resurfaced, and sometimes we complain because it inconveniences us. But the purpose of this resurfacing is to place the road in a condition to function well.

The longer a road gets driven over, the more it sits in the sun, the more the elements wear it down, the more schismatas (divisions, cracks, fissures) appear on its surface.

Those divisions might not hinder travel too much at first, but when left unchecked, they become potholes. And when a road is full of potholes, no one likes driving on it.

The resurfacing, the mending process, is for the purpose of making the road fit for use. When God is resurfacing and mending a local church, it’s not because He hates you or wants to inconvenience you, but because He loves His church and wants to allow them to be better used for His purpose.

So how are we to align with a local body of believers?

E. Three Ways to Align:

Missional — that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you

What is the mission of the local church you attend?

Our mission statement here is “to make more and better disciples of Jesus Christ.”

It’s wrapped up in one of the three words of our name: Faith

Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, which is a confident assurance that Jesus is who He says He is, that Jesus came and died to save sinners, that as a Christian you are one of those sinners whom He died to save, and that because of the grace you have experienced in your own life, you want as many people as possible to come to a saving knowledge of Him.

If you are a part of a church that is aligned to that mission, then praise God. Missional alignment is the chief unity that binds us together as believers.

You might believe that, but are you saying it? Is the greater mission of Jesus Christ evident in how you are speaking about other Christians and other churches?

How do you speak about your church’s pastor?

How do you speak about your church’s elders, leaders, and teachers?

How do you speak about your church’s congregants, your brothers and sisters in Christ?

How do you speak about your church’s organizations, events, and outreach?

It doesn’t just mean you speak well about Faith Bible Fellowship. It means you speak well about every other Bible-believing church, pastor, leader, etc. because Jesus Christ died for them too and wants to use them as a local church to accomplish His work here on this earth.

Doctrinal (internal)— the same mind

We get our doctrine from this book, the Bible, because we believe that all 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation, are the inerrant and complete revelation of Jesus Christ and His will for mankind.

That’s why the second word of our name is Bible.

Our faith in Jesus Christ has established our unity in mission, and the primary way we engage in and tell others about that mission is through God’s Word.

We believe in the One God, the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who existed in perfect union from eternity past and will exist to eternity future.

We believe that God created the entire universe, including humanity whom He created in His image.

We believe that humanity sinned against God, severing that perfect relationship with Him and that the only way it can could be reconciled and redeemed was by God sending His Son Jesus to take on flesh, die as human being in your place for your sin.

We believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, defeating once and for all the power of sin and death.

We believe that everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as the Lord and believes in Him as Savior will be saved.

We believe Jesus Christ is coming back soon, to a city near you, to judge the living and the dead, and that at His coming every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

We believe that those who have trusted in Christ’s name have been declared righteous in His sight and will spend eternity secure in the grand communion with God. We believe that those who haven’t trusted in Christ’s name have been declared wicked in His sight and for them is reserved a literal place called hell where they will be separated from God for all eternity.

That’s called doctrine, and it’s not our doctrine, it comes straight from God’s Word, and to the extent that we believe it, preach it, and put it into practice, God is able to accomplish great and wonderful things through a church filled with broken people.

Relational (external) — the same judgment

This is the third word of our name: Fellowship

You are called to love everyone, but you are specifically called to love those within your local church, your brothers and sisters.

Some people are easier to love than others, but to the extent that you are able, and you are only able to with the help of the Holy Spirit, love on, serve with, encourage, and support your fellow believers in a local body.

Christian unity requires a willingness to …

II. Fully Serve Jesus Christ Above Personal Agendas or Affiliations (vv. 11-16)

1 Corinthians 1:11–16 (NASB95)

11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? 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 would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

A. Divisions in a Local Church

When you read 1 Corinthians, it is understandable to come away with a view of factious groups or splits within the church, but the fact that Paul pens this letter to the whole church tells us they were more or less united. However, there were some serious problems that needed to be addressed or they would cause major issues in the future.

How does Paul hear about these divisions?

From Chloe’s people

The fact that Paul refers to these individuals as Chloe’s people and not members within the body, tells us they were likely not part of the church at Corinth.

Very likely, these were slaves that worked in Chloe’s household who were watching from the outside divisions taking place on the inside

It is important to note that a slave in the first century is not the same as slavery that we think of. Many people sold themselves into slavery out of economic necessity, held jobs, and were educated.

Whether or not they were members of the church, often it is non-Christians who see so visibly the lack of unity within a local church.

Finish this phrase, “I don’t want to go to church, they’re just a bunch of _________!”

Hypocrites

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” — Brennan Manning

Unfortunately, there are too many times when non-Christians see Christians outside of church and think to themselves, “Why would I ever want to be a part of that?”

Pride

Paul was the founding pastor of the church in Corinth.

Apollos was a brilliant orator and speaker.

Peter was a disciple who walked with Jesus and led Jews to Christ.

“I am of Christ.”

I one of my commentaries I read about a Quaker who went from church to church looking for the “true” church.

One day someone asked him, “What church are you a part of now?”

He said, “I am in the true church at last.”

“Well how many belong to it?”

“Just my wife and I,” he said, “and I am not sure about her sometimes.”

These are people for who no church is ever good enough. “I don’t need church, I don’t need a pastor, I don’t need people to walk with me, it’s just me and Jesus.”

Sounds nice, but the problem is Jesus Himself established His church to carry out His mission here on earth, so that’s a major problem.

Putting this in a modern context, one of my commentaries said it would be like saying, “I am of John Wesley, or I am of John Calvin, or I am of Billy Graham.”

B. The Main Point

Whether there were actual factions forming, or Paul is just using an analogy that the believers in Corinth will understand, the point is a church does not unify around the church ministry, or the person in the pulpit, or the leadership, or any other Christian individual.

A church is to unify around and give allegiance to One, the person of Jesus Christ.

There is One who created you, there is One who died for you, there is One who can save you, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Christian unity requires a willingness to …

III. Accept that Being a Bold Witness for Christ is Your Primary Calling (v. 17)

A. Baptism

Paul mentions several times a key point of division, and it is still a point of division in many churches today. In fact, entire denominations have formed over this single issue: baptism. Christians differ on:

The Method

Is it baptism by immersion or sprinkling or no baptism at all?

The Person

Does it need to be a pastor, or a priest, or a friend, etc.

Paul says he was not called to baptize.

Baptism is important and beautiful. It is an outward sign of the inward work that Jesus Christ has done in your life.

But physical baptism is not what Paul was called to do. In fact, physical baptism is not what any Christian was called to do. I’m not an expert, but as far as I can tell there is not a single command in Scripture to baptize, nor is there a single command on how that baptism should be performed.

What about Jesus in the Great Commission?

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The only command in this passage is “go and make disciples of all the nations.”

“Baptism” and “teaching” are the means by which this is accomplished.

Baptism can certainly include physical water baptism, but in the context of making disciples, the focus is not on the sign, it is on the spiritual transformation that takes place within an individual, a baptism of the holy spirit by fire.

In other words, go and make disciples by bringing them into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Teaching indicates it’s a lifelong journey, because none of us is perfect, and we are daily learning what it means to love God, to serve God, and to live out His will in our lives.

B. Your Primary Calling

This perfectly fits with what Paul says here in this verse.

His calling was not to baptize individuals. His calling was to preach the gospel, and that is the same primary calling of all Christians.

What is the Gospel?

That God so loved the world that even while they were still sinners, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for them, and that all who believe in His name shall be saved.

The Gospel is incredibly simple

You don’t need to be a brilliant orator to proclaim it. You don’t need to be skilled in logic and persuasion. You don’t need to be a pastor or teacher or professor.

All you need to proclaim the Gospel is a personal experience of it and a desire to boldly share that wonderful beauty with anyone and everyone you can.

Conclusion