1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Follow the Leader

Bulletin Questions

Illustrations

The political division of our country

Aligning with parties

Aligning with party figures

Silly things churches divide over

Thom Rainer’s list?

Illustration

Things churches divide over

Comes from Thom Rainer post

LifeWay Research

Surveys of Southern Baptist churches

A Twitter question: What is the strangest thing that you have witnessed that has caused fighting in a church?

Some usual suspects:

Color of the carpet

Color of walls

The temperature of the building

The order of worship

Some unusual things (these are not made up!):

An argument over the appropriate length of the worship pastor’s beard.

Whether a piece of land should be used for a children’s playground area or a cemetery (!?!) - wonder how these became the two options!

An argument and subsequent vote over whether or not the clock in the sanctuary should be removed.

An argument over whether the church should serve deviled eggs at the church meal.

And my favorite: A fight over using the word “potluck” rather than “pot blessing”!

The church in Corinth

We hear some of the things above

And we may laugh

Or we may cry - because we have experienced something similar ourselves

But we would be wrong if we thought that churches today are the only ones that have this problem

Divisions within the church go all the way back to the New Testament

And churches throughout the ages have dealt with this

But there are things we need to learn - and we will as we continue to look at 1 Corinthians

A Thesis Statement

serves as Paul’s thesis statement for the rest of the letter

It comes as a response to a report that Paul has heard from “Chloe’s people” (v. 11)

Who is Chloe?

We really do not know much about her

This is the only appearance of her name

Likely lived in Ephesus (where Paul wrote this letter) or Corinth (the destination of this letter). Corinth seems more likely.

Her people are probably her household (family, servants) or her business associates

Paul mentions her name to let the church know that he is not responding to rumors or hearsay, but a direct report from trusted sources

Some things we notice in verse 10:

“I appeal to you...”

This is an urgent request by Paul

The matter of division is an important one to Paul (and the entire New Testament!)

All of 1 Corinthians about bringing unity to a divided church

The main focus of Ephesians is also unity

To bring all things together under Christ

The church is the example and witness to the world of the power of God until this is completed!

Paul tells us in to have nothing to do with a believer who stirs up division

a matter of church discipline

It is that important!

Jesus prays for the unity of his followers in - the high priestly prayer

This is an urgent request by Paul

“By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

This is the tenth time Paul has used Christ’s name in the first ten verses

He will go on to use it four more times!

He has also emphasized that Christ is “Lord” seven times in the first ten verses

For Christians there is one Lord

It is not Caesar, but Christ

Why does Paul use this repetition?

To emphasize Christ!

To remind these believers that they belong to the community of Christ

As such, they should live accordingly

How they live has a direct impact on the name and reputation of Christ

The way they are currently living does not represent who they belong to

“That all of you agree”

This phrase is literally “speak the same”

Same mind

Same judgement / opinion

What does Paul mean?

At a basic level, that they agree on the gospel message, which Paul will go into further detail about beginning in 1:18

But also, what he states negatively

“That there be no divisions among you” -

Divisions = schismata - means “to tear”

We see the word used elsewhere in places like

John 9:16 ESV

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

The people were divided in their opinions / judgments about Jesus

We are going to see that the church in Corinth was also divided in their opinions

Leaders

The church was divided on their allegiance to their leaders

Notice who the leaders were

Paul

Apollos

Cephas = Peter

Christ

We may be tempted to think that this is a good thing

Apparently though it is not in this instance, but it was a way of causing division

None of these leaders were false teachers!

All of these were good teachers!

So what is the issue?

Making too much of leaders

Elevating leaders to too high a position

The people dividing over their allegiances

Paul asks the question: “Is Christ divided?”

Who was crucified for you?

Whose name were you baptized into?

Of course, the answer is “Christ!”

All believers belong to Christ and are unified in him

The gospel

It was Christ who died for our sin

It was Christ who rose from the dead

It is Christ who is our Savior

Well, that’s strange that they would do that!

But aren’t we tempted to do the same?

“I was saved under the ministry of Billy Graham / John MacArthur / R. C. Sproul.”

“Who is your pastor?”

What church do you go to? “I go to Pastor ....’s church.”

More commonly: “I go to this church…or that church.”

We want to be identified with a specific group or person

We have to be careful that the group or person doesn’t take the place of Christ

We belong to Christ

Does this mean it is bad to have leaders we look up to?

No!

But do not let them take the place of Christ

Let them point you to Christ!

Notice that Paul is not saying it is the fault of the leaders that this was happening

We may be tempted to point the blame at well-known pastors and speakers and say, “They are the problem.”

Paul names himself, Apollos, Peter, and Jesus here

The problem was not the leaders

The problem was that people had made too much of the leaders

It is our tendency to sin and our own hearts that we need to look into

Baptism

Is Paul saying baptism is not important?

It would be strange given Jesus’ command in the Great Commission -

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Paul’s teaching elsewhere assumes baptism of his readers

Romans 6:3 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Colossians 2:12 ESV

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Acts

Paul was baptized -

Acts 9:18 ESV

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

His ministry encouraged baptism - ,

Acts 16:14–15 ESV

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:30–33 ESV

Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Was Paul’s ministry in Corinth different?

Paul was in Corinth for a year and a half -

Acts 18:11 ESV

And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

His ministry encouraged baptism even in Corinth -

Acts 18:8 ESV

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

What is interesting though is that Paul never is mentioned as doing any of the baptizing

This fits with what we see in

Why?

He gives us the answer in

So that none would say they were baptized “in my name”

He understood that his position as an apostle presented a danger of being idolized

The people could become proud of being a convert of Paul

Paul wants to make it clear that he is a servant of Christ -

1 Corinthians 3:5–7 ESV

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

The Mission

Paul’s

Paul is very careful not to distract attention away from Christ and the power of the cross -

His focus is on proclaiming the gospel!

His focus is on proclaiming the gospel!

We too must be focused on Christ and pointing people to the cross

It doesn’t matter who our pastor is (whether it is the famous pastor with books and a radio program or the unknown) - we are Christ’s

It doesn’t matter what church we attend (whether it is attended by thousands, hundreds, or only a few) - we are Christ’s

Let us find our unity with one another and our fellow believers around town and around the world - so that Christ may receive all the glory!