The Irrationality of Division within a Local Church

Introduction

We are back to 1 Corinthians 1 this morning. Our focus is becoming a true New Testament local church. Calvary Baptist Church is important to Christ. He is the One who loves each local church and gave Himself for it. Thus, we, in return, want to be the best local church we can be for Him.

1 Corinthians is the Holy Spirit’s blueprint for each local church. For that reason, we are studying it seeking to learn the do’s and the do not’s God expects.

Last week, we learned some do’s. Remember verse 10 says…

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10, KJV 1900)

There are three important things we must do as a local church.

We must “all speak the same thing.”

We must not allow “divisions among” us.

We must be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

If you were here and heard the message, the emphasis was on all of us working in sync with one another through the power of the Holy Spirit accomplishing God’s will for our church. We are to be a fine-tuned machine hitting on all cylinders. As we do, we become a powerful spiritual machined used of God in reaching our community for Christ. In fact, Christ himself said that His local church (emphasis on His because we belong to Him) would be such that even the gates of hell could not prevail against it. Thus, if we will live our lives in obedience to Him and His Word, we can make a huge difference in Bedford county. However, we must remember that He is the One Who builds His our church as He adds to our ecclesia. Our simple duty as individual members is to obey Him. We are to trust Him and we are to obey Him. We must determine that we are going to “speak the same thing” and we are going to be “perfectly joined together” with the same mind and the same understanding of God’s Word.

Now, with the do’s comes a warning. And the warning is be careful about divisions. In fact, the Holy Spirit is quite clear about this. He says “that…there be NO DIVISION among you.” Division is the one thing that creates chaos. Division causes everything to come to a grinding halt. Using the engine analogy, when one cylinder stops firing it causes the entire car to come to a halt. There is no power. There is no forward momentum. There is no harmony. For this reason, the Holy Spirit demonstrates…

3 Irrational Thoughts Related to Division in a Local Church!

Each of these irrational thoughts were found in the church at Corinth. Here is the first.

Irrationality #1 - When a church is divided, everyone knows.

“For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.” (1 Corinthians 1:11, KJV 1900)

The phrase “hath been declared” means “to be informed.” Apparently, Paul had learned of the divisions in the church there through the “grape vine.” People were talking. The division and strife were so fierce and contentious that word spread not only throughout the city of Corinth, but beyond. Paul had learned of their contentions from those who were “of the house of Chloe.” That is the New Testament way of saying the family of Chloe. Not much detail is given about this family. We do not know if they were members of the Corinthian church. Yet, it is irrelevant as to whether they were members or not, word was spreading.

The word “contentions” means “bitter conflict even to the point of heated and violent dissension.” These church members were not only arguing and choosing sides, but they were also going after each other. I have seen this happen in churches before. It is nothing new. Anytime church members let the flesh take over anything can happen. I know of one church that for a long time was known as the church where fists fights broke out on the church porch. Thus, the church of Corinth had gained a horrible reputation.

It is amazing to me how fast gossip spreads. It is also amazing to me how quick people are to tell all the bad things happening in a church instead of the good things. As you continue studying the rest of the 1 Corinthians, there were some good things happening there. Yet, because of people’s sin nature, all the bad spreads like a wildfire.

Unknown Person 1 - “You should hear what is going over there at that church! I heard that so and so go into a knock down drag out fight with deacon so and so!”

Unknown Person 2 - “You don’t say. What happened? I always knew that something bad was going to happen in that church sooner than later. I could just feel it.”

Unknown Person 1 – “Yeah, me too. I saw it coming. But so, and so said that…”

And on goes the gossip. My point is that when we are divided, the entire community knows. The church of Corinth is a prime example. Think about all the other people who heard of their divisions long before it got to the Apostle Paul! Such a bad testimony for a church is also a bad testimony for Christ.

It is an irrationality because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are commanded to speak the same thing. We are expected to be “perfectly joined together.” Thus, each local church, rationally speaking, is to be a place of unity with the Holy Spirit as our bond. Division in a church is irrational.

Here is…

Irrationality #2 - When a church is divided, too many people are full of themselves and not the Holy Spirit.

“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12, KJV 1900)

There is something important that we must note in this verse. The Holy Spirit points out that every one of them were saying “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” What is the most reoccurring pronoun in that phrase? It is the pronoun “I.” Did you know that the words “SIN” and “PRIDE” both have the letter “I” in the middle? You see when we get our eyes on ourselves, we become victims of sin and pride. All of us must guard against this. As believer, our duty is to make Christ the Lord of our lives. It is a battle we all fight everyday because of our tendency to gravitate toward pleasing ourselves. We often make ourselves the expert on all things. Thus, these church members were making themselves the center of all things. In fact, the word “saith” literally means to “to state one’s opinion or judgment.” These church members were not following the Lord anymore. Instead, they had decided on their own that that following Paul or Apollos or Peter was the right thing to do. They had completely abandoned the Word of God for their own opinion. Now, they were relying on the foolishness of this world. They were glorying in men and not the Lord. Later, in 1 Corinthian 3, the Holy Spirit warns them and us…

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;” (1 Corinthians 3:19–21, KJV 1900)

Essentially, these believers were full of themselves. It was all about their opinion and their judgment. Opinions and judgments that were, according to the Holy Spirit, vain. A true New Testament local church is one whereby the members of that church are filled with the Holy Spirit and not with themselves. Note this verse...

Ephesians 5:18 KJV 1900

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

The word “filled” there means “to be controlled.” And, just like a drunk allows the alcohol to be in control, so we as Christians are to allow the Holy Spirit to be in control of our lives. We are not to be filled with our thoughts and our opinions. We are to filled with God’s thoughts and God’s opinions. We are to live in complete obedience to Him. We are to die to self. You see God has graciously provided everything we need to glory and exalt Him.

Romans 5:1–2 KJV 1900

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:6–11 KJV 1900

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Thus, our duty is to give God the glory. We are to disregard ourselves. Christ was our example. Not once did Christ seek His own glory. Instead, everything He did as the Father willed.

John 6:38 KJV 1900

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Anytime we allow “self” to be focal point of what we do, we are no longer glorifying the Lord. It is then that contentions and divisions come. We are no longer seeking and following the same Lord. Instead, it is every man for himself and that creates chaos, confusions, and contention.

Here is the next irrational thought.

Irrationality #3 - When a church is divided, it has lost its focus and purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:13–16 KJV 1900

Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

Here the Holy Spirit asks three rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions are used to state the obvious. For instance, “It is snowing outside! Can you believe it?” Well, duh, yeah, if it is snowing outside, I must believe it because it is snowing outside. There is no need to answer such a question. However, the question emphasizes the obvious. It is snowing.

In the same manner, the Holy Spirit poses these three rhetorical questions.

Is Christ divided? Obviously, the answer is? No, Christ is not divided. Even within the Trinity Christ is not divided. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all God. Three distinct persons, but yet one.

Was Paul crucified for you? Uh…no! There is was only One Who could die for the sins of the world and it wasn’t Paul. It was Christ. He was the perfect sinless sacrifice for our personal sinful situation.

Were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Again, the answer is no. Christ gave clear instructions that baptism was to be done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Note...

Matthew 28:19–20 KJV 1900

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

In fact, the testimony of Paul included the fact that he had not baptized many of them. They are even listed by the Holy Spirit as evidence that none of them save Crispus, Gaius, and Stephanas’ family could lay claim to being baptized by Paul. You see it wasn’t about Paul. It wasn’t about baptism. It wasn’t about any of these things. It was about Christ and Him crucified. They had lost their focus and their purpose. They were so consumed with themselves that the true work of the local church was lost.

Folks, may we here at Calvary Baptist Church never lose our focus. May we keep Christ at the center of all we do. May we always proclaim Him. May we always seek to glorify Him and what He has done. May we be on guard against what opinions we have.

Here is the final irrational thought that comes from a church divided.

Irrationality #4 - When a church is divided, it causes Christ’s work on Calvary to lose its significance.

1 Corinthians 1:17 KJV 1900

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

There are several important things here.

First, note that it was Christ who “sent” Paul. The word “sent” means “to dispatch someone with an intended purpose.” Christ Himself had personally dispatched Paul on a mission. He as done the same for us. I just read a moment ago Matthew 28:19-20. We are to go and teach all nations. We are tell them the good news of the gospel. It is our commission. It is our mission. It is what we are “sent” to do.

Second, Christ sent Paul “to preach the gospel.” That goes right along with out commission as well. Preaching the gospel means we are to use our words and our actions to convey to others the Gospel aka the good news. We are to demonstrate with our lives the difference that Christ has made through His death, burial, and resurrection. In doing so, we show others the way to the cross. We become the witness that Christ commanded us to be.

Third, we are NOT to do it with “wisdom of words.” This is an interesting phrase. The word “wisdom” conveys this thought. It is wisdom tended to manipulate. When you combine that with prepositional phrase “of words”, we have the idea of trying to convince others with our own words. In a sense, we are trying to manipulate them under our power. Thus, Christ did not send us to preach the gospel with our own words. Instead, we are to use His Word. We must be tune with Scripture and what it teaches. We must use God’s Word in sharing the gospel message. By doing so, we remove the danger of using our own opinions or thoughts. Our thoughts and our opinions, by the way, are tainted by sin and self. Anytime we insert our thoughts and our opinions we leave the door wide open to again relying upon ourselves and not God. And, by that reasoning, we end up causing strife, contention, and division. However, if we remain committed to God’s Word allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work through us, we are unified in our purpose and our commission.

Last, note that when we allow contentions and divisions through a focus on self it makes “the cross of Christ” to “be made of none effect.” The phrase “made of none effect” means nullify, to make or become devoid of significance, to become pointless. Here then is the real danger. A church full of self-centered believers who are bickering and contentious to the point of throwing down on each other is a church who causes the Gospel to be nullified or devoid of significance. It is church that is no longer being used of God. It is church that no longer enjoys the blessings of God. It is church that instead of leading people to the cross of Calvary it is causing people to flee the cross of Calvary. It is a church that will have much to answer for when they stand before Him one day.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by applying that to us and our church. We, as members of Calvary Baptist Church need to understand the important role we play in the battle for men’s souls. How we conduct ourselves as a local church determines our effectiveness in reaching people for Christ. If we truly love the Lord as we say we do, then we will realize that we must not play church, we must be the church God intended. It means we must as the entire body of believers determine that we are going to have the same mind. It means we must determine that we are going work at being “perfectly joined together.” It means that we are going to guard against divisions. There is too much at stake for us to be playing spiritual games. We, every single one of us, need to stop focusing on pleasing and esteeming ourselves. We MUST become focused on glorifying God. It is important if we want to see our children, our grand children, and our great grandchildren saved and serving Him. Let not our legacy as a church be that of chaos, contention, and conflict. Let not our legacy be that of a church which made cross of Calvary of none effect. Let’s determine to live up to our name as a church. Let’s make Christ’s finished work on Calvary be what Calvary Baptist Church is all about!