6.2.42 9.12.2021 Disputes 1 Corinthians 1.10-25 (2)

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Entice: One particular verse stands at the heart of 1 Corinthians and at the heart of Paul's argument in the book and to understand that verse we need to understand how Paul uses 1 term.

In 1 Corinthians Paul uses the word "body' in at least 4 ways.

My body.

The specific corporeal entity which enables activities like eating and having sexual relations. As a Christian my body is Spirit-filled and I am obligated to live that way.

The Body.

Abstract physical, ethical and spiritual location of a person.

The body of Christ.

The specific incarnate form of the Word.

The Body of Christ.

The Church. Universal and particular.

1 Cor 11.29

1 Corinthians 11:29 ESV

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

This process of "discerning the body correctly" begins here in this first section of the Epistle as Paul deals with the issue of schism. Division.

Engage: Our study through 1 Corinthians is titled Embracing Hope by Eliminating Avoidable Errors. In some sports they call these kinds of issues unforced errors. They are not caused by the opposition. They are not strategic. They are tactical blunders. Throughout this Epistle we will find that they are the result of individuals or groups who have not rightly discerned the body properly in question. Today the issue is the Body of Christ, the Church.

Expand: To start off Paul tells the the Corinthian Church was richly gifted by God.

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 ESV

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

You would think that giftedness was the answer to every problem. You would be wrong. When we allow culturally defined competitiveness, socially programmed jealousy, and structurally embedded difference to sunder the body we make a blunder in which we fail to correctly protect the unity of the Body of Christ.

Excite: It is up to each of us to protect the Body. To build the unity of purpose which gives our gospel a voice and legs.

Explore:

A unified Church Body is essential for our proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel

Explain: In this text Paul wants us to correct the errors of schism in the Body of Christ. We need to understand that schism...

Compromises people.

1 Corinthians 1:10–17 ESV

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. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow 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, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

People are compromised by conflict.

People are compromised by association.

People are compromised by majoring in the minors.

The next error is that schism

Confuses power.

1 Corinthians 1:18–19 ESV

For the word of the cross is folly 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 the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Our way. The cross is foolishness.

God's way. The cross is the saving power of God.

Finally schism

Complicates preaching.

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 ESV

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Schism complicates preaching by

Relocating our messages source of wisdom.

Then schism complicates preaching by

Relinquishing our messages source of power.

Shut Down:

Paul begins this section in verses 4-9 recalling the great gifts the Corinthian congregation possessed. In verses 26-31 he talks about their social status prior to coming to Christ

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

His conclusion: all of our boasting should be in the Lord.

Divisiveness, conflict, petty competition are distracting errors that we can and should avoid. Disputes overshadow our gifts and magnify the differences we leave behind when we come to Jesus. When we are guilty of schismatic behavior we should stop it and repent. When we are not in conflict we need to do everything in our power to prevent it because keeps us from the business of showing and telling the story.

Schism smells like snake to me. It compromises us, confuses us, and complicates the task of preaching the Cross.