Sermon series: When Relationships Collide (Theme-based)
To be used with: Session One: Even Christians Collide
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Connection to unit theme
Paul's essential message of unity to the Christians in Corinth is something we in today's church should remember and heed when conflicts threaten to divide us.
Note: One of the most helpful resources for preparing these outlines was The Smart Guide to the Bible: 1 and 2 Corinthians, by Dewey Bertolini and Larry Richards. If you aren't familiar with this series, they deserve a place on your bookshelf. They provide a very accessible yet thorough introduction to the books of the Bible, and are intentionally written in the style of the " . . . For Dummies" books.
Introduction
We begin a new series this week called "Corinthian Collisions." For the next six weeks, we are going to look at some of the issues that were threatening the New Testament church in Corinth. There will be a lot of things you will hear during this series that will make you feel a lot better about our church. Side note: if you ever hear someone talking about how they want us to be a "New Testament church," ask them which one! But while the church in Corinth is dysfunctional in the extreme, that doesn't mean there aren't some issues that will feel uncomfortably familiar to us today. Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 1. We will look at verses 10-16. But before we start, let me paint you a picture of Corinth in general and the church Paul was writing to in particular.
Corinth was one of the most significant cities of the ancient world. It would be mentioned in the same breath as Rome and Athens, the way we talk about New York, London, and Paris today. Since it sat on an isthmus between the Aegean and Adriatic seas, it had not just one but two thriving seaports. Goods from Corinth were exported all over the Roman Empire. But on the other hand, cultural world views and corruption was imported to Corinth from all over theEmpire. Lawlessness, paganism, and sensuality ruled the day. In fact, It was a center of worship for the goddess Aphrodite. More than a thousand temple prostitutes filled the streets. In fact, to call someone a "Corinthian" was a slur on their character, implying they were given over to immorality and drunkenness.
Can you imagine planting a church there? Yet that's just what Paul did. During his second missionary journey (Acts 18) Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth, working with a group of godly Christ followers such as Priscilla and her husband Aquila to get this new church off the ground. As you will see in the coming weeks, it took a lot of work. Let's turn to one of the first problems Paul hit head on in his first letter to the Corinthians.
[Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17]
I. The basic problem: Division (vv. 11-17)
There were basically four personality cults in the church in Corinth. Many of the young believers apparently identified themselves with the church leader that baptized them in the case of Paul and Apollos, at least, to the point that Paul was actually glad he had not baptized more people. (Pastors, can you imagine being glad you haven't baptized more?) Here's where you can make a great connection to this week's small group theme that conflicts arise over different priorities. None of the early church leaders were wrong in what they were teaching or preaching, and the various factions were not necessarily wrong in identifying with them. They may have all represented different priorities:
Paul founded the church at Corinth. He had poured his life into them for over a year. He was probably the closest to what we would consider a senior pastor today.
Apollos was noted as a gifted speaker with a sharp intellect, and was a talented apologist (see Acts 18:28)
Peter was one of the 12 Apostles. He was an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry, and was instrumental in getting the Christian church off the ground on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). He was also the most outspoken and headstrong of the disciples. It would be natural for young believers to be drawn to his personality.
There was apparently a group that claimed not to follow any man, but to follow Jesus only.Nothing wrong with this in principle; but the fact that Paul was rebuking them suggested that they considered themselves to be super-spiritual and looked at those who followed human teachers with contempt. Jesus is the ultimate source of authority, but He equips human teachers and leaders.
As a result of following these different personalities, the church family in Corinth was deeply divided. Bertolini and Richards note that they were
A. Divided doctrinally
They were no longer agreeing with one another (v. 10) regarding their core beliefs.
B. Divided organizationally
The word divisions comes from the Greek word schisma, the source for our word schism. It suggests a cleft or a tear, like a garment ripped down the middle. The church family was split into opposing factions vying for control.
C. Divided organically
Paul begged the Corinthians to be united with the same understanding and the same conviction" (HCSB). The New King James uses the phrase "perfectly joined together" like the setting of a broken bone. Paul often compared the church to a human body (see 1 Cor. 12), so when it isn't "perfectly joined together" it's like a running back with a broken leg. [The Smart Guide to the Bible, 1 and 2 Corinthians, p. 19]
II. The essential solution: Unity
Paul appeals to the Corinthians that they "agree in what you say, that there be no divisions, and that you be united in the same understanding and the same conviction" (v. 10). This doesn't mean there can't be diversity in the church. In fact, as Paul will stress later in the letter when he talks about spiritual gifts (chapters 12-14), there has to be diversity for the church to be healthy. But diversity doesn't mean divisiveness.
The thing, above all else, that joins Christians together is the atonement—the saving work of Christ on the cross. Paul alludes to it in verse 13 ("Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you?") and then comes back to it in 17b: "that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect." According to the NIV Application Commentary, verse 17b introduces the thought that will form the main idea of 1:18-2:5. The focus of Christian proclamation must remain clearly centered on the message of the crucifixion rather than baptism or any other doctrine, however important in its own right it may be. "Words of human wisdom" ["clever words" in the HCSB]… refer to that which is merely "human" and therefore separate from the divinely transforming message of the atonement (44).
In other words, the crucifixion - Christ's saving work for us on the cross - is what brings us together. It ought to be, and truly only can be, the one thing that unites us. If we are united only because we are all in a great Sunday school class, we will be divided from those who aren't in that class with us. If we are united only because we go to the 11:00 worship service, then we are split from those that go to the 9:30 service. But if we are united because Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, then we are truly united. Church is a place where people who have no other natural reason for associating with one another come together in love because they have all been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. If the crucifixion is the only thing we have in common, then it's enough to have in common.
Conclusion
I'd like you to take a few minutes to look around this room. Why are you here with these people, in this church, at this hour? Are you friends with these people? I certainly hope so. But friendship isn't enough to keep us together. Are the people around you from a similar racial background, or economic level? Do you have a group of friends here that all like to ride motorcycles together, or scrapbook, or follow [insert local sports team]? There's nothing wrong with any of those things. But none of those are the main thing. When you leave here this morning, I'd like you to shake hands with at least three people you don't know, and say to them, "The blood of Christ brought us together this morning." When that is not THE priority, any other priority will ultimately divide us.