1 Corinthians 1:10-17

In Christ Jesus, the Church’s One Foundation, Dear Fellow Messengers of Our Lord,

Did any of you grow up in a small town? Perhaps that depends on what I mean by “small town.” Here’s one definition I found: A small town is one which is divided by railroad tracks, has one main street, two churches, and lots of opinions! Someone once said that when it comes to arguments, it’s not that people in small towns don’t know how to meet halfway. It’s just that they’re poor judges of distance!

But small towns aren’t the only places where you’ll be exposed to differences of opinion and disagreements. You can even find the same in churches. That’s what the apostle Paul saw when he took a look at the congregation of believers in Corinth. The unity they shared as members of God’s kingdom was starting to crumble. Satan was intent on breaking the common bond that held them together by getting them to choose sides and take each other on. And his plan was working. The Corinthians were in danger of losing their church, their faith, and, ultimately, their salvation.

Does the same temptation work today? The devil knows it does. He still strives to destroy unity in God’s church whenever and wherever he can. That’s why it’s good for us this morning to take Paul’s words to heart as he encourages us as believers to:

“Be Perfectly United!”

I. Serving one Master

II. Sharing one message

When Paul would write to a congregation, he would normally explain a doctrinal point first, and then admonish those who were living contrary to that doctrine. But here Paul addresses the problem right away, recognizing the danger that confronted the Corinthian congregation (vv 11,12), “My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’” Factions were developing within the church, leading to some rather unhealthy haggling. The Corinthians were choosing up sides. Some claimed to be followers of Paul himself, no doubt taking pride in the fact that Paul was the one who had started the church in Corinth and had actually stayed their for a year and a half. There were some who claimed allegiance to Apollos, a very gifted and eloquent teacher from Alexandria in Egypt. Others expressed their loyalty to Cephas, the Aramaic name for the one we know better as Peter, the primary spokesman for the early church. And then there were those who went straight to the top and proclaimed, “I follow Christ.” It may have sounded good on the surface, but even this group may have had a bit of an attitude problem, perhaps looking down on the others and elevating themselves to some kind of special status. Things were a mess. The Corinthians were turning God’s church into a battlefield, threatening the very unity that had been holding them together.

Paul’s solution? Remind them that they’re all serving the same Master (v 10), “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” Paul appeals to the Corinthians and to us today “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is the one we serve. He is our Master, our Lord, our Savior. Jesus Christ is the head of his church. To squabble and argue over allegiances to different masters just didn’t make sense (vv 13-16), “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)” If the church truly is the body of Christ, splitting it up will only do damage to our Savior. No one can take the place of Jesus. He’s the head of the church. Paul wasn’t on that cross! People weren’t baptized into Paul’s name! Paul even admits that he purposefully left most of the baptizing to others, most likely to avoid the problem of having people boast about being baptized by him. His calling was not to draw attention to himself, but to Christ. He wanted the Corinthians to be of one mind. He wanted them to serve Jesus as their one and only Master.

Division always disrupts. A team of athletes that doesn’t have good chemistry in the clubhouse usually doesn’t win too many games. An office full of workers with their own agendas won’t be very productive. And a church without unity will only die a slow and painful death. In a National Geographic magazine there was a photo of the fossil remains of two saber-toothed tigers locked in combat. Quoting the accompanying article, this explanation was offered: “One had bitten deep into the leg bone of the other, a thrust that trapped both in common fate.” In this battle, both were losers. The same can be said when Christians battle each other. In Galatians Paul tells us (Gal 5:15), “If you keep biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

That’s why Paul tells us to strive to be “perfectly united in mind and thought.” That’s the basis for our unity — to agree on what we practice and believe. There’s no room here for doctrinal variety, for the ever-popular “salad bar religion” where you can pick and choose what you want to believe. When people seek unity by simply “agreeing to disagree,” then their bond has fatal flaws. Then their unity is nothing but a facade. It may look good on the outside, but on the inside there’s no true foundation. They have different beliefs. They follow different doctrines. No matter what they may proclaim, without true unity based on God’s Word, they cannot possibly be of one mind.

We serve one Master. If that isn’t clear in how we conduct ourselves as a congregation, others will notice, and they’ll stay away. You don’t like to be in the company of people who argue all the time, and neither do people who are looking for a church home. It’s important for us to realize how vital it is for us to be of one mind. After all, we’re all sharing one message — a message the world needs to hear!

Our purpose as a church is simple: preach the good news of Jesus Christ to all creation. Paul wasn’t about to let the squabbles in Corinth disrupt his main mission (v 17), “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” The number of people Paul baptized was not important to him. His ministry, first and foremost, was to preach the gospel. His calling was not to build himself up, but to build up his Savior. In Ephesians Paul proclaims (Eph 3:8), “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” And Paul wasn’t about to follow the example of the Greeks and the other philosophers of his day who based their message on “words of human wisdom.” No, to do that would only take the spotlight off of Christ, emptying the cross of its power. He kept the focus on the Savior. That was his message, the one message he was intent on sharing with the world.

As we strive to share that same message as a congregation in today’s world, remember that we too are to be of one mind. That means that we are to be faithful to the message we’re proclaiming. Our Lord commanded us to teach people “to obey everything” he has commanded (Mt 28:20). Again he tells us that the test of true discipleship is when we “hold to [his] teaching” (Jn 8:31). So it makes sense that when we share that message with others, we do so in order that we can all be of one mind. That’s why we insist on complete agreement, across the board, when it comes to God’s Word and membership here in his church. That’s why we take our stand on doctrines such as close communion, even when the world around us will call us closed-minded and arrogant. We know we are following God’s Word and treating his sacrament as he commands. When people wish to join our congregation, we want them to be sure that they are of one mind with us. That’s why we take them through the Bible Information Class, so they can see whether or not they’re in agreement with us before they take the step of joining our congregation. And we don’t apologize for the length of the class, either. In a day and age when churches are offering crash courses to attain membership, we take our time. Sharing the message is important stuff, and we want to get it right. We want people to see that we take our Lord’s command seriously. Ultimately, we want to share with them what we have as Christians united by our common belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Sharing the message of our Savior with others is something we can do only if we’re all on the same page as a congregation. We have to understand that everything we do as a church centers around the getting the word out about Jesus and what he’s done for our salvation. That’s why we exist as a church. That’s what our mission is. So when we jump into another building project, it’s important that we all understand why — to open up more opportunities to spread the gospel. Sure, we may have differences of opinion at times, but we shouldn’t let those differences cause divisions. It’s so important that we be straightforward with each other, that we discuss our differences openly, that in everything we do, we ask ourselves, “How is this going to further the kingdom of my Savior?” If we all have that goal in mind behind whatever opinions we may have, then we’ll be O.K. Then we’ll truly be of one mind. Then we can truly share the one message needed by all.

How important it is that we remain united in our work here at Messiah. We’re expanding our ministry, and at least for the immediate future, funds will be tight. The year 2008 will be a tough one for us financially, and there’s a danger here. While we certainly trust that God will continue to bless us, still the devil loves to use financial struggles to divide God’s people. No doubt, he’ll try and use this temptation on us. So we have two choices: 1) to let the devil divide us as to our mission and our goals as a congregation, or 2) to accept the challenge the Lord has placed before us with confidence and the assurance that he will bless whatever we undertake in his name. To me, the choice is simple. Be perfectly united! Be of one mind! Trust in the Lord, and watch how he works all things for his good purposes!

Remember what we share together as God’s children. We have the gospel, “the power of God” (Ro 1:16)! If we’re divided in our purpose and our mission, we’ll fail. But united, we’ll prosper. Think of a snowflake, one of nature’s most fragile things. But just look at what snowflakes can do when they stick together! I’m reminded of one of the cartoons in the Peanuts comic strip. Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. Linus asked her, “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?”, to which Lucy replied, “These five fingers. Individually they’re nothing, but when I curl them together into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

You and I, if we’re united in Christ, can really “pack a punch” as we do battle against the devil and the evil world around us. We serve one Master. We share one message. What a blessing it is to be of one mind! As David proclaims in the psalms (Ps 133:1,3), “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! . . . For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

Amen

–Rev Jonathan Rockhoff