Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church
Series: 1 CorinthiansNew Testament1 Corinthians · Talk No. 1
Divided… we fall
Sunday, 29 August 2004
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Bible Talk Text
1. Divided church, fallen church.
There are few things worse than a divided church.
I’ve worked in a church where there was a major split.
Like most of these things, it started off over a relatively minor thing, but then, over time blew up into something very ugly.
It always ends up being personal, and everyone starts to take sides and soon the whole place is split down the middle. In our case, it climaxed with a sizable number of people walking out. Most of them joined a neighbouring church, but some simply left Christianity behind altogether.
What was even more concerning was other peripheral issues that emerged along the way. There were three or four other issues that distracted us even further from what we were supposed to be doing.
A church that's supposed to be a place where Christians are encouraged and built up in their faith becomes a place where they're hurt - or where their faith is destroyed.
For years after the split occurred, you could still see the damage – in fact, you can still see the damage. People were, and in some cases still are, bitter and tender.
And there was a whole section of the congregation that was just missing. People who weren’t directly involved in the dispute, but were so cheesed off with what went on, they didn't want anything to do with church anymore. They'd seen the bitterness and the hurt and it had turned them off completely. If that was what church was about then it certainly wasn't for them.
Divisions and splits in churches are a terrible thing. And so it's easy to see why Paul is so concerned about the church at Corinth. You may recall from our series in Acts earlier this year, how the church at Corinth had a great start. The usual hoo-haa had taken place when Paul had set out to preach the gospel in the synagogue at Corinth – the Jews were not happy and tried to beat him up and toss him out of town.
So Paul turned to the gentiles, where the gospel is better received and God encourages Paul in a vision to keep preaching the Word, because he would have protection. And so Paul does what he is told and stays there 18 months, and firmly plants this new gathering of God’s people.
God was very explicitly planting the church in this city, and clearly Corinth held a special place in Paul’s heart, having spent so long there.
All of which is why he doesn't want the Corinthians to go down the road that leads to division.
He doesn't want them to argue and fight.
He doesn't want them to end up bitter and hurt.
He wants them to agree with each other - to be of one mind - to get on together.
Paul's so concerned that he writes this whole letter of 1 Corinthians to urge them to be united.
2. The Big Idea.
If you look at 1:10 you'll see what he wants them to do. This verse is like a heading for the letter. It's the big idea that Paul wants to get across to them and he says:
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..
It's urgent. Peace missions normally are. Just think about Colin Powell's mission to the middle east. If he can't get the Israelis and Palestinians talking it could lead to disaster. The whole region could get drawn into the conflict. And if Paul can't get the different parties to agree it'll be a disaster for the church. So he appeals to them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's worried. And he's got good reason to be. He's had a report from the church and there are problems. Factions are forming. People are playing favourites with their church leaders.
It's a bit like kids with their popstars. If you don't like Delta Goodrem then you're not cool. You're not welcome in our group. You can see what's happening in v 11-12:
For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling 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.”
It's a grim situation. A faction ridden church on the brink of a big split. Not the kind of church you'd want to take your family to on Sunday morning.
Right now, nearly a hundred fourth year Moore College students are working out which church they might be working at next year, after they graduate. If Corinth was on the list, they would be well advised to steer clear of it. Who'd want to go and get mixed up with all those factions...? Terrible place....
At least it sounds like a terrible place if you only start reading at v 10. But if you go back to v 1 and start reading there, you get a different picture of the Corinthians.
The church we meet in verses 1-9 doesn't sound too bad at all. First of all, you can see the Corinthians are real Christians. No doubt about it. Paul says they've been sanctified. Set apart for God. Made holy. Look how he writes to them in verse 2:
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints.
Now that's the kind of thing you can only say about fair dinkum Christians. No one else has been made holy by Jesus. Only people who are trusting his death and resurrection.
But there's more. It's not only that they're real Christians. They're also gifted Christians. God's been generous to the Corinthians. He's given them all kinds of gifts.
He's given them people who can speak well.
He's given them smart people who can understand the finer points of theology.
He's given this church every spiritual gift they need to keep going until Jesus comes back.
This church has got so much. You can understand why Paul's thankful in v4ff when he says:
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 spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
That sounds a whole lot more attractive. From verses 1-9 Corinth is the kind of place any Moore College student would love to go next year!
3. What about us?
But what do you think Paul would say about us?
Well, you don't have to think very hard to come up with a long list of gifts that God's given Toongabbie Anglican Church. We've got great musicians, we've got people who can lead bible studies, people who can teach at Connections and SRE, people talented in youth ministry, people who can handle technology. And on the list goes.
God has been amazingly generous to us, and you might think this is all normal, but its not.
At my last church I worked at, we didn’t even have a single musician for two weeks out of every month at morning church. At night, they hadn’t had a single one for years.
We relied on a device which played midi files, and in some cases, we just sung along to a CD player.
The same church struggled to find anyone gifted in leading a Growth Group, and one woman has been teaching SRE for 38 years – often on her own!
God has given us so much as a church, and maybe when you pray you should take a look at Paul's prayer in these verses and echo it for yourself.
Things sound so positive in these first 9 verses. Here's a group of Christians who are smart and gifted and looking out for Jesus to come back. It's hard to believe that a church like this could be full of factions and in danger of splitting up. It doesn't sound like that kind of place at all.
4. Something is missing...
But there's something missing.
Something Paul doesn't mention when he's thanking God.
It's something you only notice if you look at what Paul writes in his other letters.
When Paul writes to the Ephesians he says he's thanking God for their love.
When he writes to the Colossians he thanks God for their love. And both times he writes to the Thessalonians it's the same.
If a church is a loving place Paul is thankful for it. But with the Corinthians, love doesn't even get a mention. He's thankful for lots of things about them, but love isn't one of them.
And that helps explain why this group of Christians can't get on together. Even with all their gifts and abilities, there's no love. They're using their gifts in the wrong way.
Instead of serving each other in love, they're using them as status symbols. You can see the problem all the way through 1 Corinthians. Things like speech and knowledge and spiritual gifts. Things which God has given the Corinthians to serve each other - those are the things that Paul has to keep telling them to stop boasting about.
Like some contemporary churches, the Corinthians are fixated with their gifts.
All that matters is how well someone speaks, or how wise they sound or how spiritual. They've forgotten that they didn't earn their gifts. That Jesus gave them to them to serve each other. And they're thinking the more gifts you've got, the more spiritual you are. That's why they're fighting over their leaders. They've turned leadership into a gifts competition. And the leader who speaks best and sounds smartest... wins.
The only problem is they can't agree on the winner.
It's a sad situation.
Something that was supposed to be so good. Gifts that God had given to help build up the church are being used without love. They're being used to cause arguments and divisions. And so Paul has to remind the Corinthians about the realities of being a Christian.
He has to remind them that everything they've got has come from Jesus. The only reason they've got anything at all is because He died on the cross for them.
And if they remember that, they won't keep boasting about their gifts. They won't keep having leadership competitions. They'll be humble and use their gifts to serve Jesus.
You can see Paul's strategy in v13. His response to their divisions is to get their focus off their human leaders and point them back to Christ.
He does this by asking them a series of questions. And they're all aimed at making the Corinthians see that Christ is more important than their human leaders.
He's showing them that it's crazy for Christians to split over their leaders.
First he asks them, v13, "Is Christ divided?" Well the answer to that is obviously NO - and the implication is if HE'S not divided then they shouldn't be either.
Then Paul uses himself as an example of a human leader. And he says, stop and think about it. There's no way you should be boasting about me. He says, "Was I crucified for you?" No... that was Jesus.
"Were you baptized into my name?" No.... that was Jesus too.
He says, "I didn't even baptize most of you at all. Don't follow me! Don't get caught up in boasting about your human leaders. It's Jesus who died for you. Follow Him."
Finally Paul says to them, if you really wanted to follow me, you'd follow Jesus anyway, because that’s all I ever wanted you to do. That's what my mission was.
It wasn't to impress you with my gifts.
It wasn't to get a fan club. He says, I didn't even use the fancy speech you're all so impressed with. My mission was simply to tell you about the Gospel...about Jesus. It’s there in v17:
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.
The Corinthians need to stop worrying about who's the most gifted leader. They need to stop fighting about who can speak best or who knows most.
That's what is splitting them. That’s what is threatening their health as a church, and by implication, their effectiveness for the gospel.
The Corinthians need to focus on Jesus.
They need to remember He died for them and gave them their gifts. He's the leader they should all be united under.
5. The solution for us.
And we need to remember that too. It's great there are so many gifted people in our church family. God's given them to us to help us keep following Jesus to the end.
But gifts themselves aren't going to keep us strong and united. There is only one thing that'll do that.
Remembering what Jesus has done for us and working together to serve him. And that means your gifts might well need to take second place.
Maybe you've got gifts of leadership. Praise God for them. But that doesn't mean you can't help with the supper sometimes.
Whatever your gifts are, your priority should be to serve Jesus, and not just indulge your gifts.
Maybe you're a great musician. Thank God for it. But it doesn't mean music has to be the only thing you do at church. It doesn't mean the music has to be done exactly the way you want it or that you'll only play on a handpicked music team.
That's the kind of thing the Corinthians would have jumped up and down about.
But if you remember its Jesus who's made you good at music and your focus is on serving Him...well, it's ok to do the morning tea some weeks instead of music.
It's ok to play music someone else's way instead of your own. Your priority will be serving Jesus in whatever way you can, not just indulging your gifts.
As we wrestle with some big ideas about what direction we should head in as a church, this issue is a vital one to have clear in our minds.
Assume for a moment, that we do proceed to plan a church plant. That will have major repercussions for ‘who does what’.
Such a move, usually means that a number of people are pushed well and truly our of their comfort zone, and into situations that they would rather avoid...
But if we are able to stay focussed on serving Jesus, many potential problems will melt away.
Can you imagine a whole church like that.
Where everyone had that attitude. There would never be any divisions or arguments based on personalities.
Everyone would be united in using their gifts to serve Jesus. That's the kind of Church Paul wants for the Corinthians and that's the kind of church you and I need to work at making here.
