Have you ever wondered why some churches seem to have more troubles than others? Why do some churches always seem to have infighting while others don’t? Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthian Church because he has received a report about divisions in the Church at Corinth. Please read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. Paul makes his appeal to the church body as he comes alongside them in the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is under the authority of the Lord Jesus as he writes this letter and so the Church at Corinth and the Church today had better listen to what the Lord is saying to his Churches. Paul wants them to agree in what they say, that there be no division among them, and that they be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. (vs 10) Divisions start out as disagreements among the members of a church that can later lead to a division or what is known as a church split. He instructs the Church body to be united, that is to be fitted together in such a way that they fit together as the Lord Jesus intended them to be. Remember he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in his high priestly prayer that those who believe in him would be one with each other as they are one with him and the Father. (John 17:20-23) The reason why he writes this is because it has been reported to him by Chloe’s household that there are rivalries among them. The divisions that take place in a church body normally start here when sharp words are used to wrangle people into doing whatever the person doing the word wrangling is doing. When people express a difference of opinion they do so with some measure of hostility. Which leads to people being hurt and sinned against in the process. James writes to us in James 4:1-12 where the source of wars and fights come from even among the body of Christ. He also instructs us what we need to do. The source of division at Corinth was leadership loyalty. Verse twelve is full of “I follow” each one was trying to one up the other. This is the spiritual issue that is at the core of their problems. Let me ask you the same question that was asked on Sunday morning: “What issues or personalities threaten the unity of First Baptist or the church where you attend?” Leadership loyalty is the cause of most church arguments. Some pastors believe that they rule the church, then you have the deacons that believe that they rule the church, others believe that the committees rule the church and then finally some people in the congregation believe that they rule the church. If you have a question on who rules the Church may I suggest “Who Rules the Church” by Gerald P. Cowen. The short answer to who rules the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ. When everyone is submitted to his Lordship in and over their lives the body of Christ functions beautifully. When the body of Christ from the pastor & elders, the deacon body, the committees and the congregation is not submitted to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ there is and will be division in the church body over every little thing that comes up. It’s sad to say that pride has caused more Church fights and division than if the body of Christ had just humbled itself under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the first place. Earlier the question was asked, “What issues or personalities threaten the unity of the church that you attend?” Will you bring these issues and personalities to the Lord in prayer and ask him to change your heart so that you’re part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Categories: Weekly Sermon