What Was Dividing the Corinthian Church 5-Members going to pagan courts to settle disputes. We are of Peter." The church in Corinth was a group of people who were tearing themselves apart! Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. I do not identify my self as being a follower of anybody but Jesus (although there are certain theologians that I do hold in higher regard than others). Corinthians I understand the fact that people have different beliefs and would like to stick to those (it is good to sick to what you believe) but when you get so segregated that you cannot work together anymore, it becomes a serious problem. It was considered honorable for you to stand up for yourself in this way. Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). There is not a teacher among us today, or at any other time, who is able to open the mind and open the eyes of the heart and reveal to us the glory and majesty of God, not one. Paul exhorts them to agree. There was still a fourth group, and in some ways I think they were probably the worst. DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH I Corinthians 1 And some of them are really gross. You could spot the Navigators going up and down the streets of Honolulu. Unless its mended, the tear gets bigger and bigger, doesnt it? Their conflicts undoubtedly had its theological and philosophical dimensions, but it was social as well, human and petty, high on pride and low on love (Polhill 233). There has been no other cure that I know of through the years. In these cases, there should be freedom to agree to disagree. We had some great meetings and great times together. They embraced the values of their Roman society, which divided over ethnicity (e.g., Jews vs. Gentiles) and social rank (wise vs. foolish, powerful The Factions At Corinth Within our churches, and even in our own denominations (sophisticated name for divisions), we argue about church funds, whos on the worship team, and whether the youth should have long hair. Obviously, here at Peninsula Bible Church we cannot do that. These were not schisms yet; they had not split off into other congregations, but there were four cliques, or factions within the congregation. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (NKJV). So we have the possibility for this very thing right here. No, he says that is not why he was sent: "I was not sent to emphasize symbols, but, positively, I was sent to preach a whole gospel, not one emphasizing style, not in wisdom of words, but that which emphasizes content." For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. All that mattered to Paul was Jesus! The first and perhaps biggest is denominations. At that time it was under the leadership of its founder, Dawson Trotman, and it was my privilege and delight to be a close friend of his, to have spent a good deal of time with him and to come under the influence of his teaching and his methods. Divisions Are we willing to love each other as Christ loved us? 13Is Christ divided? While there can be problems with some (no recognised leadership, disorganised, isolated, cultishness, lack of cohesion etc) they can also produce some of the strongest disciples Ive seen for many years, and yet, they could easily claim to be that fourth division like the one at Corinth the I am of Christ division, where they have no name (no favoured preacher/teacher) but are still divided off. So, just a few texts and there are so many more. Now, in Verse13 you understand why. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could pay the penalty for our sins because only He is the Son of God. I dont remember Paul seeing any thing like these issues as other than trivial. Something shows up sooner or later as an identifying badge that marks them as "special," with special privilege and special status in that group. Bruises show on her arm! They were caused by Cliques (1:12; 3:4). The content of their messages was in agreement, but the followers of these men probably focused on personality differences and distorted their teachings. Gods people who are moving in revival (like we have been to experiencing right here in Brisbane these last few months) have no qualms about getting together to see the nation of Australia come to Christ. We tend to deify men, and people look at them as if they can do no wrong, can made no errors, that they know everything and can settle all questions. For permission to use this content, please review 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. They may have carried Pauls teachings of justification by faith and freedom from the Law to an extreme and felt free to do whatever they wanted. His most recent book is The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World (Rockridge, 2022). Alexandria was a center for learning and philosophy. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. That is why the apostle appeals to it. This is a radical principle that we need to understand, because, when you understand the cross, there will be no room left for the divisions of men. There should be unanimous agreement. The church is never called to having everybody think exactly alike. It was expected. We become followers of out Pastors and churches rather than of Christ. It is the popular thing today to cry, "Back to the Reformation!" We all know what a clique is. As a result, this led to the division among Christian converts and to the Christian community as a whole. There are still others today who follow after some school of thought. 2- The Churchs division. Verse 12 tells us the source of this problem. He called to ask whether I thought that would be right or wrong to do. in the Corinthian Church Church has become about the pastor and not about his message. As bad as it is, it makes sense for the people of Pauls day to be concerned with whatever home church has the best orator, and then argue for them to other potential followers. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. They were dividing over this whole issue, and Paul says it is all wrong. In what ways have we failed to de-paganize? (Phil Long). That is not the work of men; that is the work of God himself. Corinthians But that is a very dangerous attitude, and yet we tend to think of people as being the channel by which deliverance can come to our heart. In comparison to modern churches, its easy to say that there are hardly any divisions among Christians and differing churchesbut could these divisions still exist today? The real problem behind the divisions is that the church continues to act like Christianity is just another philosophy, and teachers are in competition with each other just as the Greek orators competed. RayStedman.org/permissions. WebPaul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. But it is the exclusiveness that Paul is concerned about here -- people who do not even want to come to a service if someone other than their favorite is preaching. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who 10 I appeal to you, brothers,[ a] 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. WebAccording to Paul, the communitys problems were the consequence of the Corinthians mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. We all know what a clique is. These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. It was a glorious work. Not when some people in the congregation wont look at, speak to, or even acknowledge the existence of certain other people in the congregation. Dio Chrysostom visited Corinth about A.D. 89-96. A. What should our evaluation of a ministry look like I wonder if its not by numbers? WebWhat were the causes of division in the Corinthian Church? What Was Dividing the Corinthian Church That is what Paul speaks about. Are we willing and ready to pray for unity in His Church, and work at building a stronger unity among fellow members of the congregations where we fellowship and serve? Like Greg, I recognize this tension in some of the churches I have served in and find it appalling (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). Galatians: Freedom through Gods Grace (Wipf & Stock, 2019). Unity in the church is something that requires cooperation with each other and with the Spirit of God. the background of the Corinthian Church In this passage of Scripture, Paul is very careful to focus the attention on Christ and not on himself. Let's get back to the beginnings. Do we need to be looking for results? WebPaul goes right on, in Verse 12, to describe the forms that these divisions were taking in the church of Corinth: What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas" [another name for Peter], or "I belong to Christ." Faith rests on Gods shoulders alone- its not by our wisdom and ability (Polhill 237). I remember a few years ago being at a family congress in St. Louis, Missouri, when one of the evening speakers was Dr.Oswald Hoffman, the very capable and powerful preacher on the Lutheran Hour radio program. Some had no problem with consuming meat that had been sacrificed to idols; for others, it was a real offense. Her hair is messed up! There are several things that split the church today. When the Corinthians divided into factions, it wasnt so much about core doctrine (nature of God, nature of Christ, the Gospel, the nature of man). Polhill says, every Corinthian had their own favorite preacher (237). Paul did not want to present the Gospel as an orator, competing for students as they did. It is possible, though, that the divisions among However, I would like to approach this in a different way than the comments already present here. Some people will pick other matters of doctrine to affirm. The Gentiles coming into this new Church do not seem to be able to see the differences between it and a Greco-Roman philosopher gathering disciples and educating them in a particular philosophy. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings in 1517 (see Chapter 1 0). In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). I used to attend a Navigator group which met in Honolulu on Sunday afternoons. Paul always expresses great concern about the possibility of a split in the church. He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church.