God wants the local church congregation and the local community to see the beauty of a church that is unified and fitted together in love. After all, he was one of the first apostles that Jesus himself called." A young pastor who was facing that problem in his church called me this week from another state. I have been in many places where they were having church fights and almost invariably the thing that gives away that a church is in trouble is when people start talking about "my church," not in the sense that is perfectly proper as meaning, "The church where I go," but leaders of the church actually saying, "This is our church," and telling other people they have no rights to do something because the church belongs to them. Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. They will not all be the same flavor; they will not all have the same characteristics. As we do, I hope every one of us will understand more and more fully the character of this radical principle that God has turned loose among us, this revolutionary idea represented in the cross of Christ that wipes out all these distinctions among men. What is a clique? Paul was the apostle to the gentiles. One of the celebrities was Paul himself some believers at Corinth actually claimed to be his followers. He then goes on to explain that it was the Corinthian wisdom that created so much disunity. One of the celebrities was Paul himself some believers at Corinth actually claimed to be his followers. And more than that, we have a responsibility to obey him, to follow his Lordship. I think that if you put the teachings of a man over the teachings of Scripture then you have a problem. His bride, the Church, has been fighting again!. It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. WebWhat were the causes of division in the Corinthian Church? Paul says that he does not preach in cleverness of speech because the power of the gospel lies in the facts of the gospel, and not in any mans presentation of them. Paul always expresses great concern about the possibility of a split in the church. Going off of what Cody is saying, in todays church everything needs to be just right. The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. He come to Corinth to create a community of disciples from which he might receive patronage and prestige. If you limit yourself to one speaker or one teacher and feed only on him, you are getting a distorted view of Jesus Christ; you are chopping Christ up, dividing him and taking one little portion as one man reports it and ignoring the rest, thus your view of Christ is deficient and unable to satisfy you as it was intended to do. I will jump on the bandwagon here and say that division is definitely an issue today. The same viewpoints are still dividing people. The human condition is, unfortunately, one of comparison that seeks to place oneself or their beliefs over another. Now, how could that be? Dio Chrysostom visited Corinth about A.D. 89-96. That is always the unifying factor in a church, and that is the mind that is to be among us, the mind that does not consider itself the most important thing. I personally experienced this at work about a year and a half ago. Polhill says, every Corinthian had their own favorite preacher (237). Today we have followers of Rob Bell, Rick Warren, and even Joel Osteen (for some reason). 2- The Churchs division. Message transcript and recording 1978 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. How important was unity to the apostle Paul, and to the Holy Spirit who moved Him to write this letter to the Church in Corinth? You could spot the Navigators going up and down the streets of Honolulu. In verses 10-12, Paul begins by giving an appeal for unity. That was a mark of status with them. Webdivided. In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). How many of you have ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? Im not saying its wrong to stick to what you believe. He recognizes that we share a common life if we have come to Christ; we are brothers and sisters because we have his life in us. And there were some who said, "Well, when Peter came through, he baptized me. Believers who are joined in heart should not find it difficult to be joined in hand, working together for the common good and for the glory of Christ. Now, we are similar to the ancient world in that some people do see their pastors/teachers as a source of pride. We tend to fall out along doctrinal lines or because we are drawn to one charismatic pastor over another. Obviously, here at Peninsula Bible Church we cannot do that. It is possible, though, that the divisions among He described the activities of the disciples of the Sophists the professional orators who were able to command large audiences, high fees for educating youth, and often a great deal of power within the city. 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. These were not schisms yet; they had not split off into other congregations, but there were four cliques, or factions within the congregation. Ones honor and reputation were valued highly and if someone attacked your reputation it was expected that you would defend yourself and retaliate by publicly bashing your attacker. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who It is possible that these divisions represent competing house churches, some founded by Paul, some by Apollos. It was a glorious work. One of his biggest goals is to double our congregation so we have 5,000 members. Since I was working at that time in the ship's service department in Pearl Harbor, we ordered great quantities of these Bibles. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. From the book of Acts we learn that Apollos was an outstanding orator in a world that loved and appreciated oratory. He didnt focus on himself being superior to all the rest of the church leaders. Still others say, "We are of Schaeffer," and others, "We are of Graham," or, "We are of C.S. It seems unbelievable at first to think that this kind of division exists within the modern church, but more often than not it is actually one of the most common reasons for division. Paul gives the church a stern warning about their actions and the proper way to participate. A. Then comes that great Christological passage where he describes how Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. The groom and his attendants are in their places. They are his family in Christ. This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. In the year 1 054 the Church was divided into two parts: 1) The Greek Eastern Church 2) The Roman Western Church. And some of them are really gross. We worry about how the power points are going to look, if we should have one or two singers, drums or no drums, electric guitars or none at all (I feel like you get my point) its almost as if we worship these things! 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. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. Near the cross, O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me. Its pathetic that people should get so angry about whether drums are used or if the AC unit is kept at 71 or 70. Do we need to be looking for results? The church was divided into factions, and one group was urging him to take half the congregation and go to another part of the city and start a new church. (1 Corinthians 1:12 RSV) Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. I lead a small group so I sometimes have to sit in meetings where the pastor shares things about the vision of our church. 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). Conclusion. (Even non-denominationals do this, just without claiming a denominational title). Sometimes a church leader can have so much clout that he begins to have cult status. And there are others who are drawn to some speaking style that has attracted them. One of the celebrities was Paul himself some believers at Corinth actually claimed to be his followers. We tend to fall out along doctrinal lines or because we are drawn to one charismatic pastor over another. He was a rhetorician who was especially capable in the allegorical style of teaching of the Old Testament. The other reason is the division among churches of the same denomination. But first, it is very clear that he is deeply troubled by this. In Matthew 12:25 the Lord Jesus says, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings in 1517 (see Chapter 1 0). It is well known that division in the church of Corinth was over leadership. The members started to develop division following different leaders. There are even discrepancies inside single denominations (which means we have division inside our divisions, great). Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. We go back to the Lord alone. We all know what a clique is. I agree with P. Longs last statement in that things have not improved much since the first century. Christians are all disciples, or better, stewards and servants of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1). The bridesmaids have come down the aisle. Some considering Paul their authority, other Apollos, others Peter, and still others accepted only Jesus as their authority. They would have the Scofield Reference Bible and a notebook under one arm, and you knew that if you examined their Bibles you would find the ladder index on the pages. Why? 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. Sometimes a church leader can have so much clout that he begins to have cult status. They embraced the values of their Roman society, which divided over ethnicity (e.g., Jews vs. Gentiles) and social rank (wise vs. foolish, powerful I do not think things have improved much since the first century. The divisions of Christendom are the scandal of Christianity. In verse 10 we see both Pauls affection for the Corinthian church, and his authority as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. What he says we'll listen to, not Paul or Peter or anyone else -- it makes no difference to us." The most well known one is having worship on Sundays instead of the Sabbath. Doesnt He deserve better than this? the author asks. I think the letter to the Philippians helps us here, because in that passage I just quoted from, Paul goes on to say, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 2:5). And if you were really on the inside circle, your ladder was drawn by none other than Dawson Trotman himself! This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. The news went out but no one had seen the little fellow. Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. I have to admit though that sometimes I think about numbers and recognition and want that. Paul, however, was a good leader. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. Ridiculous? There are some people who minister to us better than others, and it is only natural that we should listen to them and follow them. The bride is limping! John 12:37-50, THE PARADOX OF LIFE FROM DEATH John 12:20-26, THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM JOHN 12:9-19, SPIRITUAL LIGHT AND DARKNESS John 9:35-41. By focusing on Jesus we can see how important the parts of church really are. I would agree that we find ourselves in much the same situations as those listening to the Greek philosophers/orators. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. It is possible that these divisions represent competing house churches, some founded by Paul, some by Apollos. Phil Long is correct, we have not improved much since the first century. When daylight again appeared, they looked for him with renewed energy but still without success. Paul enters this world of wretched Sophists and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It wasnt even about secondary doctrine (the second coming, the nature of baptism). Her nose is bloody! Their relationship to Christ was the unifying factor of the church. Like the world, Christians are too concerned with being right and having our way. In what ways have we failed to de-paganize? (Phil Long).
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