Do You Agree?
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
A story is told that during a service at synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained seated. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up.
The rabbi, educated as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn’t know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98-year-old man, who was one of the original founders of their temple. The rabbi hoped the elderly man could tell him what the actual temple tradition was, whether it was proper to stand or sit for this important prayer. So, they went to the nursing home.
One of those who stood during Shema said to the elderly man, “Is it the tradition to stand during this prayer?” The old gentleman answered, “No, that is not the tradition.”
Another who argued for being seated said, “Then it is the tradition to be seated during Shema?” The elderly man replied, “No, that is not the tradition.”
The rabbi then said to him, “But, sir the congregants, they fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether . . .” With this the old gentleman interrupted, exclaiming, “THAT is the tradition!”
How many times in life do we find people taking sides? Are you a republican or democrat? Do you want to stay in the United Methodist church or leave it? Are you conservative or liberal? Should the church be more inclusive or not? Do you believe that the Bible is the living Word of God, or a human account of the divine in history, and thus useful but not definitive for today? Did Jesus really rise from the dead, or is this just religious mythology? People do take sides whether they speak of it or not. Is there really life after death?
St. Paul writes, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” Really? In the mad divisions and groupings found within the Corinthian church Paul appeals to them to be of one mind and purpose. Is that a possibility for them or us? Yet Paul seems rather astonished that they are not. He says, “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
Now we do not know who Chloe was or who her people, but they either wrote Paul a letter or had someone traveling in the right direction that they were able to contact Paul about what was going on in Corinth. During this time Paul was writing from Ephesus across the Aegean Sea. He would have been in the general area but far away enough that getting back to Corinth was not an easy possibility, and so he responded by writing them a letter.
According to our text the people of the church were identifying themselves and the type of Christians they were with different teachers and preachers they had heard. Everybody had a favorite. Several years earlier in 50 AD, Paul had gone through their area and started the church at Corinth. In between his visits Apollos was engaged in ministry as a colleague of Paul’s. Acts 18:24 tells us “Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures.” We are told that “…He powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.” Apollos was a strong and dynamic speaker. Martin Luther once argued that Apollos could be the author of the book of Hebrews. Some of what we find in Hebrews and what we know of Apollos does match up; however, we might never really know. Apollos spent some time in and around Corinth while Paul was in Ephesus. Besides this Paul mentions Cephas; which means rock in Aramaic, and is the nickname Jesus gave to Peter. Either Peter had also made contact with the Corinthians, or Peter was understood as being the chief leader among the Apostles and thus garnered loyalty among some of the Corinthians. If we remember it was Peter who stood up on the day of Pentecost and defined for those present what that moment meant, and of course it was Peter who is identified as one of Jesus closest disciples. The Corinthians had their favorite personalities, characters, and connections.
Who is your favorite preacher? Joel Osteen and the prosperity gospel? Sometimes people like his overly positive messages. Jim Baker is still about. I am not sure what he preaches, but it usually has something to do with sending him money. Maybe you are drawn to some of the figures of the past. Robert Schuller of past fame and made for TV glitz ministry in what was once the Crystal Cathedral. Maybe Billy Graham and his Southern Baptist old revival style fame of the past. I always liked Billy Graham. I believe Billy Graham had truth and integrity, but is there any human that deserves your devotion and discipleship? Is there any person that is so perfect that you can be sure they will not let you down or fail you? Well, you should know the answer to that. Human strength is not reliable. How many times have the leaders of large congregations fallen because of personal sin or failure. Palm 14:1 says “Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” And perhaps it is even greater foolishness to assume that any person can epitomize perfection. Psalm 14 also states:
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does good, no, not one.
This is simply a reminder of the sinfulness that is a part of our human condition. It means that we are in error if we believe any ordinary person will be the engine to pull the train into the depot. In other words, a preacher will not get you to heaven. But where will it get you?
In Corinth their culture was Greek. They lived with the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. Their city was a thoroughfare of commerce and traffic, and this brought them influences from all the various people and thoughts of the day. With all the competing ideas, the logical attitude was often to identify oneself with a selected teacher. They naturally began to see the various preachers as independent purveyors of the message of Jesus. From these they were moved to choose the style of message, personality, and delivery that seemed best. It is also interesting to note that later on in 2 Corinthians 11; Paul is seen strongly contending with a group he identifies as false teachers and people who are teaching about another Jesus than the one he had told them about. So, even where Paul mentions that some were saying that they belong to Christ, this does not mean that these individuals were getting it right. It is possible that even the person of Jesus was being co-opted for personal use.
Then people began to argue about who was right and who was wrong. They vied for popularity, power, and position. Whose preacher is better? As groups they spent their time politicking and wrestled against one another. They politicized themselves into factions. So, you are a Christian, well then what kind of Christian are you? Are you liberal or conservative? Are you a Republican Christian or a Democrat Christian? Are you a Pentecostal, Lutheran, or Methodist? What are you for and what are you against? Do you sit down or stand up when you pray? Does this at all sound familiar in our world, or in our church?
I had a great uncle that once went to Annual Conference probably back in the early 1970’s. I remember that he came back complaining that everything was too cut and dry and that most of what he saw was just politics. That was over 50 years ago. Maybe he was a bit overly cynical, but maybe he had point. Over time, we have debated what water we should be drinking, whether or not to use Styrofoam, generating policies to be more inclusive, and to address the perceived injustices of the present and past. There is good and there is truth, but sometimes I wonder if we have not made our politics and our faith the same thing. Our tradition has become that we fight and argue, and then divide.
Is it not the human nature of sin that leads us toward confrontations, divisions, and arguments, but Paul decried the divisions within the church. Paul wrote, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” How can that be when there is so much, we disagree on? What was Paul’s unifying theory for the church?
Paul’s unifying theory for the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is not one thing of many that defines us, but Jesus is the only one for whom we should live, and Jesus purpose is that we might have eternal life and a relationship with God. When it is all said and done, if you believe in life after death and a heaven and a hall, then the greatest purpose will be that which gains life in this world and the next.
It is common in the New Testament Epistles to speak of Jesus as the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul uses this phrase here, and maybe it is helpful to understand that this is more title than name. (1) In Paul’s time the land was filled with kings and lords. To call someone Lord was to admit to that person’s power and authority over you. When we call Jesus, Lord it should be a reminder of Jesus’ place within our own lives. (2) Jesus is his name. It is associated with the Hebrew name of Joshua and it means, “The LORD is salvation,” If you remember before Jesus was born the angel Gabriel said to name the baby Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. This reminds us of what Jesus has done for us. He is the one who died that we might have life. (3) Christ is another title, meaning anointed one. This is to reference Jesus as being the Messiah –a king over the people of Israel who would restore the people back into a right relationship with God, cleanse and renew the Temple, administer God’s will with justice and compassion, and restore the sovereignty of the nation of Israel. The Christ is the continuation of God’s promise in the Old Testament to David that one of his ancestors should rule over Israel. The answer to our earthly needs today is in placing Christ first.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not serve an auxiliary purpose within our faith or the life of our church. He is not a theological doctrine. Jesus is not secondary to our proclamation, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the reason and completion of who we are to be as a church. Paul tells the church to, “Be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”
In Philippians Paul wrote more about that mind and purpose: I will let Paul do the preaching fort a moment. He wrote:
2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
2 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.
This was Paul’s vision for what the church should be. The single mind, that Paul desires for us to have, is the mind of Christ and a mind for Christ. The single purpose Paul preached was that people might know Jesus for themselves and have life in his name. This is the reason for the church and the reason for preaching. Paul’s unifying theory for the church is the hope of eternal life in Jesus’ name and that we should live according to that grace that draws us toward that single goal.
Where is the place of politics and fighting in the church if we realize the greater intent of God has been and is to bring us together into eternal life. Life becomes not so much about us, but about what God is doing within each life and our need for Jesus within each life. Our moments are brief, and God is calling us. If our goal is to know Jesus better and to live for that purpose then we may come closer to living in agreement with God and with one another. Amen.
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