Many of the other problems were flowing out of this division within the congregation. 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. Paul continues in verse 10 by saying that, MANS WISDOM VERSUS GODS WISDOM I Corinthians 1:18-25, WHY DONT PEOPLE BELIEVE? (1Corinthians 1:12 RSV), Now, there was the trouble at Corinth. These are not the only causes of divisions in churches today. If we sacrifice quality for numbers I dont think we are being good stewards of our gift of leadership. 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. In the same way, thats not the way the Church was meant to be fitted together. Some followed Apollos whom they honored above Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4; Acts 18:24 to 19:1). What is a clique? Then there were the traditionalists (there always are), those that say, "Well, I don't know about Paul or Apollos. The same viewpoints are still dividing people. Peter was an uneducated, common man and may have appealed to that group of people in Corinth. We all know what a clique is. What happens when you get a tear in a piece of clothing and you keep washing and wearing that piece of clothing with the tear in it? He had received a report from the household of Cloe that there were quarrels among the members of the Corinthian church. But yet the apostle says they are to be of the same mind. 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). (Even non-denominationals do this, just without claiming a denominational title). As a young Christian in my early twenties during World WarII, I was stationed in Hawaii, and I became acquainted with the work of the Navigators. So rather that detailing their accomplishments as orators, Paul describes their functions (Paul planted, Apollos watered, etc.) The individual leaders should only point them to Christ. In conjunction with this, some people were questioning Pauls character and authority ( 1 Corinthians 14 ). Offshoots had disturbed the church. 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. He was introduced in a rather extended and flowery way, but he came on and in his great, booming voice said, "I'm not Dr.Oswald Hoffman, the great preacher of the Lutheran Hour. Thank you, Father, for this time here contemplating the cross. 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). 14I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. In Philippians 2:9 Paul said of Christ, Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name. No Christian, no Christian minister, is to put himself in Christs place, or allow himself to be put in Christs place, and take the authority and honor that is due to Christ alone. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who There are still others today who follow after some school of thought. He said so himself. Help us to judge these in the light of the cross, and, by its light, to walk before thee. 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. Orators have to be so careful not to let teaching become a pride thing rather than a gift they share to better the other. He addresses them as brethren. Let's get back to the beginnings. Other divisions were to follow. It is not merely that the Church is everywhere split up into sections, but that this has led to party strife and jealousy. The followers of Jesus may have believed in Jesus words only, and did not believe that the writings of Peter, Paul, and the other apostles were really Scripture. Sometimes two or three hundred sailors, all of them Christians, would be there. Like I talked about in the first posting, the emerging church makes me question a lot of things they are doing. Phillip J. Anyone who claims that he or she has an exclusive part in Christ is wrong. This Western Church soon became known as the Roman Catholic Church. They will not all be the same flavor; they will not all have the same characteristics. Lovelessness among Christians is not a light thing.. Paul, however, was a good leader. We become followers of out Pastors and churches rather than of Christ. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. All that mattered to Paul was Jesus! I would like to start off with a quote (forgive me for the length) from Polhill that I found to be all to strikingly familiar of todays churches. In verses 10-12, Paul begins by giving an appeal for unity. Now, you do not have to be very old to recognize that that is still a problem in the church. I lead a small group so I sometimes have to sit in meetings where the pastor shares things about the vision of our church. That is not the work of men; that is the work of God himself. Now, the second thing Paul says is, "Was Paul crucified for you?" I think we have failed to de-paganize the art of preaching/teaching if pastors/leaders are looking for patronage, prestige, and numbers over relationships, service, and transformation. 2- The Churchs division. But even if there are multiple house churches founded by different leaders, Paul passionately argues that the body of Christ cannot be divided in this way. WebThe Corinthians were basically making a mockery of Communion. Why are these thing SO important? 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. Unfortunately, this has effected our outreach. To an unbeliever, this looks like we cannot agree on our own religion. We all know what a clique is. So Paul is insisting that the Corinthians, and all believers, have doctrinal unity that is clearly based on Gods Word. Sometimes a church leader can have so much clout that he begins to have cult status. These are not the only causes of divisions in churches today. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? There are three different causes of divisions in churches that Paul mentions in I Corinthians. Paul here introduces that which can cure divisions, both negatively and positively. Some people will pick other matters of doctrine to affirm. 13Is Christ divided? A second issue that seems to keep the church divided (the whole church and individual churches) is the little things such as the structure of the service, the type of music played for worship, whether a pastor should always wear a tie, and what color should be used in the bathroom. Phil Long is correct, we have not improved much since the first century. Because the Holy Spirit has but one will, and because a church must be in complete harmony with His will, the leaders must be in complete harmony with each other in that will. Their divisions, lack of church discipline, lawsuits, abuse of Christian liberty and over-emphasis of the gift of tongues, all illustrate this root problem. One eye is purple and swollen! Now, here the apostle makes very clear that the tendency among groupies is to distort the meaning of symbols. That is why the apostle appeals to it. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, and whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. You and I cant have more of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we can give Him more of ourselves, and experience more fully what is already ours as children of God. Paul goes right on, in Verse12, 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." I believe that if people would take their eyes off man and stop putting man up up so high and put THE MASTER BACK FIRST in their lives it wont be so much division in our churches. That is what they were doing with baptism here in Corinth. Obviously, here at Peninsula Bible Church we cannot do that. 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.. Let's go back to Jerusalem. One of the celebrities was Paul himself some believers at Corinth actually claimed to be his followers. 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 told them that it is a concern of mine as well. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings in 1517 (see Chapter 1 0). Today we have followers of Rob Bell, Rick Warren, and even Joel Osteen (for some reason). However, I would like to approach this in a different way than the comments already present here. No man would ever have planned the cross. The Corinthian Church. These are not the only causes of divisions in churches today. His most recent book is The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World (Rockridge, 2022). Her nose is bloody! You may be reminded by his words in Verse10 of the similar passage in his letter to the Philippians where, in Chapter2, he says to that church, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind," (Philippians 2:1-2 RSV). 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. There is no other name big enough, great enough, glorious enough, and powerful enough to gather everybody together, despite the diversity of viewpoint and the differences of background or status in life, than the name of Jesus. If we are, all our differences and difficulties would soon come to an end. WebThe spirit that wrought such mischief at Corinth has been busy in the Church ever since. This division in the church was over their own selfish ambitions evidenced in what they wanted. And I say that because some people focus on PREACHER instead of THE SAVIOR. Its all about who looks the best, how much money is made, and how big our churches are. It is popularized in the movie Mean Girls. For a local church to be spiritually healthy and effective, and for there to be harmony in the local church, there must be doctrinal unity. They did not try to hide the problems. There should be unanimous agreement. He does not say we should stop baptizing because of this problem. It was a glorious work. Everybody has their denomination and they cling relentless to their doctrinal beliefs. The better the orator, the higher the fee, and the more disciples he will attract. Austin Hellier Brisbane Queensland Australia. With Pauls harsh criticism of said divisions, you would think that we might have learned how to move beyond that in the 21st Century, however, that is not the case. If someone comes on preaching the doctrines that were emphasized during the Reformation, he will get a great following of people who think that the Reformation was the whole sum and substance of all great Christian truth. 2- The Churchs division. In fact, there are still many divisions that exist today in modern churches. Something shows up sooner or later as an identifying badge that marks them as "special," with special privilege and special status in that group. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. Her gown is ripped and covered with mud! (1Corinthians 1:13b-16 RSV). And there were some who said, "Well, when Peter came through, he baptized me. Now, almost every group does this. WebThe members of the Corinthian church we disunited because they were pledging their allegiance to human leaders rather than God. There was nothing wrong with them, they were very helpful, but it was not very long before they became status symbols, and they were used to put down, not always intentionally, those who did not have them. There has been no other cure that I know of through the years. Others bragged that they were followers of Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12). 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 should our evaluation of a ministry look like I wonder if its not by numbers? 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. These are two common causes of church divisions in the West. I have had to do some degree of battle with this myself. So they were splitting and arguing and quarreling over the relative merit and authority of these various teachers. Help me walk from day to day, with its shadows o'er me. WebAnd you know, that gives me some idea of how important this is to God, because from 1:10 to the ninth verse of the sixteenth Chapter, he just talks about the errors in the church. This division in the church was over their own selfish ambitions evidenced in what they wanted. 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." There were, first of all, the loyalists who said, "We are of Paul. We all know what a clique is. There are many other things that do cause serious problems stemming from the outside world. 4-The churchs failure to discipline. WebWhat were the causes of division in the Corinthian Church? We tend to fall out along doctrinal lines or because we are drawn to one charismatic pastor over another. After all, he was one of the first apostles that Jesus himself called." Church has become about the pastor and not about his message. As a result, this led to the division among Christian converts and to the Christian community as a whole. The congregation then is to submit to the elders because it has confidence that their decisions were made under the Holy Spirits direction and power. WebDivisions in the Church. Was Paul crucified for you? Take the various mega-churches for example, whose charismatic pastors live in mansions. 6-Members defiling the Lords Supper. If I was not raised in a Christian home, I think that I would have the same concerns. The third thing that every Navigator had was a little black notebook covered in rough-grained leather. Long has taught full time at Grace Christian University since 1998, specializing in Bible and Biblical languages. That was the mark, that was the identification badge. (Philippians 2:6-8 RSV). 2- The Churchs division. 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. Then not only did they have the Bible, but every Navigator who was anybody at all had to have an index drawn in on the pages of the Bible, a kind of a ladder that gave you a clue to where the books were so that with your thumb you could turn up any book in the Bible almost instantly. When it comes to seeking the spiritually lost for Christ, we can be much more effective if we are perfectly joined together in an unfailing zeal for Gods glory, not our own. Message transcript and recording 1978 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. That is the problem, and it is still going on today. WebThe Christians at Corinth were dividing the church by pledging their loyalties to different celebrities. We go back to the Lord alone. They were drawing themselves up and saying, "Well, you may be of Paul or of Peter or of Apollos, but we are of Christ! 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. It tells about the most climactic moment in a wedding ceremony. We feel some sense of connectedness to the teachers (pastors/leaders) whose teachings we sit under while they count us as proof of their effectiveness (numbers). When I say it gets ignored like an infomercial you probably infer what that means. Were you baptized into the name of Paul? So they said, "When Peter came, we really felt that we were on solid ground. Other divisions were to follow. Divisions never really ended with Pauls letters; they just appear to have evolved into having more sophisticated names. Polhill says, every Corinthian had their own favorite preacher (237). Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Instead of tearing themselves apart, he urges them to be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. God only sees one fold, (John 10) and there is only one faith, one Lord, one baptism etc. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. I have had people say to me, "Oh, Mr. Stedman, when you speak I see so clearly! These kinds of things happen when there are divisions in a church. But when each piece is fitted together into its proper place in the puzzle, you have a beautiful and complete picture. His followers in the Corinthian church may have viewed Christianity as a philosophy rather than a relationship with a Person Jesus Christ. The Lords Supper was affected by the divisions between rich and poor and an overall general misunderstanding. For instance, in the Greco-Roman culture the practice of teacher-disciple relationships was often common and so many Christian converts in Corinth would associate themselves with a particular teacher and be under their discipleship. But when it comes to the clear teachings of Gods Word, there cannot be two conflicting views that are both right. (I have been trying for a long time to get my wife to accept that!) Paul condemns their behavior in verse 13 by saying, Has Christ been divided? In other words, have different amounts of Christ been given to different people? Some say, "I am of Gothard," and others say, "No, I am of Bright." (Peter, evidently, had been through Corinth and had preached there.) That is the mind Paul is talking about. We pray that it may be rich and real in our hearts as we live this week together. It is well known that division in the church of Corinth was over leadership. Christ did not send me to take scalps or to cut notches on my gun handle as to how many converts I've won." I was unaware of this connection before now but it really makes sense. The cross strips away our illusions and brings the pride of men tumbling down from that high place where it exalts itself against the knowledge of God. With that spirit of self-righteous smugness, they were separating from the rest, dividing up the congregation and quarreling with one another over these things. 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? Each group claimed to be better than the others, and party spirits began to grow in the church. Paul always expresses great concern about the possibility of a split in the church. It seems so bland compared to all the other choices out there when really it presents and encourages people to live out a very different and exciting life in the opposite direction of the world. But you could always tell a Navigator because there were three things that he always had: First, he had a Scofield Reference Bible tucked under his arm. We are of Peter." Its not just the denominations per se any more theres also a proliferation of house churches too. It is possible, though, that the divisions among Do we need to be looking for results? Some Corinthian Christians were dividing over church teachers. The Navigators in those days did a great work in the Navy throughout the whole of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and hundreds of young men were led to Christ through their efforts during the war years. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. 3- The presence of an immoral member. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could pay the penalty for our sins because only He is the Son of God. As we read through First Corinthians, I think we will see how very much like modern day churches this ancient church of Corinth was. The church at Corinth had divided loyalty to different leaders. I still have at home the Scofield Reference Bible with the index ladder drawn by him. WebAccording to Paul, the communitys problems were the consequence of the Corinthians mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. The first and perhaps biggest is denominations. The members started to develop division following different leaders. Have you ever tried to put a jigsaw puzzle together with the pieces turned upside down so that they are all blank? 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. Perhaps, in their individual efforts, they had missed some spots; so the suggestion was made, Lets all join hands and go through the long grass again. Finally, the child was found, but it was too late.
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what caused divisions in the corinthian church