S) "10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I of Apollos,' and 'I of Cephas,' and 'I of Christ.' 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (NASB)
O) The letter to the Corinthians seems to answer many concerns that had been brought to Paul's attention, and in the first letter, we see that there had arisen some division within the church at Corinth. Apparently, there were various believers, who were trying to take sides with different teachers. We don't know to what extent they were debating sides, but that some would call themselves "of Paul" or "of Cephas" clearly means they saw some conflict in the teachings of these two apostles. The tricky thing about that, though, is that God does not contradict Himself. These were both apostles of Jesus Christ, Himself. God would not give them conflicting messages. But, more importantly, Paul is reminding this church, that no mortal man should be the focal point, anyway. After all, Paul was not crucified. It was not into his name that anyone was baptized. So, he implored the believers to lift their eyes higher than their teachers, and put the focus back on Christ alone. Paul had been literally idolized at least twice (recorded in the book of Acts), and he was quick to shut that down. Similarly, he did not want the Corinthians to even remotely idolize anyone. The passage begins with an exhortation to be "made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." That happens by keeping the focus on the indisputable facts. Jesus Christ was crucified for them (and us), and it is into God's name that we are baptized.
A) With modern terms like "denomination," "dogma," and "systematic theology," it seems like modern Christianity is completely entrenched in divisions. Even going to a "non-denominational" church, I find myself being asked to choose between things like Calvinism and Arminianism. Really, though, this passage makes a pretty hard line against those kinds of divisions. As often as more than one person is reading something, we will find opposing interpretations of the subject matter. Certainly, after thousands of years studying difficult Bible passages, there will be some widely varying opinions. I think the most important thing, is for me to do what Paul did with this exhortation, and that is to bring it back to Christ. While there can be endless debates about eschatology or predestination, there should be no debate about the Lordship of Christ. While I could mine the Scriptures to try and discover how old the earth is, in reality, that is a fruitless debate that is in danger of causing a much more dangerous divide. Even in cases when a point of theology should perhaps be debated, I think it's most important not to take sides with previous debaters about it. It would be actively divisive for me to say I agree with some scholar, while another person says they agree with some other scholar. That is taking sides, highlighting more division. Instead, I must study Scripture carefully, striving to learn what it says, and if my opinion differs from that of another brother, I must tread lightly. I should strip the argument back to the most essential question: what is the gospel? I can never let an argument cost a relationship, inasmuch as it depends on me.
P) Father, I do not want Your house to be a house divided. It seems obvious that it would play directly into the hands of satan, for Christians to be so divided on doctrines that have nothing to do with the Lordship of Christ, or the gospel itself. Give me the boldness to fiercely proclaim the truth of the gospel, and the humility to refrain from meaningless, divisive controversies. Help me to resist the cultural urge to take up names other than Christ. I don't want to be a Lutheran, Calvinist, or Arminian. I don't even want to be a Catholic or Protestant. I want to be a Christian. That is all. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment