The Church in Corinth - Acts 18:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone? We would probably all agree with that statement. Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone else in the body of Christ?

Many folks do not like to engage in conflict, but to me it seems like disagreements and divisions can be even more pronounced when it is with other believers. Maybe because we expect more of each other. Maybe because Christ is calling us to unity. Whatever the reason may be - disagreements within the Church are so painful. 

The Apostle Paul took three missionary journeys to plant church and build up the body of Christ. The most in depth account of these travels can be found in the book of Acts. But the picture it paints is anything but rosy and easy. He was often chased out of towns. Threatened. Beaten. Imprisoned. But he kept going. Why? Because for him the Gospel was worth it. He wanted folks to have an opportunity to hear this life changing Good News. 

Whenever Paul entered into a new place he had a pattern that he followed. If there was a synagogue he would go there first and tell people of how Jesus came as the fulfillment to their scriptures. If there wasn’t a synagogue, or in most cases after he got kicked out of the synagogue, he would go anywhere and everywhere else to proclaim the Good News to all who would hear it. Including the gentiles - nor the non-Jewish folks. 

In Corinth, we are told in Acts, that Paul found a Jewish man named Aquila and he stayed with him and his wife because they had the same trade - they were both tent makers. But every Sabbath, Paul kept going back to the synagogue to preach about Jesus. 

There was no set formula for Paul when it came to leading a new faith community beyond always starting at the synagogue. He stayed at places for varying lengths of time. But he would move on and leave the new communities in the hands of people who had come to believe in the Good News. 

The letters that we find in the New Testament came after Paul left a place. Paul would often hear about what was happening in these new fellowships, in one way or another, and would write letters in response, trying to teach and lead them from afar. Sometimes he sent representatives with the letters to be in mouth piece. And these letters would be read, out loud, so that folks could gather in and hear what Paul was trying to convey. 

1 Corinthians is a letter that Paul is writing out of a deep sense of distress. The news that he was hearing about this gathering was not good. Right off the bat, in what we call chapter one in our Bibles, he is talking about people being divided. And what are they being divided over - who baptized them of all things. 

Can you hear Paul’s grief, dear friends, in what he is trying to say to the church in Corinth? Essentially he is saying - you are supposed to be better than this. You are supposed to be the embodiment of a new type of community, a new society, functioning under a new covenant. But instead you are just acting like everyone else around you. You are acting like the city of Corinth, not the Kingdom of God. And if you aren’t acting like those who belong to the Kingdom, how in the world is anyone else going to come to believe?

In Greco-Roman society, there were all sorts of divisions in society, but they all existed with one purpose - to say who the elites were. Who deserved the most honor and glory and power. And Paul is not having any of that within the body of Christ. Because people aren’t valued off of who they are, and certainly don’t find their value because of who baptized or taught them. They find their value in Christ alone. 

When people find their value in being the most elite, when they define themselves by the ways of the world, a lot of things boil over. Folks become boastful. They focus on their own interests - on what can get them ahead. What can make them look the best. What makes them the most well-known and powerful.

Paul turns all of that on its head by saying that as believers, we have value because of what Christ has done. Specifically, we find life, because Christ gave up his for us on the cross. And because of that gift we are new creations - who need to put away the things of the past, in order to find the full power of the Kingdom of God. 

Ouch. 

Yet, this letter is so relatable, is it not? Do we not still have disunity and quarrels and disagreements amongst ourselves today? Amongst different denominations? Within denominations? Even within local churches? What would Paul say to us about this today? 

First, I think that Paul would appeal to us to have Christian unity. Now, does unity mean that we always agree or all think the same way? Absolutely not. But it does mean that we realize that we are representatives of Christ’s love and Kingdom in this world - not our own. And as such, we need to be praying to Christ to renew our minds and guide our steps. 

Now here’s the thing about unity - especially Christian unity - we can’t just demand it of one another. That’s not how unity works. The question is what are we unified around? And for Paul that is the love of Christ shown on the cross. That is who we are following. That is who we are proclaiming. That is what binds us together. You have to understand what you are unified around before you have any hope of actually being unified. 

Two, we need to learn how to have different types of conversations about what divides us. Friends, lets be honest, we’ve been sitting so long in some of our disagreements that we don’t even know what being united looks like.

Earlier this year I took a class about having courageous conversations in churches - conversations where we are deeply honest, but we keep first and foremost in mind what unites us. Conversations that we have not to try to convince another person or argue them into our way of thinking - but holy conversations that focus on honoring God by how we treat each other. Even if we disagree. Or maybe most importantly when we disagree. 

The world around us knows what disagreement looks like, Church. We are living in a polarized society. You are either with me or against me. But the Church is a place where we are united around the fact that we belong to Christ - and because of that we should be able to show the world what united actually looks like. Because we are brothers and sisters in the family of God. 

Church, there is a lot that threatens to divide us today, just as it threatened to divide that church of Corinth so long ago. But that isn’t the end of the story. When we give our hearts and allegiance to Christ, it isn’t just me and Jesus. It’s me and the body of Christ. Of which I am a part. Of which I am united by my love for Christ alone. 

How could our witness in the world change if we actually believed this? How could we deal with divisions and quarrels in a meaningful way? How can we be sent forth to transform the world? Amen.