Sermon Notes:

In 1810 Sweden had a crisis. King Charles XIII was not well, and he was the last in his family line. He had no children of his own and his previously adopted heir fell off a horse and died. An unclear line of succession is disruptive and often leads to war, so the government decided to elect a new heir to the throne. Several candidates were chosen, and the election would take place in the small city of Örebro.

A story is told that many of the commoners in the town expected the Prince of Pontecorvo to be elected and when they heard that the assembly had elected the French marshal Bernadotte, they were very upset. Others, however, rose to the defense of Bernadotte and heated arguments and fighting developed between the two sides. However, the argument was resolved a short time later when it was pointed out to the townsfolk that Bernadotte was in fact the prince of Pontecorvo. They were the same person.

I would like to say that the example from Sweden is extreme, but when I read much of what is on social media, I am not so sure. Knowing something about what you are talking about or having a basic grasp of the facts is apparently not a requirement.

Most arguments are just foolish. I once heard an argument about whether breakfast cereal is a soup. But there are also dozens of issues that are being passionately debated that will affect how we all live in the future. People are angry and divided all around us right now over all sorts of things like politics, masks, vaccines, social justice, etc.

There is something in fallen human nature that draws us into taking sides in disputes that cause division and separation. It should, however, be a scandal to find foolish divisions among those for whom Christ died. This morning we continue our series in 1 Corinthians called Growing in Grace and we will be looking at this issue of divisions within the church.

We said last time that there were many issues within the congregation at Corinth, but the issue of divisions is related to several of the other problems. Paul wants believers to understand that the unity we have in Christ is more important than any other differences we might have. Believers arguing with each other over worldly issues is like guests invited to stay in a penthouse suite arguing about where they stand on the elevator on their way there.

That is the main point of the passage and the message today, the unity believers have in Christ is more important than any other differences we have. Let me say that again, the unity believers have in Christ is more important than any other differences we have.

If you have your Bible, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 10. If you are using the blue Bible in the pew, it is page 1188. If you do not own a Bible, please consider that one our gift to you. Paul begins with an appeal to unity,

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, 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. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

We do not know for sure what Chloe’s relationship is with the church in Corinth or who exactly her people are. Perhaps she was a member in Corinth, or she may have been someone Paul knew in Ephesus (where he wrote the letter) who had connections in Corinth. Either way, she had people who had passed on reports of issues in the church, and they reached Paul.

Now the specific issue has to do with members there identifying themselves with certain leaders. We will look at that first and then we will come back to explore the general principal of unity in the church.

He begins with an appeal that they should not quarrel, but rather be of the same judgment and united in the same mind. There should be a shared unity among them but instead they are arguing with one another. In the following verses, Paul addresses one of the specific arguments that they were having.

¹² What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  

Several of these believers were identifying with various teachers. Paul lists these factions from the least to the greatest of the teachers. He lists himself first, followed by Apollos, who was known to be a brilliant preacher and then the Apostle Peter, who he calls Cephas, and finally Jesus Christ. These folks were aligning into cliques and identifying themselves in ways that caused arguments between them.

How did this happen? We know that it does not come from anything we read in the Word of God. We also know that none of these leaders were the source of this. What we have here is the church in Corinth importing the culture of the world around them into their interactions with each other. It was common at that time for students to identify themselves with a particular philosopher or orator. By doing this the church acting like the world. This remains one of the biggest problems within churches today. If we do not interact here any differently than the world outside, then something is wrong.

Notice that some of these folks did identify simply as followers of Christ. It is, however, clear from the context that they were doing this not to promote unity, but simply as another sect. They had a better understanding but an equal lack of love. The result is that although they knew how to articulate good doctrine, their lives demonstrated that they had not yet come to truly understand it.

One preacher illustrated it this way,

The church should be like a football team. Everyone on the team should represent the team as a whole. But all too often though the church looks more like a team at the all-star game. Everyone has put on a new uniform, but each one still wears the helmet of their old team. Why would we want to import into our new lives anything of the patterns of the old one we were saved from?

Jesus is better in every way from what we had in the world and we are saved by his grace alone and this is why he gets the glory alone. All true ministers of the Gospel simply proclaim the grace of God in Christ. Therefore Paul says, ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I am reminded of what Martin Luther said after being informed that some people began to refer to themselves as Lutherans.

“How should I, a poor stinking bag of worms, become so that the children of Christ are named with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians whose doctrine we have.”

Anything praiseworthy in even the most gifted preacher or teacher is simply a glimpse of Christ He is pleased to show you through them.

It seems in Corinth the divisions were influenced, at least in part, by who baptized these believers. Paul thanks God that he baptized very few of these people, probably because that meant he would be linked to fewer in these groups. He even says, “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel…” which is interesting given that the commission to the church was to both preach and to baptize.

Paul is not diminishing the importance of baptism. Instead, I think what he is saying is that like Jesus, Paul focused on preaching and others did the actual baptizing and he is glad about that because it means people had fewer reasons to focus on him.

Paul delegated other ministry duties so he could focus on the message of the Gospel. His work was to proclaim to the world that judgment was coming. That all human beings are guilty before God because of our sin and since God is righteous, we will be punished if those sins are not atoned for, but that God is great in mercy and has provided atonement in Jesus for all who will accept it by faith.

Paul preached that Jesus came as a perfect substitute for sinners and was punished and killed as a payment for the sins of all those who put their faith in Him. That He was crucified and buried but rose again in three days demonstrating His victory over sin and death so that those who trust in Him would know the price was paid. Accept the sacrifice of Jesus by faith and your sins are forgiven and you are adopted by God as an heir to the kingdom of heaven.

This new identity is more important than anything else about us and certainly more important than any other differences we may have. Do you realize that you have far more in common with a believer in China, Kenya, or Bolivia than you do with your unbelieving neighbors? Our connection in Christ is more important than ethnicity, language, nationality, money, politics, vaccination status, or anything else that divides those in the world.

There is only one division that matters for eternity, those who are in Christ and those who are not. I spend a lot of time at airports, and I get to see people of all sorts there. You see just about everything if you fly enough. Wealthy people and businessmen with first class tickets, people who saved for years so they could visit relatives or go on vacation. People of every color, wearing every type of clothing, carrying all sorts of things with them. But you know what?

Ultimately, regardless of background or status, there are only two kinds of people in the airport. People on your flight and those who are not. From a travel perspective, those with tickets have a lot more in common with each other than they do with everyone else.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is like that plane and faith is the ticket. Some may have a more comfortable journey than others, but ultimately it is the same journey. There is a lot more difference between those sitting at the gate and those on the plane than there is between the first class and economy seats. I may just be an economy class Christian, but guess what? I’m going to the same place as the heroes of the faith, and we will all arrive together in Christ!

The devil is very effective at mining our pride and ignorance to distract us and cause division. Paul says, let “there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

He is not insisting that every believer have the same position or opinion on every issue. He is urging a loving disposition that seeks harmony, unity, and peace. He expands on the same instruction in his letter to the Philippians where he says,

² complete my joy by being 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 count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:2–4)

This is really what it comes down to. If we recognize that we are wretched sinners whose gifts, understanding, and even faith have been received by grace then we are freed from the need to be better from others in any way. Having our salvation secure in Jesus, we can walk in humility, and having been made heirs of the kingdom and given gifts, we can look to the interest of others. If we do this, we will have unity rather than division.

We must be careful at this point, however, to recognize that if our enemy fails to create in us a divisive spirit, he will shift his tactic to creating a false unity by watering down our convictions. The division over leaders in Corinth was unbiblical, but how do we deal with divisions arising from our study of scripture? Turns out, Paul’s instructions help us there as well. If we are motivated by love we will not argue unnecessarily, but we will also desire to clearly proclaim the truth.

How we manage this balance tells us a lot about our spiritual maturity. We clearly cannot affirm and pursue unity with every person who merely claims to be a Christian. In fact, we are commanded not to do this. So practically speaking, how can we evaluate when division is needed and when it is sinful?

I believe the Bible teaches we do something like what Baptist theologian Al Mohler has called theological triage, comparing it to the process of categorizing issues in a hospital emergency room. We must prioritize the issues because although all biblical teaching is equally authoritative, it is not all equally important.

Jesus shows us that not all teaching is equally important when he says in Matthew 23:23,

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Everything is important, but some things are more important than others. In our main text, we have Paul calling for unity, but in Galatians 1, when speaking of those who distort the gospel he says, ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

Certain doctrines are so fundamental that to deny them is to deny the Gospel and we cannot therefore pursue Christian unity because those who hold them are of a different spirit. In 1 John 4:2-3, the Apostle John says,

² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

We are also to separate from those who verbally accept the Gospel but who deny its power by continuing in sin without seeking repentance. Paul warns us about fellowshipping with them in Ephesians 5:3–7

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them”

These are First-Order doctrines where to deny them is ultimately to deny the Faith. Examples include the true divinity and true humanity of Jesus, substitutionary atonement, the uniqueness of Jesus as savior, and that repentance is a necessary component of saving faith. In these things there can be no compromise or unity. We can love those who differ from us, but the Bible teaches they are not our brothers and sisters.

There are also Second-Order doctrines that we can disagree about as brothers and sisters in Christ although doing so would make it very difficult for us to function together as a single congregation. These are sad because they come between brothers and sisters sincerely seeking to be faithful. If we all had perfect understanding of the Bible these divisions would not exist.

Examples of these include the nature of baptism and communion, church government, and the role of women in ministry. We may have many Lutheran and Presbyterian friends that love Jesus and are united with us in the Gospel, but we could not be members of their churches and they couldn’t join this one. We recognize each other as brothers and sisters but there are limitations in our ability to minister together. You either baptize babies or you don’t, you either have women preaching or you don’t. There is no middle position that addresses the convictions and concerns of each side.

Disagreement in these areas will therefore highlight significant boundaries between believers. We read in Acts 15 that Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement over how to approach missions and they separated. Even these two heroes of the faith encountered a difference that led them to go in different directions as they both worked for the same kingdom. It wasn’t possible to bring John-Mark and also not bring him. While unity would be preferable, our convictions about certain truths sometimes results in these second-order boundaries that may not be resolved until we are in glory.

That brings us to the Third-Order issues. To quote Al Mohler,

“Third-order issues are doctrines over which Christians may disagree and remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations. I would put most of the debates over eschatology, for example, in this category. Christians who affirm the bodily, historical and victorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ may differ over timetable and sequence without rupturing the fellowship of the church. Christians may find themselves in disagreement over any number of issues related to the interpretation of difficult texts or the understanding of matters of common disagreement. Nevertheless, standing together on issues of more urgent importance, believers are able to accept one another without compromise when third-order issues are in question.”

It is these third-order issues that we are most likely to encounter among each other. It is these that will most frequently require our patience and grace. Paul frequently addressed these sorts of issues in his letters. For example, in Romans 14:5-6 he is dealing with disagreements about eating meat and whether certain festivals should be celebrated when he says,

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

It is not right that such things would interfere with our fellowship and unity. The devil will not hesitate to use our conviction for the truth to weaken our faith and ministry. He will also use our desire for harmony to do the same thing. Do not be ignorant of how tirelessly Satan works to undermine your fellowship with others and with God. We must be very careful not to allow the influences and distinctions of the world to creep in and destroy our testimony of unity in Christ.

We have to also be careful that we do not be so concerned about the appearance of unity that we fail to clearly proclaim the truth of God. And we must then be careful that we do not allow our passion for the truth to become greater than our love for one another.

We pray that the Lord would lead us to be perfectly balanced in truth and love they way Jesus was. That is our desire, that we be like Christ. As Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe said,

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.”

In Christ, our interactions should be marked by truth and love. Colossians 4:6 says, “⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Salt is composed of sodium and chlorine. Chlorine is a toxic gas that is deadly to breathe. Sodium is a highly reactive metal that can ignite when exposed to the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and moisture in the air. It explodes when it contacts water. It is unstable and dangerous to work with and can cause serious internal and external burns. But when you have right balance of them together you have a compound that is not only beneficial, but essential. Salt not only helps to preserve food and provide it with flavor. It is essential to digestion, hydration, and muscle function. We literally cannot live without it.

Truth and love are like that. Two things that when not combined can do us great harm but when balanced together are necessary for us to function properly. We encourage each other to grow in our understanding of the word of God so that we can grow in Christ. It does not make sense then to use methods that would cause divisions in Christ to achieve that end as if truth apart from love were its own end. Likewise, our love for one another is to encourage and support each other so that we can grow in Christ. It does not make sense then to neglect the truth as though love apart from truth were its own end. God is both Truth and Love and those who seek Him must have both.

Believers are called to live according to our new identity in Christ. Our conduct should reflect Christ rather than the world. Unity is a powerful witness to the Gospel precisely because the world is so divided. We like to pick and choose big easy to see issues that we want to guard our hearts and our churches from, but the influence of the world is not just in those big issues. How we think about who we are and how we relate to each other are as much a battle ground as the issues that get attention on the Christian blogosphere. [Main Idea Slide]

Whenever we are tempted to allow a division to arise between us, we need to first ask, is there a Gospel issue in this? If not, the next question should be, how can we best show Christlike love to our brothers or sisters in light of it. Listen, none of us can live this way on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to do this work in our hearts. Jesus offers not only salvation from hell, but a new birth. If we are in Christ our old nature and its pride have been put to death, nailed to the cross and we have been risen to walk in newness of life. When we leave here today, let us make it our desire to live as Christ calls us to live and let us desire to do so in unity together.