See the Big Picture. Dig In. Live It Out: A 5-Day Reading Plan in 1 CorinthiansPrimjer

The Big Picture

A lengthy list of problems needed confrontation and correction in the Corinthian congregation, but Paul had to deal with the biggest problem first. Before he dealt with fornication, or church discipline, lawsuits, the ordinances, marriage, sex, food offered to idols, gender issues, tongues, prophecy, or even their denial of the resurrection, he had to deal with division in the church. 

Disagreements are inevitable, but they are compounded in churches that neglect the basics. Churches that forget evangelism and discipleship lose their way. Each member casts his own vision and follows his own direction for the church. The result may be tremendous energy, but almost no productivity. 

Paul’s priority must be the urgency of churches today. Unity around the person and gospel of Jesus Christ is essential to fulfill God’s purpose. Paul’s words still ring true and provide a blueprint for dealing with disagreements and divisions in the church.

Digging In

In order to have unity, a church needs a unifying principle—a source of fellowship by which each member can be united to all others. Paul reveals the key by the way he bases his appeal on the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:10). In Jewish thought, invoking someone’s name appropriated that person’s power and personality, so the messenger had to be heard and obeyed as if the one who sent him were personally asking. His request has three parts, but the first and third say the same thing. First, he asks simply that they “agree in what you say.” Next, he requests that, as a result of their agreement, there should “be no divisions among” them. Finally, he desires that they be “united with the same understanding and the same conviction.” 

The church at Corinth was like a team on which each player listened to a favorite assistant coach, but no one paid attention to the head coach. The apostle had information that the church at Corinth was quarrelling, and to make matters worse, the arguments in the church were not about doctrine or mission strategy, but were centered on personalities and pious pretension. Rather than a common commitment to the gospel, they were interested in individual inclinations. They were focused on at least four personalities: Paul, Apollos, Peter, and Christ (1:11–12). Why these four? While no one can be sure, clues found throughout the New Testament suggest possibilities. Perhaps some identified with Paul, a personality of Christian liberty. Others were drawn to Apollos, a personality of learning (Acts 18:24–28). Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew, educated in the center of secular scholarship, yet mighty in his understanding of Holy Scripture. A third group of believers in the church felt a connection with Peter, a personality of law. Paul’s use of his Hebrew name, Cephas, suggests that some of the Jewish believers in Corinth may have found the freedom of Paul and even the knowledge of Apollos beyond their comfort zone. Peter represented Judea, the temple, the law, which offered some familiarity and a comfort about his connections to Judaism. A fourth group seems surely to have gotten it right because they claimed that they were of Christ! No human personalities sufficed for these pious theologians! If they really meant it, however, Paul would have commended them. No one can be sure what they meant. Perhaps they were attracted to a personality of love—not the true love of Christ, but a syrupy, indulgent emotion devoid of standards. Whatever reasons they used to justify their identification with Christ, they were not the right ones. 

Paul immediately launches a rhetorical barrage at the factions in Corinth, challenging them to remember to whom they are called. “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:13). The obvious answer to each question is an emphatic “no.” Paul’s advice has a simple meaning: don’t follow anyone without nail prints in his hands. Only Jesus died, was buried, rose, and ascended, and only he has called us. 

If Paul’s reminder of the one who called them is a rebuke, so is his remark about the nature of baptism. One cannot deny Paul’s high view of baptism. In Romans 6:3 he explains baptism is identification with Christ. Believers baptized into Christ are baptized into his death. Baptism always means identification. If Jesus is the one who calls, identification with him and participation in him is the purpose of that calling. But for all of Paul’s belief in baptism and even insistence on it for believers, this passage reads very differently. 

Paul went so far as to say something that sounds shocking: “I thank God that I baptized none of you” (1 Cor. 1:14). Rather than being flattered that some of the Corinthians had identified with him, Paul felt incensed. Some Corinthian believers completely misunderstood the object of their identification. Even if he had baptized a few of them, the gospel was at the heart of his calling, not baptizing people or  showing off his wisdom. Anything added to the gospel nullifies the gospel (1:17)!

Living It Out

Division occurs when we live by feelings rather than by faith, compare ourselves to others, and exaggerate the negative. All these mistakes are evident in the Corinthian church. But all these underlying causes have one solution: the proper use of their minds. If members will focus on their common concern—namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ—they can overcome the division that often grows out of a diversity of experience, gifts, and personalities. 

We tend to romanticize and idolize the people who point us to Christ. Drawn to winsome personalities, we lose sight of the grace of God that called and gifted them for service. The thing that divides the world—“the message of the cross” (1:18 NIV)—must be the thing that unites the church. True gospel preaching points to Christ, not to self. True Christians identify with the Christ who is preached, not the one who preaches.