Spiritual Cauterization

By Danny Saavedra

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” — 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)

In the first nine verses of this letter, we see Paul wisely lay a foundation of God’s faithfulness for the Corinthian Christians. They needed to understand how good God was before dealing with how bad they were. If he had just launched into listing their flaws, it would have just demoralized rather than helped them. But having established everything the Lord had provided in order to transform them, Paul could begin tending to their spiritual wounds.

In the world of medicine, there’s a practice known as “triage.” Its purpose is to speedily evaluate the condition of those in need of medical attention and to prioritize them appropriately. The more life-threatening the need, the more immediate attention is given. Triage is where the person suffering from strep throat and the person suffering from a stroke are discerned and dealt with differently. You can start to see just how important the triage process is because its proper implementation can literally be a matter of life and death.

With this in mind, Paul performs his own form of spiritual triage on the Corinthians by assessing and prioritizing their most critical issue: division. There’s no question on this point: He pleads (literally begs) them to come together so “there be no divisions among [them].” Pastor Chuck Smith was often known to ask, “When the body of Christ is divided, pray tell who bleeds?” Although the Church of Corinth had a lot of issues, Paul identifies this as the one needing immediate attention, because division was causing this church to bleed out.

The only solution was (and still is) unity. But how do you get a multitude of people who are divided against each other to reverse course and come together? By doing what Paul does here in calling them “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, I want to show you something. The Greek word we translate as “perfectly united” is the root word katartizō. Does that word sound familiar at all? It should! It’s the same root word from which we get our English word cauterize. If you aren’t familiar with this term, it’s a medical procedure that involves burning or freezing tissue to stop a wound bleeding. It's often used during surgery to prevent excessive blood loss and keep blood flow from interfering with the surgeon's work.

In the case of Corinth, the division was over which teacher to be a disciple — with some boasting of being Paul or Apollos or Peter or Christ. We see this today, especially in churches where more than one pastor teaches. I’ve literally heard people say, “Well, Pastor ____ won’t be speaking next Sunday, so I think I’ll stay home.” I’ve also heard, “Pastor _____ is my favorite pastor. He carries the church.” Sadly, entire cliques form around one certain messenger of God. Truly, how sad for the church. But we also see it in other areas such as doctrinal division (often under what we call “disputable matter” or secondary issues), politics, worship styles, and so much more. This is a problem for so many reasons.

You see, friends, the health and vitality of any church thrive on truth, love, and unity. When any component goes awry, a division takes place. When a fracture is left untreated, it may never mend well, and what’s left is a broken and sick body. A body that cannot function well internally is not going to be effective in the external matters of ministry. It’s hard to be a fisher of men when nets are broken; it’s hard to rescue others when you’re bleeding out.

This is why Paul pleads with them and us to strive for unity, to focus not on what divides us but on He who unites us. And we must allow God’s Spirit to perform His own form of spiritual cauterizing on us as we submit to Him and cling to the hope of Christ.

Pause: What’s the first thing Paul addresses in the Corinthian church and why?

Practice: Do some self-assessment. How does God’s view of division compare to your own? In light of this, identify how your view might need to change and what you can do to align with His view.

Prayer: Lord, I’m prone to chase after my own agenda at the expense of others. Help me to break this bent in myself by seeking and submitting to Your will instead. Show me where I’m sacrificing unity for my own selfishness and empower me to change. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.