November 9th

Divisions

            Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 

1 Corinthians 1:10-12

            So what I am getting from this is that Chloe and her people are tattletales.   Ok.  Maybe that’s harsh, but Paul clearly has an informant.  And what he hears is that the church in Corinth is filled with factions…cliques…divisions.  The members of the church have found ways to distinguish themselves from each other and are trying to prove who the superior Christians are, based on whose teachings they follow.  Paul is outraged and urges them to move beyond such petty things.

            Welcome to church life, Paul.  Every church that I have been a part of, every community that I have been a part of, is filled with divisions and arguments and people leaving and new people coming and the Old Guard and people on the fringe and people with heretical views and people who are broken and manipulative and people who do not agree.  You know…they are filled with people.  This situation cannot come as a surprise to Paul, can it?

            It is not like Paul only attended churches that were harmonious and utopian.  He was best known for public debates and arguments.  He advised people to be cast out of congregations if they pursued false teachings.  He was frequently smuggled out of cities because the faith communities wanted to kill him.  What is his big concern?

            Division.  His big concern is division.  The body of Christ cannot function if the members are unwilling to love each other, much less work with each other.  He is concerned that the believers are allowing the teachings of man to drive them away from loving God and loving each other.  Their efforts and energies are being poured into proving that they are right instead of sharing the grace that they have been given.

            Instead, Paul writes, they are to be united in the same mind and the same purpose.  They should be a single family that stays together and works out their differences in community, under God’s guidance, instead of splintering.  Would that be so hard to do?

            Yes.  Yes is the answer there.  Look at the Christian Community today.  It is fragmented into thousands of pieces.  It is filled with people who love Jesus and long to see His kingdom come.  It is filled with people who call their Christian brothers and sisters heretics and use scripture to prove how those on the other side of the debate are blind and evil. 

            We are to be of the same mind and the same purpose:  We are to love our God and love our neighbors.  That means that we are to be committed to a relationship with God and committed to loving those around us.  And I struggle with this because I am not good at relationships that exist outside the walls of my house.  Everything that I have is poured into this family and God gets the leftovers and the rest of the world gets whatever else there is.  That is the default of families with special needs.  We circle the wagons and if anyone wants relationship with us it has to be within our borders and following our rules and usually people will pass and go on to easier options.

            There are to be no divisions among us who are the Body of Christ.  That means that we are to give up labelling the church with “us” and “them” and are instead to refer to the church as “we.”  We struggle with holiness.  We struggle with justice.  We struggle with racism.  We struggle with discernment.  We are fearful and despair in the face of our broken world.  We have one hope and one hope alone: Jesus.  We are being transformed by His power and His goodness into a force that brings life and hope back to our world.  We are called and equipped to face any challenge that life may throw at us.  We are stronger together know that we rely on God’s mercy to keep us together. 

            We.  Men, women, disabled, typical, young, old, loud and quiet.  We are the church and if we cannot learn to live and love together, there is no hope for the church.  And if there is no hope for the church, there is no hope for the world.

A moment to reflect:

 How do you determine who is on your side and who is not?