Disunity - what damage it can do to families, companies and workplaces, and as many of us have seen, to churches. This was one of several problems Paul was needing to deal with in the church of Corinth.
What are some of the causes of church squabbles? Here in Corinth they were dividing over preachers, and who each person felt was the best preacher. Today many people get up in arms over several issues. One argument is frequently over music. One group likes more contemporary music. Another group prefers older, familiar hymns. Church members and boards get in squabbles over this. Then there are the squabbles over things as insignificant as carpeting, fund raisers, or how the sign in the church yard should read and look.
How does this look to the world, to unbelievers? “There go those Christians, fighting over seats, carpeting and decorations!” That is a very poor testimony. Jesus, Himself, prayed for unity among His followers in John 17:20-23.
There are some things, though, that are definitely worth standing for - the fundamentals of the faith, such as the divinity of Jesus, His virgin birth, His substitutionary death on the cross for sin, inerrancy of the Scriptures, etc. If the church one attends starts straying from these fundamentals, that is worth defending. This was not the case here in these verses. This was “My preacher is better than yours!” Today it could be “My favorite Christian author is better than your favorite one!”
We, as believers, are the Body of Christ. When a body starts fighting within itself it quickly gets sick. The same is true with the Body of Christ. This was only one problem Paul had to deal with in the Corinthian church, and he was hoping that his words would settle it.
I Corinthians 1:10-17
I find your blog insightful. 😊
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