The fundamental problem of the Corinthian church is division. This division stemmed from their prevalent church culture of “I follow Paul”, “I follow Apollos”, “I follow Cephas”, “I follow Christ”. Today, it is common in a typical church that …Read More
people claim to follow Pastor A, Ministry B, Prophet C etc. despite of being in the same church. It is even accepted as normal & ‘healthy’. But why was Apostle Paul so condemning of this practice? Because it has direct conflict with the essence of the church and the message of the Cross. It empties the Cross of its power (1 Cor 1:17) and renders the church dead. As such, the church ceases to be a church when it is divided.
The ideology that infiltrated the church of the day was dualism – the elevation of the spiritual reality (reasoning) over the material. Thus, people regarded in high esteem ‘wise men’ who possessed knowledge and lived like a demi-god detached from others (individualistic life). The Corinthians had the problem of divided allegiance to leaders, because they felt that one was more ‘spiritual’, eloquent or ‘knowledgeable’ than another, and craved for the status they could gain from following them. Ultimately, this made them self-centred even in their spiritual pursuits.
This contradicts the message of the Cross, a place where everything dies – our own ambitions, dreams, desires, even our own knowledge & ‘truth’. Thus, in response to the Corinthians’ exaltation of men with wisdom & power, Paul states that ‘God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong’ (1:27) and calls himself the ‘scum of the earth’ (4:13). In response to their individualism, Paul proclaims that love ‘is not self-seeking’ (13:5).
The people of God should avoid division at all costs, because dividing the Church is dividing the Body of Christ (1:12) – likened to dismembering a living person. To say “I follow Pastor A” is as good as saying “Pastor A was crucified for me” and “I was baptised in the name of Pastor A” (1:12) – i.e. the problem of division is an issue of salvation. A church where people are not speaking the same truth and united in mind & thought (1:10), but quarrelling, is a church without the Cross – with no life change, no power to change lives & no salvation.
