Yesterday, I talked about how a man named Paul wrote a church in a city named Corinth and gave the timeless piece of bad news about a major problem that plagued the church and still plagues churches today. We saw Paul reveal for us that Christians act unchristian when we follow the wrong leader. We saw Paul reveal for us that when we follow the wrong leader, we fail to demonstrate unity in community.
The natural result that occurs when followers of Jesus and churches fight and divide over whether they want to elevate a leader who reflects their views and philosophy over the head of the church, Jesus Christ, we see a second incredibly negative consequence. That consequence is that when we follow the wrong leader, the result is division over personalities. And it is these types of divisions that arise over personalities that reveal the reality that these divisions reflect a failure to represent the message of the gospel. We see Paul reveal this reality for us in 1 Corinthians 1:13-16:
Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
In these verses, we see Paul reveal for us three ways that division within the church reflects a failure to represent the message of the gospel. First, divisions within the church do not reflect the person of Christ. Just as the physical body of Christ was not divided into parts, Christ’s body, the church, should not be divided.
Second, divisions within the church do not reflect the message of the gospel. Paul is explaining that neither Paul, Apollos, nor Cephas died for our selfishness and sin; it was Jesus who died for our sins. And because of this reality we should not elevate any person or personality over Jesus.
Third, divisions within the body of Christ do not reflect our identification. Paul talks about baptism to point out that as followers of Jesus, we are not baptized to identify ourselves with a man; as followers of Jesus we are baptized to identify with who we are supposed to follow as our Lord and Leader; Jesus.
So are you a Christian who acts unchristian by following the wrong leader in a way that results in division over personalities? Are you a Christian who acts unchristian by following the wrong leader in a way that fails to reflect the message of the gospel?
Tomorrow we will look at a third negative consequence that occurs when Christians act unchristian by following the wrong leader.
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