Party of One: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 - Third Sunday after Epiphany

¹⁰Now 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. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹²What 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.” ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
  ¹⁸For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (NRSV)

Fishing boat by Markus Trienke on flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

For several months, this box of macaroni and cheese dinner has been the bane of my pantry—no one will eat it. The reason why: it’s not Kraft!

 

Which would you rather eat?

Logically, there shouldn’t be a difference in taste between Kraft and the generic brands, because all the basic ingredients are the same. The preparation process is the same. But I firmly believe—and my daughter agrees with me—that Kraft is delicious, and the generic stuff is bland and flavorless. But are they fundamentally different, or is the difference in me? Has the marketing department at Kraft convinced me that their boxed macaroni and cheese dinner is the best? Perhaps… Either way, the Kraft brand has my loyalty!

And in today’s second reading, the Apostle Paul is addressing another brand loyalty of sorts…

The Corinthian Church has divided itself into rival factions based upon who baptized whom…

When I first read this, I thought, who cares?

Well, the Corinthians care… Paul mentions two names aside from his own: Simon Peter (whom he calls Cephas), and Apollos. All three of these men were major players in the birth of the Church. All three were strong personalities, with unique qualifications and flaws.

Apollos was highly skilled and talented orator. Think of him as you would Martin Luther King, Jr. or Billy Graham—when they speak, you listen. Apollos was extremely popular as a result.

But Paul founded the Church—so that would’ve gained him a following, many of whom would’ve been with him since the beginning. And Paul had a somewhat progressive lean because he was steadfastly against requiring Christian converts to adhere to Jewish practices and traditions.

Peter, on the other hand, knew Jesus personally—and Jesus told him that he was the rock upon whom he was building his church. Peter tended to hold fast to Jewish practices and paid little attention to non-Jewish converts—for which Paul frequently called him out.

With these three skilled and powerful leaders, it was inevitable that the Corinthians would have an affinity for one over the others. That’s not problematic.

But it became a problem when these followers were competing against each other for legitimacy, based upon who baptized them. Soon, you have something like political parties forming behind these apostles—duking it out for power while saying, “we are the true Christians” and “this is our church.”

The next logical step would be for these factions to split off and form their own congregations. But with those same people pursuing power and dominance, how long until the split-off church becomes divided? The next thing you know, you’ll have First Church of Peter and Hebron Church of Peter, meeting two blocks apart!

Peter, Paul, and Apollos were flabbergasted that these kinds of rivalries were forming among their followers. They didn’t want to see the church fractured in their name, any more than Martin Luther wanted a Lutheran Church separated from the Roman Catholic Church.

Christ cannot be divided. When the church is divided, it’s weakened. It is less able to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, build up its Body, and participate in Christ’s mission. When church people seek power and dominance, what you get isn’t a church—but a religious social club that exists only for its most powerful members. How can you become the person God created you to be when others decide whether or not you belong?

So why is unity in mind and purpose so important?

Jesus never intended for his church to be dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, like the rest of the world. Competition and conquest have no place in the Christian life. There can never be winners and losers in the Body of Christ. Jesus did all the losing—by giving his life—to win victory over death and the devil for everyone. God’s faithfulness eliminates any need to even think that we need to compete against other children of God. God’s faithfulness frees us from self-interest so that we can take interest in improving the lives of others. God will see to it that we lack no spiritual gifts participate in his mission. In the end, only Jesus can be trusted to rule his Church. If we try to do it, we’ll bring it down on top of ourselves.

And that’s not to say that Christians will always be of one mind and one accord on everything. Baptism washes away our sins, but not our differences. And that’s okay. You don’t belong because you’re of one heart and one mind with powerful people. You belong because you’re made in the image of God

Differences in talent, ability, experience, and perspective enrich the Body of Christ—because one Body of many members can do much more than a cluster of arms. And ultimately, faithfulness to God’s kingdom brings people together, instead of isolating us into factions at war with each other and the rest of the world. Christ reconciles us to those with whom we are at odds. Christ dismantles the grudges and prejudices so that the other who is different will help you to know God and yourself more fully.

Separation from fellow Christians must be a last resort—never a tool for increasing power and dominance.

In Christ, there’s nothing to compete for—except to win food for the hungry; to win the neighbor their place at our Lord’s table; to win victory over hate with love and goodness. We are a party of One—and in Christ, there is nothing to lose except the greed and fear. Christ is our victor and we are his people. He did the losing and gave us the winning. And his love is more powerful than anything that would divide us and defeat us.