“One God, One Name, One Worthy, of Our Praise!”
This review is brought to you by the Kentucky First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.
LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will; investigate the divisions within the Corinthian community; identify past hurts caused by divisions experienced with a faith community; and introduce methods of achieving unity with the Body of Christ.
BIBLE TRUTH: There should be no division in the Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 | King James Version (KJV)
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
We're now visiting one of the churches that Paul worked out! He started a church in Corinth and preached the unadulterated gospel to the very diverse group of people there. A year and a half later, he left and went to minister in Ephesus. This is when he gets a letter from Chloe (the Bible doesn't give us a lot of background of who she is, but theologians imagine her to be a merchant that Paul met and befriended.)
The letter that cliques and circles had formed in the church. Small groups were developing ideas and opinions, which were oppposing the ideas and opinions of the neighboring group...and they were all still a part of the same congregation. (Hopefully, this doesn't sound like anything going on in your own congregation today).
Paul also received a letter from the church at Corinth asking about topics such as marriage, the gifts of the spirit, benevolence for the poor and other things. They also reported that some of the church leadership was condoning the sexual immorality that Corinth was known for. Afet digging into it, Paul understood what was going on. As the founder of the church, many of the believers truly honored him, but they took it too far when they created a "I'm Paul's follower" clique.
In the same manner, verse 12 outlines the other groups..."Apollos is my leader", "I'm with Cephas' (The Apostle Peter) group", and "I'm the real deal...I'm with Christ!" Each group was touting that their group was "right" and may have been in the mindset that since each of the groups were different, they couldn't be one team. Paul was very clear. Jesus Christ is the church's leader. No matter which preacher has led you to Christ, all allegiance should be to Jesus Christ. A righteous and godly leader will always emphasize this, and not allow followers to uplift him/her to the point where they overshadow Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to explain that he himself had not died for their sins, it was Jesus Christ crucified on the cross that affords each one of them the right to eternal life.
In moving on, Paul addresses that some may be putting more importance on the act of baptism, than that of salvation. Many also revered Paul because he was an eloquent speaker, full of illustrious words and stories. But he says in verse 17, that God hadn't sent him to tickle their ears with flowery words, instead, to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified for their sins.
Side Note: UNITY AND UNIFORMITY are two different concepts. Surely, you know people from other denominations, other than your own. If you visited a Catholic or Methodist church, the service is quite structured and mainly quiet. However, in a Full Gospel, or Pentecostal service, people are singing boisterously, possible running around the church in outward expressions of joy, and the order of events can be highly unpredictable. The one principle commonality is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Paul urged them to understand that no matter which church they were affiliated with, or how they came to know Christ, all roads should lead and connect to Jesus Christ and the parting of their sins. Since all roads lead to Christ, no matter where you are from, you should be in fellowship with other believers. The UNITING component of believers from various churches is always Jesus Christ.
Enjoy this YouTube vid of Maurette Brown Clark, proclaiming that there is only "One God!"
Visit our International COGIC Sunday School Site
No comments:
Post a Comment