1 Corinthians 1: 10-13 a; 3: 11
Paul asked the question, "Has Christ been divided?"
I think that it is somewhat troubling that this question should be relevant today.
"Has Christ been divided?"
Well -- has He?
It seems that everything we know and experience about human nature mitigates against the possibility of unity.
In our churches we talk at great length about being one in the Lord.
We pray that God will give us the common sense to bring unity to our congregations.
We do forget that it's the nature of the human being to be divisive.
Look at us!
We have enough trouble becoming and remaining united within our own families.
In less than two decades we have created a society in which the family meal has become extinct.
And when it comes to the church?
We all know how that house of cards has fared in the raging winds of individual choice -- don't we?
Mom and Dad are fortunate if their children show a passing interest in the church or the Christian faith.
Mom and Dad rationalize -- everyone is entitled to his or her own personal choice -- isn't that so?
And then there is the call of culture and society.
Even if the family should manage to create something closely resembling unity,
the hectic world soon steps in to drive a deep wedge into the heart of the "happy home."
It's a real mess!
"I belong to the country club," or "I belong to the racquetball club,"
or "I belong to the basketball team," or "I belong to the cheerleading squad."
And whenever our so-called outside interest becomes the priority
over anything and everything that goes into making unity a reality on the home front,
then it seems that it is time for a serious family pow-wow.
That's because while we can afford to lose out on some extra goodies in this life,
we do best not to tamper with the one essential element in the survival of the social fabric: family unity!
Now let us think about our business and working worlds.
In business divisiveness is called by a different name.
We call it something like "competition" or "climbing the corporate ladder."
Someone has called it "back stabbing all the way to success"!
It doesn't matter what you call it -- it all amounts to much the same thing.
All of us want to do well.
All of us are looking for a raise.
We are all riding the merry-go-round of monetary success, hoping to be the other guy or gal to that elusive brass ring.
We will beat them -- even spill some blood, if we have to!
Now are you beginning to wonder if part of the problem we face
on this issue of unity is the fact of our fallen human nature?
Sure, we would love to be one with one another.
But there is always this snagging sense of somehow risking the loss of something important to me
if I should compromise on something crucial to you.
In fact, if you recall, that is exactly what happened immediately following the Fall.
Believe it or not!
Adam and Eve had a united front in the beginning.
Adam and Eve with God worked in harmony with all the other creatures of creation.
It was a paradise of peace and prosperity for all concerned.
But just throw in a little self-interest to the point of selfishness.
Now add a pinch of hunger for personal power, and finally, some sinful "me against you"
-- and there you have it -- deadly divisions!
Now let us return to those troubled Christians in Corinth.
There are some very important lessons for us to learn from these Christians.
It is so easy for us, 2000 years later, to point the finger of shame at those sinful Corinthians.
We might even infer that we are amazed at the apparent ease
with which they held so tenaciously to their destructive divisions.
It is even possible that we perceive ourselves to be in the background of this conflict
-- able to pass judgment on the bad behavior of these brothers and sisters in the faith.
Can you imagine, Paul, putting down his pen and staring us in the face, saying:
"Now, 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."
Ouch!
Regardless of the age or place, these words of the apostle are directed at the church's divisions,
whenever and wherever they are found.
If we look into the Corinthian church with open eyes, we will see ourselves sitting in the pews,
with all our bad behavior and disgraceful divisions hanging all over us like a cheap suit.
When the commitment to and the compassion of Christ are sacrificed on the altar of self-interest,
then and there, the church begins to crumble from within!
Apparently, the Corinthian Christians had developed a severe case of self-interest.
So, out of love and concern for their survival as a church, Paul admonished them:
"Be in agreement... have no divisions among you... be united in the same mind and the same purpose."
When we read Paul's words and acknowledge the reality of the contemporary church,
the question stares at us:
"What are we, individually, going to do about the deadly divisions in our churches?"
The best that we can do is to sacrifice our individual and collective self-interest
for the purpose of healing our divisions.
I often wonder how many pastors, deacons, church leaders, and faithful members
would take the risk required to truly repent in order to achieve genuine reconciliation and renewal.
The Word of God tells us – in no uncertain terms – that the outcome of the church
has never been and will never be dependent upon the feeble and faltering faith of human beings.
Paul made that quite clear. He wrote: "God is faithful!"
That is what we need to remember in these times of troubled commitments: "God is faithful!"
That is not to say that we can sit back and breathe easy!
It is to say that God's grace is always greater than our bad behavior.
Only God's grace will get us to the coming kingdom of heaven!
Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com
Additional comments:
In Ephesians 4: 3 Paul talks about maintaining the "unity of the Spirit."
Unity can be a difficult thing to maintain, if any of us are willing to settle for something less.
Unity necessarily involves giving up our own insistence upon having our way,
in order that, harmony can thrive.
Too often we settle for union instead of unity.
In most of our relationships we have the choice of having union or unity.
England and Northern Ireland have union, but they lack a spirit of unity.
All marriages have union, but only unity can make a real marriage.
Union artificially binds together dissimilar elements,
but unity makes dissimilar elements into a single element.
A church has dissimilar elements.
When we come together under one roof to worship, we have union,
but God calls us to move beyond that into a deeper spirit of unity.
Whenever we are able to recognize a distinct group in the church that we can refer to as "them,"
we are settling for union.
May God help us to change "them" to "us."