The local church can have splits and divisions. It can be over silly things rather than doctrinal reasons. The church needs to be united over doctrinal reasons and not split over people and egos. The church goes to war over things that are not important. The gospel is not preached as a result.

1. The problem (vs. 11-17)

Chloe’s household is the source of Paul’s information. People are going under the banner of Paul, Peter and others. They each emphasised certain doctrines. This created an elitist mentality. This is understandable given the fact that people were being converted from different traditions. Yet it is wrong and destructive to the unity of the church.

We are in danger of following our ego and following one leader over another. Is Christ to be divided? He is not to be divided up like land. Paul’s three questions blow their actions out of the water. It is about Christ and not our egos. Egos die at the cross. The secondary issues are nothing compared to the primary issue of preaching the gospel. Satan’s tactics are to divide and conquer. He can’t conquer unless he divides his foes first. Satan does not want to see unity within the body of Christ, whether we’re talking about our own congregation and Christian fellowship, or all the Christian fellowships which make up the entire body of Christ.

2 – The solution (vs. 10)

It is threefold:-

• End the divisions. We are to use our different gifts in harmony.
• Make sure there are no tears. “Schisma” means a rip, as in a cloth. The cognate verb “schizein” means to divide, to rend, to tear.
• Knit together. The broken bone needs to be mended

We need to avoid cliques in our church. We are to be united. Fix the fractures in the church. Go about it appropriately. Don’t let egos split a church. Don’t let it split your church!

Categories: 1 Corinthians