“But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognised!”
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 NLT
Paul is building up to another big issue with the Corinthians church. He has heard that there are divisions amongst the believers that are affecting the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It must have been a rather rowdy assembly, because in the lack of unity and associated mix of good and bad behaviour, Paul wrote that there will be some who will receive God’s approval, and presumably those who wouldn’t. The good guys were those who were doing what they should in matters of church life. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, and after a section where he gave thanks to God for the believers in Corinth, he launched into an appeal for them to “live in harmony with each other”. However, in the early verses of his letter, Paul addressed the factional behaviour that he had heard about. Behaviour where some followed one leader, others followed another, with quarrelling resulting. It is quite extraordinary to compare these verses with a church today, where sometimes a bit of passionate behaviour would be very welcome, though not in the Corinthian way.
The church in Corinth must have been one that we would not recognise through our 21st-century lenses. The origins of this fellowship began in a synagogue where Paul attempted to persuade the Jews there that Jesus was the Messiah. However, in return, we read that he received insults and opposition. Paul dramatically shook the dust off his clothes, indicating that there was nothing more he could do, and he then started the church in a house next door. There, we are told, Paul preached for eighteen months, “teaching the Word of God”. The Corinthian society must have been a bit unstable, because we read in Acts 18:12-13, “But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law””. I wonder how they did that? Did a few of the Jews grab Paul one day and, against his will, drag him before the Governor, expecting a favourable judgement? In today’s comparatively benign Western societies, such a thing would be unheard of. But to complete the story, the governor, a man called Gallio, was having none of their nonsense, “And he threw them out of the courtroom. The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention” (Acts 18:16-17).
So, it is no surprise that behaviour such as that demonstrated by the Jews spilt over into the early Corinthian church. It must have been endemic in the Greek society. Instead of working out divisions amongst themselves, presumably with the help of the church leaders, the Corinthian believers contributed to a situation that was far from acceptable, and behaved in ways that brought themselves and the church into disrepute. The lack of unity in the Corinthian church could have had a lasting impact, potentially leading to the church’s division and even its demise. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of satan, we read, “Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart” (Matthew 12:25). So we can see how Paul was so concerned about divisions appearing in Corinth.
What about our churches today? One reason that we have so many denominations is that people have disagreed on what are often quite simple situations, such as the form of a service. And as a result, rather than come up with a Bible-based solution, a congregation divides. The evidence of such disagreements can be seen in the middle of Dunfermline, where I live. At one time, there were fourteen different churches in the centre of the City. But we must remember that church unity starts with ourselves. We must never look to others and use them as a reason for our own bad attitudes and behaviour.
Dear Lord Jesus. Please help us assess our own attitudes and behaviour and bring us to repentance for the ways we have run down Your church. Please also help us to build up the people in our congregations and bring honour to You and Your name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 