“Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that
you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been
informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are
quarrels among you.” (1 Corinthians 1:10–11, NASB95)
Most churches have a Doctrinal Statement of Faith along with
some other guiding principles for them as a local body of believers. While they
may be closely aligned to countless other churches, these statements are
adopted by the church and they serve as guiding positions to govern their
oneness. And, in cases where there might even be some disagreement they might
even have a statement somewhere in their governing documents that adds in some
form, “In the interest of preserving doctrinal and practical unity, members
shall not propagate, teach, nor manifest doctrines and practices that would be
divisive or conflicting with the doctrinal positions approved of by the Elders.”
There are many distinctives aside from doctrine that mark
churches. Some of them are their form of governance while others might be
related to translation, tradition, culture, worship style, and even the
frequency of the ordinance of Communion or how they conduct baptisms. In
addition to these, there are all of the issues of personal preference. Any of
these things can and do provide opportunities for disagreement, and sadly
enough have been used to even split and close the doors of churches.
We are all charged with accurately handling the Word of God,
and the leadership of the church is given a special charge in this regard as
its shepherds and overseers. Scripture does have a great deal to say about how
we are to walk with each other, particularly in areas of disagreement. While
Paul would expand on the areas of disagreement and contention among the
Corinthian believers both in the next few verses and the later chapters, Paul
began with urging and instruction concerning an overriding principle that was
to guide their interactions. That principle is the oneness that they shared in
Jesus Christ. Paul wrote as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but here he invoked the
very name of Jesus Christ to stress the urgency of the matter. In our culture
today, it is common to hear God used in conversations in harsh, negative or
scornful ways. One of those phrases that I thought of as I read this verse was,
“For Christ’s sake, would you please just get along!” This was in essence what
Paul was probably saying to them, though not as we so frequently hear it. “Considering
who you are in Christ, stop your arguing and pursue oneness in Him.”
As we will see in the next few verses, factions had started
to develop and allegiances were being formed. These factions and allegiances
were leading to division and even argument. Paul wrote to them to look first to
Christ and to the oneness that they shared in Him. Some of the other stuff he would
walk through with them later in the letter, but from the get go they were to
remember that it is God who called them, and it is God who is faithful to do
the work in them that He started. They needed to be compliant in the process,
and not fight against Him and each other.
The local church is more than a club with a constitution and
bylaws that are subject to the discretion of man. The local church is a part of
the greater church which is the body of Christ. And, as the church, we have all
been given the Word of God as our foundation for doctrine and function.
Doctrinal unity in the local church is particularly essential. Once we wiggle
on that we put ourselves on a subjective slippery slope for the whims of any member
or influencer in the body. The church needs to be first and foremost comprised
of believers who take their stand on the precepts of God declared in His Word.
Secondly, we need also to be a people who formulate our actions together based
upon the wisdom principles of God’s Word. In other words, where Scripture does
not specifically tell us what to do, we look to the Word of God and wisely
decide. So, often in church division it is this later area when precepts and
principles are ignored that we allow practices to become divisive.
At the center of this kind of life together is humility.
Paul wrote, “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any
consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection
and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the
same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness
or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more
important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in
yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of
men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also,
God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee
will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.” (Philippians 2:1–11, NASB95)
We are not to compromise truth, but we are also not to get
prideful about our grasp of it. It seems like the Corinthians believers had
some legitimate differences in understanding. But rather than working together
to resolve them or even to set them aside (if they were not central), they
chose to argue and become divisive. This is not how it should be. They were called
as one in Christ, and they were expected to preserve that unity as they turned to
Christ, the teaching of the apostles as they had it then, and the Word of God
to seek to come to a good resolution. And, where they could not figure it out
or when they did not clearly see an answer, they were to look to Christ to help
them walk as one even in the uncertainty. It was Paul’s charge as an apostle to
help them come to a clearer understanding, one which we benefit from today.
God’s Word is not give and take. It is not something from
which we pick and choose a list of principles by which we as individuals and as
a church are going to live. We develop doctrine from the Word of God, and our
understanding of that doctrine forms a framework from which we function. But
even as we function, we are to do so as one according to the grace that He has
shown to us such that we encourage one another according to truth, knowing that
He is faithful to guide our steps and to give us what we need.
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