The Church's Path for Unity

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 - Riley Boggs

This church, Covenant Community Church, is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. Well, not technically yet I guess, because we have to be officially accepted since we have started being a church, but we will be. And there are several reasons for this is, but the main one is this. And really it was one of the driving ideas of starting the Southern Baptist Convention to begin with. It is the truth that, “we can do more together, than we can apart.” In other words, though we are a small church with rather little means, what we give to the Southern Baptist Convention directly goes to solid Biblical Schools and Seminaries, church plants and missionaries around the world, and so on. And this very church plant has been and is being aided by the Southern Baptist Convention. From my perspective as one who has been in Southern Baptist churches, schools, seminaries, and so on, for years now, I think the SBC is in a healthy place. Among the strongest Biblical denominations in the world. But, some of you may know this, but to some of you this may come as a surprise, this has not always been the case. Actually, in rather recent history this wasn’t the case.

In about the 1980s the Southern Baptist Convention was not in a good place. There was serious division, and the seminaries and institutions had drifted far away from conservative biblical values. This conflict was called the “inerrancy controversy”. What this means is that among the many issues being debated, the one that sort of came first was the question of whether or not the Bible is inerrant. “Inerrant or Inerrancy” means without error. So when we say that the Bible is inerrant, we are saying that the Bible does not have any error. What it is says is true, theologically, historically, and all the rest. It contains no errors. By the grace of God, I’m not sure you can find a Southern Baptist church who doesn’t believe this now.

But to put it into perspective, let me read to you a quote that would have been considered controversial at the time. In a documentary about this controversy, one person said, “I’m a conservative and I believe that God’s Word is literal, the Bible is literal, insofar as the original autographs are concerned. I believe Adam and Eve are real people for instance.” This was used in that documentary as a point of what was considered controversial. This is a wildly different Southern Baptist Convention and Seminary than what exists now, thankfully. 

So what changed? Well a lot changed. The controversy was far more complicated than I’ve described, and so was the way out of it. However, one the key things was the electing of the Albert Mohler as the president of the Southern Seminary, which was and is, the primary seminary in the convention. It’s where pastors, teachers, counselors, and so on are trained. So what was being taught there, was influencing lots of the churches in the convention.

Albert Mohler was elected as the president of this seminary on March 26, 1993. A lot of good work was being done to reaffirm crucial biblical truths for the convention, and his election was right on time. And his impact can be seen clearly today in the great health of the SBC. But, at the time he was elected, as a conservative in a seminary of people who were not, he was hated. He was really hated. And so soon after being elected, he held a Q/A where people yelled at him and asked him questions. One of the questions or concerns that kept being asked of him was why he wasn’t going to train women to be pastors. His response was, “I find it impossible for me to square the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry, that is to the role of pastor, with what I see in the New Testament, and what I must do in submitting to those passages of Scripture.” Put simply, he had to believe what the Bible said. He was bound to, because if he did not do that, what was the point.

Okay, why do I tell you this story? Well the reason is because of how Paul approaches this letter. Last week we looked at all his kind and gracious reminders of who the Corinthians are in Christ, to prepare their hearts for what he is about to say. But now, instead of beginning to one-by-one work through each issue they have, he starts with the simplest truth. If the Corinthian church is to be unified, no longer divided, then they must be unified on something. What is it that they must be unified on? Christ and His Word. Mohler knew the same thing about the SBC. If the convention were ever going to be unified, then it must be unified on something. And for the SBC, that thing was the inerrancy of God’s Word, and the commitment to follow all that it says. True unity only comes when it is primarily focused on something. 

This morning, I want to draw out 3 different things from the text that Paul gives us concerning division and unity in the church. First, we’ll look at a warning. Second, a safeguard. And third, a goal. So a warning, a safeguard, and a goal.

1.) A Warning – The body of Christ cannot be divided

I mentioned this last week, but in verse 10 we really see the reason that Paul was writing. He is writing because there should not be division in the church, and there is. Now let’s just be very honest about this. We all know countless stories of division within churches. Stories of churches running off pastor after pastor, or churches having unqualified pastors. We know of church splits and have heard of members meetings where people yell at one another, and so on. Tons of these stories. I think, maybe, we have heard so many of them by now that we aren’t as bothered by them maybe as we should be. 

Think of it this way. The church is the body of Christ. And what happens when your body is divided or fighting against itself? Sickness comes. It results in a number of symptoms. Church divisions are like autoimmune disorders, where your body is attacking itself and causing harm to itself. It isn’t right. It isn’t how things are supposed to be, and there is a lack of health because of it. 

This is what Paul is getting at. The church is not supposed to be divided, it is supposed to be united. In his words, the church is supposed to be of one mind and one judgement. The church is supposed to be one. Listen to how Paul describes this reality in Ephesians 4.

He says, “4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Do you see what Paul is getting at? The church is a body that, when working properly, builds itself up. When the church is healthy and there are no divisions, it will grow to be strong enough to stand against any attacks. When each person is fulfilling their role in the body, as they have been gifted to do, the church will become unified.

On the other hand, when the church is divided, like the Corinthian Church is, sickness is the result. This church was quarreling, suing one another, their marriages were in shambles, they are not exhibiting the fruits of the spirit, and they were falling into more and more sin. Now, which came first? The division, or all of these things? I’m not sure it is possible to tell, because these cause one another to happen. Division causes quarreling, and quarreling causes division.      

And so, the point I think we need to see here is simply that our church cannot be divided, because the body of Christ cannot be divided. We need to hear this text and let it be a warning to us, so that we may never find ourselves anything but unified. 

The question is, how do we prevent it? I doubt the Corinthian Church said, “hey, you know what would be great? If we started fighting and because divided.” No, of course not. But that doesn’t mean that division isn’t preventable, because it is.  How?

2.) Safeguard – We must be humble and committed to Christ and His Word

Look at what Paul says in verse 12. Each of these men, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were teachers of the Word. They themselves were not divisive. In fact, it was their goal to build up the church through the teaching of God’s Word. Yet, it seems that the Corinthians had begun dividing themselves and claiming to follow one of the teachers specifically. And this claiming to follow Paul, Apollos, or Cephas was one of the causes of division in the church. 

None of these men wanted this, and Paul makes that abundantly clear in verse 13. He says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”. In other words, don’t you see that what we all desire is that you are united in Christ, not divided for us. The reason each of these men do the thing they do, is so that more people may know Christ, and that the church may be unified on him. 

And then Paul displays his own humility in what he has done in his ministry. He says, I did baptize a few of you and there may be some I baptized and have forgotten, but regardless, I am glad I didn’t baptize more for you. Why? Because he doesn’t want a “baptism by Paul” to be a reason for more division than it already is, and to Paul, he doesn’t care about himself. He cares more about Christ being exalted and the church being unified, than he does about himself baptizing people. 

There is a lesson to be learned here. A safeguard for church division. It is this: we have to be humble. Among other things, humility is one of the best ways to prevent division in the church. When we care less about getting ours, and our image, and our name, and all of that, and more about serving the body and exalting Christ, we will be unified. Paul’s attitude about baptism is spot on. In verse 17 he says, “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel.” Paul’s purpose was not to elevate himself, but to proclaim Christ. Paul wants this church to cast their eyes off themselves and onto Christ.

Hand-in-hand with humility, the second safeguard for us, is that we must commit to Christ and His Word. Instead of devoting our lives to a pursuit of our desires, we devote our lives to follow Christ and obeying His Word. And when we do this, division will not come as easily. Because God’s Word and love of Christ, binds the church together. His Word mends together His people.

So, I think the correct response for us particularly concerning this text is this. We are to recognize the sinfulness that resides in all of us, as human beings. We need to be honest with ourselves and remember that all the churches that have divided, at some point, probably thought it would never happen to them, and then it did. We need to realize this, and then take the safeguarding steps that we see here in this text.

First, we need to walk in humility, remembering that we gather to exalt Christ, not ourselves. Second, we need to be cast our eyes on Christ and obey His Word. These two things will grow us in Him and sanctify us. They will grow us together and cause us to abound in love. 

If we do these things, by God’s grace, He will unite us together. He will, by the Spirit within each of us, allow our church to grow in love, grace, and knowledge of Him.

Alright, lastly. I think Paul lays out here, to the church of Corinth, what the goal of their church should be…

3.) A Goal – The Gospel is seen in and through our church

What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. That He came, lived a sinless life, died for us, atoned for our sins, rose again to reign as King, and is one day coming back. This is the Gospel. And our goal, as a church, is that the Gospel would be seen in and through our church. There are 2 ways I think we see this in this text.

First, in our pulpit, we must see and hear the Gospel. Look at what Paul says in the verse 17. His purpose was not to come and speak with eloquent words to impress, like the Corinthians might have wanted. No, his purpose was to preach the cross of Christ, so that the power of the Gospel would be displayed through His preaching. The purpose is the same for our church.

To some of you this isn’t new, but to some of you it is. Our church is absolutely committed to exegetical preaching. That means, when I, or anyone else who stands in this pulpit, preaches, their goal is to bring out the meaning of the text they are preaching. The point of the sermon is the point of the text. They don’t come up with an idea and then try to find verses to support it. Instead, they just preach what it is the Bible says. Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for more topical teaching. But it does mean, that our Sunday morning time of worship, will be solely exegetical preaching. And as I have stated before, my goal is to preach through the entire Bible. 

I think this is how we display the Gospel in the pulpit. We don’t think ourselves wiser than God, and we simply preach His Word. This book, the Bible, does better than any of us every could at making the most of Christ. It is God’s Word to man that shows us how glorious the Gospel is. And so why would we do anything but preach it? Our goal, as a church, should be to see the Gospel in the pulpit, and I think that is how we do it. By faithfully preaching through the Bible, exegetically, and by clearly sharing the Gospel each week.

Second, our goal should be to see the Gospel in our unity. The Gospel is a story of forgiveness beyond what seems possible. It is a story of sacrifice. A story of suffering on behalf of others. A story of service, grace, mercy, and love. And our unity as a church should display these things. As people who have been saved by Christ, we should display the Gospel in our unity. 

That means we forgive one another, and we do not hold grudges. We serve one another, sacrifice for one another, and bear one another’s burdens. We rejoice, sing, and pray for one another. We are gracious, merciful, and loving towards each person in the church. We display the Gospel.

And hear me say this. We don’t do any of these things because the world is watching, primarily. I mean, we don’t seek to show love, grace, and mercy, towards one another just because people are watching. We do it because God has called us to do it. But, at the same time, the world is watching. They, like us, see churches divided against one another. They see them sinning towards one another, quick to slander the people they sing with each Sunday. And unfortunately, this distorts, to them, the image of the Gospel to the world.

So our goal, as a church, should be that when people look at us, look at our church, they see all that the Gospel entails. They see a broken people, who aren’t perfect, but who have been redeemed. And now, we walk hand-in-hand together, seeking to obey Christ more and more. And we love one another deeply. In a way that cannot be understood beyond the love of God in us. We are unified on the Gospel, and the Gospel marks our lives and our church.

Let me close by simply saying this. I think there is a reason why God would have us go through this book right now. It’s not because we are off track, and we need to be rebuked like the church of Corinth. No, I think it’s because as we walk through this book, we will see time and time again what it looks like to be a healthy church. And this time in our church’s history might be the most important time it will ever have. We are in very formative times. What we establish now, will last a long time. The patterns we set now, will be reflected in the children raised in the church. It is a weighty thing, but God will guide us the whole way. The Spirit of God will provide for us and unify us. And in His Word, through this book and others, we are going to be given the path forward. The path towards health and unity.

So let us first take heed of the warning. The body of Christ cannot be divided. It isn’t right. Second, let us put up safeguards. Let’s walk in humility, and commit to Christ and His Word. Lastly, let our goal be that the Gospel is clearly seen in and through our church. And believe me when I say that there are no other people in the world I would rather pastor, and link arms with, in this. No one. And I cannot wait to see how God continues to bless and use us for His glory.

In just a minute, like every week, we are going to come to the table to be reminded of this glorious Gospel. A time where the Gospel is reflected in our very actions. As we come to the table and partake of the elements that tangibly remind us of the death of Christ on our behalf. 

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