Church Quarrels

We have four communion services a year and at least on two of those services I like to focus upon the cross and what Christ did for us there because that's really the focus of the communion observance to remember what Jesus did for us when he died for us. On one of those communion services I like to talk about the meaning of communion because it's important for us to be reminded of the church what communion is all about. What it's supposed to signify. What it means to us personally and typically every year on one of those communion Sundays and it's usually in July I like to focus upon the unity of the church because that's an important factor in communion as well. In fact that was the very thing that Paul addressed with the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 when he dealt with them about the problems in their worship and the first one he talked about was the problems in their communion services which were generated from divisions in the church and a lack of unity in the church and so it was a big deal for him and he actually referred to it in 1 Corinthians 10 as the communion the cup which we observe is the communion of the saints the communion of believers and so it is the fellowship that we have to gather and the unity that we enjoy in Christ that is also signified in coming to this table and so this morning I'd like for us to take a few moments to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 in 1 Corinthians 1 Paul deals with the quarrels in the church that led him to have to address that in relationship to communion. Coraling is a part of life we all are guilty of it from time to time children quarrel teenagers quarrel especially in middle school adults quarrel husbands and wives quarrel businesses quarrel organizations quarrel countries quarrel we're seeing some of that pretty seriously right now aren't we and believe it or not even Christians and churches quarrel even Christian ministries and churches sometimes quarrel with each other and so quarreling is a fact of life but it's not a fact of life that we want to just give into and say well that's just life that's a part of it it's really rooted in our sin nature it's rooted in self-centeredness and self-interest and so quarreling or divisions especially in the body of Christ are things that we need to address particularly when we come to the table because if there are divisions or quarreling when we come to the table we're sitting against the body and blood of Christ that's what Paul talked about to the Corinthians in chapters 10 and 11 but in chapter 1 he addresses the root of the quarrels in their church the root problem notice if you will with me first in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 10 the plea that he makes I appeal to you brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ let me stop right there I love the way Paul deals with very difficult issues he deals with them in a delicate manner this is a tender plea so notice how he addresses them I appeal to you it's not I command you I tell you I force you I appeal to you and actually the word for appeal is one of the words that is used in the gospel of John for the Holy Spirit the paraclete paraclete means to come alongside to help and so Paul says I'm basically coming alongside you to help with this issue I appeal to you in that spirit and he calls them brothers and sisters emphasizing the unity and the family that we're to have in the family of God and he appeals to them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because our unity is really centered around Christ the divisions in the church or this unity quarrels in the church dishonor Christ and so he appeals to them tenderly it's a tender plea but it is also a plea for unity notice in the second part of the verse he says I'm appealing to you middle of the verse that all of you agree with one another in what you say and I think that's basically talking about doctrinal agreement it's not saying that we have to agree with everything the way we talk or everything we say about every issue but that we agree in what we communicate about the faith about the truth and then he says and that there be no divisions among you but that you'd be perfectly united in mind and thought now at first glance it kind of looks like we're all to be robots that we're all to think alike exactly alike on every issue but that's not what he's talking about there are lots of passages which address this and we won't take the time to look at them this morning but when you put them all together from Romans 15 and Philippians 2 and other passages you find that what Paul is addressing is basically the way we look at the Christian life and the ministry of the church it's talking about the way we approach ministry what we center on our purposes our goals what we are headed for as a church and that needs to be unified that needs to be embraced by all of us and and be pulling the same direction with one heart and our heart is for the same things our mind and our goal our purpose our what we're moving toward in ministry is the same thing and we've identified that here at Johnson Chapel as we want to grow followers of Christ who love him who come to know him and adore him and worship him who love him and who grow in him and who serve him and so unity is that we're all pulling in that direction sometimes when churches grow a little larger and their multitudes of ministries in a church and kind of get linked up to a ministry or you are involved in multiple services there there are people who feel that that destroys the unity in a church and it need not be that way it may appear that way but it need not be that way because unity is not in the Bible everybody being in the same room at the same time unity is unity of heart and purpose and direction that's what unity is built around if it's if it means that you always have to be in the same service then pretty much only small churches could have unity because larger churches typically have more services that was in a church when we were on vacation in June and it was a large church they have four services one on Saturday night three on Sunday morning and does that mean that church cannot have unity because they're not on the same room at the same time of course not unity is on how we think and approach the gospel ministry that's what Paul's talking about the plea for unity but notice he addresses the problem in the church in verses 11 and 12 in verse 11 you see the quarrels in the church mentioned my brothers and sisters some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you Chloe's evidently a member of the church at Corinth she's communicated with Paul and letting know hey there's some problems here Paul was the founder of the church and so he needed to know so he could address those and so Paul is alerted by Chloe that there are quarrels in the church but notice the factions in the church in verse 12 these quarrels were basically around certain factions certain groups of people who had split off following certain leaders verse 12 what I mean is this Paul says is what I mean by the quarrels one of you says I follow Paul another I follow a palace another I follow seephas still another I follow Christ this these factions in the church were built around preachers around personalities in the church around people in the church and it's very easy to do that you can see why some would favor Paul Paul founded the church and so those who were there in the beginning they really liked Paul Paul's primary ministry was to Gentiles and so those in the church who were Gentiles probably just kind of naturally gravitated toward Paul's ministry Paul emphasized the freedom we have in Christ and so those who really grasped that oh yeah we like that kind of preaching we like Paul's preaching and so some people naturally gravitated to Paul and then there was a palace he was an eloquent powerful preacher who was intellectual in his approach in fact Acts chapter 18 in verse 24 where we're introduced to him says a Jew named the policy native of Alexandria came to Ephesus he was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the scriptures and other passages talk about his his powerful presentation of the word of God and so some would gravitate toward that some who are more intellectually bent some who are like the the framework of the the eloquence and the power in the presentation some would gravitate toward his kind of preaching and say man a Paul says my guy I really like that kind of preaching and then there were those who gravitated toward Peter Seifas that Paul mentions is simply another name for Peter and since Peter's Simon Peter's primary ministry was to the Jews probably those with a Jewish background would naturally gravitate toward him even those in the church as many New Testament churches had problems with those who were more legalistic might think well you know Paul really or Peter ministers to the Jews and he spoke for the law and Peter did have a little bit of trouble figuring that out in his ministry early on and so there may have been those who gravitated toward him for those reasons and then there were those who said all the rest of you are out to lunch I follow Christ now that sounds good but Paul's grouping them with the other factions and so what I think Paul is saying is there's a group of you that think you're better than everybody else because you say no man is important I'm a Christ follower and they'd become self righteous about that so it's possible to claim to follow Christ with the goal and the motive of looking ever and making everybody else look bad and you become self righteous and so I think that's probably what's going on there because Paul groups them all together as factions that are to be addressed in these divisions in the church it is obviously natural to have a certain affection for and an appeal commitment to one who has been very instrumental in your life maybe the the pastor or the preacher who led you to Christ who baptized you who discipled you who spent time counseling you who taught you for years it's natural to have a special affinity and affection for someone like that where it becomes misguided dangerous and even sinful is when that affection or that that desire to lift up one person is used as a basis for strife and divisions in the church or comparing one with another that's where it becomes quarreling or divisive and that's what Paul's addressing he's not saying that you should not have a special affection or affinity for someone who's had a special minister in your life that's to be expected but he's he's basically saying the ministry is not about preachers it's not about people it's about some other things it's about other things that are more central and more basic and he addresses those when he talks about the priority of ministry notice what he he dresses as the priority two things the priority in ministry is Christ not men and this is not catering to one of those factions the self-righteous faction he's basically saying all of you need to have a genuine commitment to Christ and not lift up humans notice verse 13 is Christ divided was Paul crucify for you were you baptized in the name of Paul Paul is being very kind and gracious and not using the other names he just uses his own name but his point is made very clearly the issue in the church is not who baptized you not who won you to the Lord the issue is Christ the issue is that we are all in his family all looking to him as our Lord he is our Lord there is no one else that can take his place and so Paul asks these questions in shock and indignation what are you folks doing in court are you trying to parcel out Christ among different groups as Christ divided did Paul die for you did you get baptized in Paul's name obviously not the issue is the focus the priority in ministry is to be on Christ and not men not people the second priority is preaching not baptism notice what Paul says about that verse 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except chryspice and gays so that no one can say you were baptized in my name yes I also baptized the household of Stephanus beyond that I don't remember if I baptized anyone else he's kind of trying to think through you know that maybe the new converts the early converts he may have baptized the first few people but then a palace was in Corinth he probably baptized some people Peter may have baptized some people who were Jews who had moved to Corinth and so part of the issue in this divisiveness and this strife was I'm a follower of so and so because he's the one that baptized me in Paul says I'm thankful I didn't baptize anybody except well I remember two or three but I'm think because that's not the issue look at verse 17 for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom and eloquence less the cross of Christ the emptied of its power now this is not to minimize baptism baptism is an important act of obedience Christ so Paul's not minimizing that but Paul is addressing the issues of people who were aligning themselves up under certain teachers because that's the one who baptized me and that's not the kind of thing that you want in the church it's great for a number of people to be involved in baptisms but we don't form allegiances based on that and Paul says the reason is the the priority in ministry is not baptism the priority is preaching the priority basically is the ministry of the word the primary task of every pastor is the ministry of the word in whatever realm of ministry were involved in the primary task is the ministry of the word if we're not for that we wouldn't be doing anything else it is the ministry of the word which motivates us to love Christ which causes us to see his excellencies and his glories and want to worship him it is the ministry of the word which draws us into growth it makes us more Christ like it is the ministry of the word which motivates us to serve Christ and so everything flows from the ministry of the word and Paul says that's what's important so God called me not to baptize people although that's important that's not the priority the priority is the preaching of the word the ministry of the word of God and Paul says I'm to preach the gospel he was an evangelist and that was the ministry God had given him because it was a missionary he moved from place to place took the gospel to new regions there are others that he would establish in churches like Timothy and Titus and when he wrote to those pastors of churches who stayed in one place he would tell them your priority ministry is to teach the word to build up the flock to build up the people of God that's your primary ministry but he reminded Timothy and second Timothy four five don't forget do the work of an evangelist too get the gospel out there but your primary responsibility is to teach the word of God so it's all about the ministry of the word and not about who baptized me or who I'm following or who has the most significant ministry in my life when we form factions for those reasons we are destroying the unity of the body so it's all about Christ it's all about the ministry of the word those are the things you were to focus on and we need to remember that when it comes to communion because this is the very reason why Paul had to address the problems in the communion service with the Corinthians he'll bring it back up as I mentioned in chapter 10 and you'll talk with about the disunity and the division that's evident in their even in their communion services and in the fellowship meal or love feast that preceded those they were seen in little clicks and in their little groups as they were sharing supposed to be sharing their meal together and then they came into the communion service with all that divisiveness in their hearts so we need to remember that it's not about us it's not about any person in this church not about any pastors not about any teacher it's about Christ and it's about the ministry of the word and this remember that as we come to the table because remember as Paul said it's Christ who died for us Christ who gave his life and we remember that this morning as we observed communion