1 Corinthians 1:10-17

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

 

All of us have likely been part of a dramatic situation at one point in our lives. For some of you, they may even be happening now with your friends at school, teammates, etc. But often during these situations, it is easy to take sides. We tend to align ourselves with a person/group we favor or that we believe is correct. As a result, we are often divided, which engenders negative emotions such as frustration, envy, and hate. So, why do I bring this up? Because I believe Christian community isn't immune to drama. The church can be a place where arguments occur and division is present. 

That was certainly true with the Corinthians. As Paul alludes to in Corinthians 1:10-17, the people were arguing over which leader to follow in the church. Hearing about this, however, he calls out their behavior. While they all take pride in mentioning the spiritual leaders they follow, they put these identities above that of a follower of Christ Jesus. As Paul describes, divisiveness is not representative of Christ. He was not divided and did not encourage us to be separated from arguments. Rather, Jesus calls for us to be united as one body. 

Reading this passage, I think back to my time in college when I was a leader in my Christian fellowship. Throughout my four years, there were several times when our group argued. Sometimes it would be over the best ways to reach freshmen or methods of keeping members involved. During these difficult moments, our fellowship was divided. I, along with others, had strong opinions about these issues, and frankly, I was not thinking of Jesus in these situations. Looking back, I wish I did. I feel that if I remembered my identity as a follower in Christ and put that first, I could have helped to bring our group together as fellow believers instead of continuing to push for what we individually thought was best.