United

Scripture:  1 Corinthians 1:10-18

 One of my favorite things to do is play games, and I tend to play a lot of them.  Several years ago, when I was full time in youth ministry, I actually got a bit of a reputation as being “the games guy” and I was asked to be part of some conference level youth events specifically to lead games.  When I teach a game to people, I always begin by telling people: “The goal of the game is to win” and then I tell people how you do that.  I think it is important to begin with emphasizing that the goal is to win, because during the game it can be surprisingly easy to forget that.  A good example of this is a game that was my favorite to run in youth ministry, and one I first experienced as a player in college.  This game is played with a large group over a large area like a park or camp.  The group is divided into several teams and hidden throughout the large area are several green, plastic army men.  The goal of the game is to win, and the way to win is rescue all the army men before time runs out.   There are then a lot of complex rules about how teams can raid other team’s bases, how they can freeze people on other teams so they cannot keep searching, and lots of other ways for teams to trip each other up.  Often people then have a lot of fun establishing a base, making strategies, and then raiding bases of other teams to get the rescued army men to their base. 

It does not matter how long the time limit is set for, this game rarely gets won.  Not all of the plastic figures get found and rescued, and this is because teams get so busy trying to steal from one another or hinder one another that they forget the goal, they forget how to win.  In this game the goal is to win by finding all of the army men.  If that happens then everyone wins.   This game often leads to a great teaching moment, because the participants do realize that they assumed the goal was for their team to win by finding them all, not by working together. 

This morning’s scripture reminds me of that game, because this morning’s scripture points out that as people of faith, we often forget the goal.  The goal of Christianity is not to win, the goal is the gospel.  The goal is to share Jesus and the good news of the forgiveness of sins with everyone.   This is the main thing.   As followers of Jesus we should all be unified around this main thing, but as this morning’s scripture shows often division happens because we have lost sight of the goal and we do not let the main thing be the main thing. 
 
The letter of 1 Corinthians was written to the church of Corinth to address several issues that plagued that fellowship of believers.   The faith community in Corinth is one that was being torn apart by division over several different issues.  This morning’s scripture comes right at the beginning of the letter, and he starts off by addressing a source of division that involved him personally. Like the pundits on an ESPN talk show, backing their favorite team, I imagine the Corinthians bickering about why their chosen teacher is the best one to follow.    Some thought Paul was the best teacher of the gospel.  After all, Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. He was successful at founding new churches, and he had a down-to-earth reputation of working alongside the people.   Cephas, who we better known as Peter was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples.  He is the one who Jesus himself had said his church would be built upon.   Clearly, Peter’s reputation was established, and he was well known if the Corinthians had heard of him.    Finally, Apollos was the young gun.  The book of Acts describes Apollos by stating “He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.  He had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor.”   We get the idea that the Corinthian church was treating these three preachers like celebrities and they had picked their favorites, and instead of realizing that all three men were playing for the same team, this became a source of division in the church of Corinth.

 Paul rightly appeals to the Corinthians to cut this out.  He points this out through the use of rhetorical questions in verse 13, “Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”   Paul seeks to point out to the Corinthians that they have lost sight of the goal, that they are not keeping the main thing the main thing.  He reminds them that it does not matter who baptized who, and he states in verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”

The church in Corinth had a problem with division.  What is interesting though is that dividing into factions was not limited to the Corinthian church.   To the churches of the regions of Galatia, Paul warned them to avoid this by listing dissensions and factions among a list of sinful behavior.   To the church of Ephesus, Paul encouraged them to remember that “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”   Giving into this base urge to pick sides is a shockingly common problem in the early church.  

Unfortunately, it has continued to be a problem for followers of Jesus.   I have nothing against there being different Christian denominations.  In fact, I think there is value in having different faith communities with different traditions, with different styles, with a different emphasis, and even with a variety in our understandings.   I think there is value to having diversity in Christian expression because a diversity in Christian expression can enable the good news of Jesus Christ to reach more people.   Unfortunately, I know not everyone feels that way, because I know that there are some branches of the Christian tree that believe other branches do not belong.  There are some denominations, churches, or Christian expressions that spend a lot of time and energy decrying how other denominations, churches, or Christian expressions are not “real” Christians.   This is the kind of factionalism that Paul was writing against in this morning’s scripture.  
 
This kind of picking sides hinders the gospel; it holds back the universal mission to make disciples of all the nations.  Sadly, the data shows this is happening.  Data from pew research shows that no major Christian tradition is growing in the US today.  Some are holding steady, but that is about it.   While some churches do report growth, research has found that 94% of all reported church growth is transfer growth, where people change the church, they are involved with.   Again, I have no problem with people finding a faith community that works best for them.  However, if that much of growth is from transferring, this means only 3-5% of reported church growth is a result of people coming to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ for the first time.  The number of followers of Jesus is not currently increasing in the United States.  Perhaps, collectively as the church in America we have lost sight of the goal.   The goal of the church is not to grow just for the sake of growth, the goal of the church is to share the gospel, the goal is to proclaim the message of the cross, and the goal make disciples of Jesus Christ. 

We cannot move the needle much when it comes to these kinds of national trends.  What we can do is focus on how we are doing on the local or personal level.   We can check our own focus to make sure we are keeping the main thing the main thing.   We can commit as a faith community, to live into Paul’s appeal in this morning’s scripture.   In Verses 10 and 11 he wrote “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, 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.”   This sounds great and inspirational, but when we begin to break it down it can be a bit troubling.   What exactly does it mean to be perfectly united in mind and thought?      

 Perhaps a better way to come to the question is to ask what are we supposed to be perfectly united about?   Because we do not have to agree about everything.  Agreeing to be part of a faith community should not be agreeing to a long list of narrowly held beliefs and shunning everyone who falls out of line.  Scriptures like this morning are a call to unity among believers, but unity is not uniformity.   John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement once wrote, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?  May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?  Without all doubt, we may.” 

There is a statement that comes out of the Moravian tradition that speaks to more to this idea.  While today, the Moravians may be a lesser-known denomination, they had a lot of influence on John Wesley’s thinking.  As such this Moravian wisdom has found its way into the United Methodist church and you may have encountered it before.   The saying states, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things love.”   The concept is that the beliefs most vital to the Christian faith is where we must agree with one another, have no division and be perfectly united in mind and thought.   In everything that is not an essential core belief of Christianity, then as believers we are free to form our own opinions. Our faith should inform all our opinions and beliefs.  It is very possible for two Christians to rely on their biblical understanding and faith experience but still come to different conclusions on non-essentials.   That is fine because we are called to unity not uniformity.   Finally, no matter what love covers all.   This means it does not matter how much we disagree with someone; we love them anyway.   We recognize that they are a precious creation of God that has sacred worth, and we value them for that.  

This naturally leads to the question of what is essential and what is non-essential.  Fortunately, church tradition defines this for us with the creeds, which are essentially statements of essential belief.   The most well-known creed, which comes from the 5th century but has roots that stretch back as far as the 2nd century,  is what is traditionally called the Apostle’s Creed.   This creed states:   I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin  Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.  On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.  Amen. 

Those are the essentials.  God the Father, Jesus the son-who was, and is, and is to come, and the Holy Spirit.   When we are of one mind about these essentials and we consider that statement of faith to be the cornerstone of all that we believe, then unity as described in this scripture becomes possible.   What unites us is the power of the cross of Christ, and that gospel should have more power in our lives than every other message there is.    Often the reason why there is conflict in the body of Christ, the reason why there is division is because we forget this.  We forget that the goal is not to win some culture war.  The goal is not even to grow.  The goal is to share Jesus so that all may be saved by the power of the cross.    

So may we keep the main thing the main thing.   May we not forget what the goal is, what the mission is, and may we be united in mind and thought.  This does not mean we have to always agree about all the details.  May we seek unity and not uniformity.  As the people of God may we glorify God by being perfectly united in mind and thought by how we love one another.     May we be united in our belief that Jesus a great savior and may we be committed to sharing that good news with all.