By Sam Greer
Senior Pastor, Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga
Focal Passage: 1 Corinthians 1:10-25
Every four years the Winter Olympics are headline news. The 2018 Olympic games in Pyongyang were no different. One of the most fascinating stories from the 2018 Olympics regarded the nation of Korea. The sister of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un attended the 2018 Olympics, as she was the first North Korean Dynasty member to visit South Korea since the Korean War. What is more, she called for the “unification” of North and South Korea. Is the spirit of the Olympic games enough to unify a divided nation?
In I Corinthians 1:10-25, Paul was dealing with divisions in the local church at Corinth. Yes, even churches in the first century were dealing with divisions. Paul argues that the church is only united in Christ alone. Furthermore, Paul reminded these believers that he came to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to promote divisions. The purpose of this commentary is to unpack I Corinthians 1:10-25.
Paul calls for gospel unity in verse 10. The word appeal is also transliterated as beg, urge, summon, plead, exhort, implore, or beseech. Paul is serious in his appeal for the Corinthian believers to agree. He is also mindful that agreement can and will only come through the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is the Lord Jesus Christ the only one who can unite the church?
First, Jesus’ power enables Him to be the One who unites as indicated by the use of Lord to describe Jesus. The term Lord identifies Jesus as the One who has all authority, including the authority to unite. Second, the personal name Jesus is the name given the One who unites His people through the same salvation, the salvation from their sins. Third, the title Christ identifies Jesus as the promised One of God. Jesus is the Messiah of whom all of the Old Testament speaks.
Paul calls out ungodly disunity in verses 11-16. In verse 12, what jumps out of the text is the irony of mentioning the personalities of Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Simon Peter) alongside the person of Christ. Some of the believers at Corinth were following personalities of men rather than the person of Christ. A great danger in the 21st century church is to choose to follow a personality rather than following the person of Christ. Jesus is the only One worthy to be followed because Jesus is the only One who was crucified for the sins of mankind. What does following a personality versus following the person of Christ have to do with disunity?
Following personalities always leads to ungodly disunity. Following the person of Jesus always leads to gospel unity. In verses 13-17, Paul lays out the primary reason Jesus sent Paul to Corinth and every other location. Paul was sent to preach the good news of the person of Jesus. He was not sent to preach the fake news of the personalities of men. Paul understood that he was not “the point.” Christ didn’t send Paul to be “the point” by baptizing, but He sent Paul to be “the pointer” pointing people to Jesus by preaching the gospel. Paul was not interested in having his name in lights; rather he was only interested in pointing people to the light, Jesus the Christ.
Paul calls for gospel testimonies in verses 17-25. Paul included himself in his challenge to the Corinthian believers to open their mouths and speak the good news of Jesus in a world of bad news. The most gospel testifying church is the most gospel unified church.
