DOCTRINE AND DIVISION

DOCTRINE AND DIVISION

I Corinthians 1:10-31

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

July 2, 2006

“Here’s the church,

here’s the steeple,

open the doors,

and here’s all the people.”

As youngsters, many of us learned this little ditty. But the older we get, the more we all come to realize that the church is not the building, the steeple, or the doors; the church is the people themselves. There lies the church, and in this fact there can be found great strength, but in this fact there can also be found at times a source of deep frustration.

People in the Body of Christ do not always get along very well, and there can be several reasons for this, depending upon the circumstances and the situations at hand, as well as the particular personalities involved.

The church in Corinth certainly had its share of problems. This can be readily seen in the fact that practically the whole epistle is written in response to these numerous problems. But one of the problems at Corinth, the one we will address this morning, had to do with division into different groups within the church body.

THE SITUATION IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH.

Paul had received information from Chloe’s household regarding the seriousness of division in the church. Though we know very little about her, Chloe must have been an influential Christian woman and probably a member of the church. So, she knew of this matter from firsthand experience.

Apparently, members of the church were lining themselves up in deference to certain leaders, such as Paul, Peter or Apollos. Some rightly said they were followers of Christ, and Paul makes this very point, that unity in the church is found in a common devotion to Christ as the true Head of the Church. And so he asks: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?”

But even before he says this, Paul exhorts them regarding this issue: “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Here, Paul provides an appeal that is rich in meaning. He asks them to “agree with one another” – literally, “to say the same thing.” He wants them to agree on the core doctrines of the church, such as the Headship of Christ, and the doctrines of the Gospel, whereby Christ crucified is seen, believed on, and received as the One who is “our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

Paul wants them to say these things, believe these things, and to agree on these things for the sake of unity “… that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” He wants them to be knit together, as he uses a medical term used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or in putting together a joint that had previously been dislocated.

Such schism and disunion could be rectified, Paul states, by focusing yet again upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the core essentials of the Faith. In doing this together, the Body of Christ would regain its health, and move forward more efficiently and effectively in its ministry and mission.

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS.

At this time of year, we see how this happened in another circumstance and setting. For more than 150 years, the colonies remained a part of Great Britain. But due to the abuses of our mother country and king, there came the time to divide over truths that were “self-evident”.

As we all know, a Declaration of Independence, largely drafted by Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776, was unanimously approved by the members of the Continental Congress on July 4^th, 1776. Expressing the ideals of liberty and the plain facts of the abuse of “Tyranny”, it begins:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The Declaration goes on to indicate certain key “truths to be self-evident,” “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The signers of this Declaration were united in their understanding and commitment to these truths and to securing these rights.

You may be interested to know that one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a man by the name of William Ellery, a native “Newporter.” Ellery was born in Newport, lived in Newport, and died in Newport. William Ellery was quite an outstanding individual, having been a graduate of Harvard University, a lawyer, Naval officer, merchant and delegate to Congress.

On the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ellery deliberately took his position near the Secretary. He wanted to watch the expressions on the faces of each and every one of the delegates as they signed what might easily prove to be their death warrant. In doing so, he was able to report that all the delegates displayed on their faces only “undaunted resolution.”

Now nearing the 230^th anniversary of its signing, we acknowledge our sincere gratitude to God and to these brave men and their families. They stood united in the principles of self-evident truths and in seeking the security of “inalienable rights.” United they stood, and stand together they most certainly did.

III

THE LIFE OF OUR OWN CHURCH.

If this be true in the political realm, it is most certainly true in the ecclesiastical realm, in the life and witness of the church. As we have already noted in the first two sermons of this series, true unity is found in Jesus Christ and in the core essentials. When we are able to “say the same thing” regarding the basic and fundamental truths of the Christian Faith, when we are able together “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints,” [i] then we are able to move forward together in a unity that will not only survive, but thrive.

Of course, this requires wise and prayerful discernment on our part to distinguish between essentials of the faith and those elements that are not as essential, in our life together as the Body of Christ. But when the essentials are acknowledged and agreed upon, the church is able to then move forward with confidence and competence.

Shortly after his conversion in 1929, C.S. Lewis wrote about the matter of division in the Church to a friend. He said, “When all is said (and truly said) about divisions of Christendom, there remains, by God’s mercy, an enormous common ground.” [ii]

How truly grateful I am, and how truly grateful we all can be, that in the fellowship of this body, “there remains, by God’s mercy, an enormous common ground.” We love the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe in the authority of Scripture and the power of prayer. We seek to glorify God in our fellowship together and in our proclamation of the Gospel to the world. In our worship, work and witness, we stand together. [iii]

May it always be! May it always be!