Typically it is very easy to misunderstand the Gospel. We have our “ticket” to heaven. We have a new life in this world. The rest should be simple, right?
No matter how long you’ve been following Jesus, you know that isn’t true. The Christian life is more than just a one-time decision to give your life to Jesus. It’s also a thousand little decisions to continually choose Jesus over self. And sometimes we feel the tension between Jesus’s way of living and the way we want to live.
The Corinthians felt that tension too. Read 1 Corinthians 1:10–17.
What were the Corinthians doing that caused division in their local church?
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The church members are latched onto different leaders—Paul, Apollos, Cephas (or Peter), and Jesus. They’re playing a church version of “My dad’s stronger than your dad.” It’s causing division and Paul’s not happy about it.
Paul’s adamant throughout this section that no church is about him or other teachers. It’s about Jesus and his gospel. In 1 Corinthians 1:17, he goes as far as to say that eloquent teaching—whether from him or anyone else—zaps the power from the cross of Christ.
Why do you think something like eloquent teaching or who-baptized- who takes away the power of the cross of Jesus? What are people concerned about when they focus on those things?
It all comes back to what we talked about on day one—selfishness. The Corinthians chose prestige, power, and authority over Jesus. That’s why they’re bragging about certain leaders. And that’s why there’s division. In the tense fight of allegiance, the Corinthians have allowed selfishness to win.
The bottom line for the Corinthians—and for us—comes down to a simple question: Will you let go? We face the same temptation the Corinthians did—to hold onto security and pleasure and comfort as if our lives depended on it. To let selfishness win.
Take a look at verse 17. Paul understood what it meant to let go. His life wasn’t centered on himself but on Christ and the church instead. That’s the life we should be after.
So the question is, will you let go?
Looking at your own life, where do you feel the struggle between wanting to do things your way versus Jesus’s way? Which one usually wins?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
I connected with the part in verse 17 that talks about preaching with words of eloquent wisdom, which reminds me of my own walk with Christ and how I try to spin things to put myself in a better light than others. No walk with Christ is ever going to be pretty or perfect. It has its ups and down, but pretending that it’s all ups only detracts from Jesus since you’re putting yourself on display as someone who really doesn’t need Christ. If anything, I should be open with my brokeness just as I am about as open as I would be talking about my blessings. Rather than be “my walk with Christ is without fault, this is what you should do or strive to be to reach my level”, I should be putting the spotlight on Him with “I have been struggling but this is what He’s been teaching me”. All-in-all, I think being real with myself about my struggles helps with my walk with Christ since it refocuses my sight on Jesus rather than myself and how my struggles looks to others.