Former Blackout Artist

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. – 1 Corinthians 1:10

As a new member of a church that I had been visiting for a number of years, I was always curious as to why it wasn’t made known ahead of time which of the two pastors would be preaching each Sunday. The response I received regarding my inquiry came in the form of a rather pointed question. Does it really matter who is preaching? If so, why?

Initially I really didn’t care much for that response. It seemed rather self-righteous and judgmental. Perhaps had they taken the time to refer me to the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, I could’ve read it for myself and had a better understanding of why. Because it is there where the answer to my question would be found.

Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, in part, was to address some concerns that were expressed to him in a letter he received from one of the members there – someone from the household of a woman who apparently was a church member named Chloe. According to that letter, there was a growing division between some of the church members because of favoritism being shown toward certain church leaders. As a result, the congregation was being divided into certain camps, or what we would more commonly refer to today in the modern church as cliques.

To the casual churchgoers who don’t attend regularly, the cliquish nature of church membership often goes unnoticed. But for those who faithfully attend week after week, they might begin to see a common theme occurring, especially in bigger churches. Before the service starts and after the service ends, certain church leaders seem to naturally gravitate and congregate around certain groups of people, devoting most all of their time to fellowship exclusively with them. I think to some extent this is fairly normal. But when it becomes so part of the norm that other church members are denied this same access, that’s a major red flag.

We all have our favorite teaching pastors, just like we have our favorite sports teams, musicians, and so on. We’re allowed to. That’s natural. But as it relates to the leadership of a church, the practice of playing favorites has the real potential to cause division and harm. It is the responsibility of church leadership to recognize this when it happens and to address it.

Paul tells them up front, “Live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (v.10). It’s worth noting that Paul is addressing the entire church, and not just the members, but the leaders also. “We’re all on the same team here,” he’s saying. “We’re all serving the same Christ and all have the same God-given purpose.” (1 Corinthians 1:12-15)

Did Paul mean that church members weren’t permitted to have different opinions on certain things? Of course not. There was room for disagreement in the church on certain matters. Debate isn’t a bad thing. In fact, churches that have a team of elders who don’t always go along with the status quo are often the healthiest.

But to this idea of favoritism, Paul didn’t mince words.

Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.”

Have you ever wondered why Jesus never baptized anyone (at least according to what’s recorded in the Bible)? I believe one of the reasons is because he knew that people would place more value on their own personal baptisms being performed by him than those being baptized by his disciples. Jesus himself was baptized by John the Baptist, who we recall asking Jesus, “Shouldn’t it be you baptizing me?”

That’s why the Holy Spirit directed Paul to include this letter from Chloe’s household in his letter to the church in Corinth. Favoritism is not only divisive, but it has the ultimate potential of elevating man above God.