Right outside of my home town, there were thousands of acres of undeveloped land. Off one of the backroads, a plot of 500 acres was converted into several paintball courses. Every weekend about 200 people would go out to the courses and play paintball games. For several weekends, my Dad and I joined them. We both bought the guns, masks, paintballs, and decked ourselves out in army fatigues. It was a blast.
Now out of the 200 plus people that went out there, there were five guys that were head and shoulders above the rest when it came to surviving each game. These guys were, the property owner’s son and his four friends. They not only were out there every weekend, but also competed nationally in paintball tournaments. These guys were good, and when I say good, I mean they rarely were ever even hit. And where most people would use a typical paintball gun which was semi-automatic, meaning one trigger pull one shot, these guys would sometimes use manual pump paintball guns, just to make the game more challenging for themselves.
One weekend the owner gave a challenge to the 200 plus people gathered that day to defeat those five players. If the group was able to take out all five, then he would give the whole group an extra game, and he would supply the paint for it. That meant it was about 200 players against five, and I thought to myself “surely there was no way they could win”.
The five were given a ten minute head start into the forest. 200 men and women stood suited up like an army waiting for war. When the buzzard hit, those weekend warriors made their way into the dense forest. Within five minutes the unmistakable sound of paintball fire erupted around the woods. I lasted for about 10 minutes before a ball of paint splattered against my body, and I had to call out, “I’m hit.” I still don’t know where that paintball came from, but it got me. In the next 10 minutes, the sounds of paintball fire were followed by shouts of “I’m hit” all around the woods. More and more of our fellow warriors marched out of the foliage defeated. But then, as one guy walked out of the forest, the parking lot erupted with triumph, one of the five emerged splattered with paint. One down, only four to go. Soon after three more of the five came out of the forest. The parking lot began to rumble with excitement, there were five of our own against the owner’s son. Then, in the distance, several bursts of fire could be heard. Then several more. Five times this happened. Then out of the forest, in keeping with the intervals of the fire, five men walked out, followed by one more, the owner’s son, his fatigues completely clean of paint.
200 men and women against five, was not enough. We lost that battle, but found a unity with each other, that we had not had at any other time before.
And it’s this idea of unity that brings us into our summer sermon study. Every summer, as a congregation, we dive into a book of the Bible to see the overarching themes as the Holy Spirit leads us. This summer we will be going through the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church. So if you would, open with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1. And as we open up to 1st Corinthians 1:1, let’s understand the some of the background to this letter.
Corinth was a Roman city located in Greece, not to far from the the city of Athens. Corinth was positioned on one of the major trade routes between the western Roman world and it’s eastern lands. Because of this, it was very prosperous. And because of it’s prosperity, the city became intrenched in moral depravity. So much so, that even the other Roman cites looked at Corinth as the worst of the worse. As their primary deity, the people of Corinth worshiped Aphrodite. Since Aphrodite was connected to sex, one of the most prevalent sins, was sexual in nature, and ran rampant throughout the city, and we’ll see, into the Corinthian Church.
It was in this setting that Paul founded the Church at Corinth on his second missionary journey around 50AD. This time frame corresponds with Acts chapter 18. Now after a year and a half with the new Church, Paul left and returned to Jerusalem and then began his third missionary journey. Paul writes this letter to the Corinthian Church most likely while in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus around 55AD.
But even though we say this is 1st Corinthians, this isn’t technically the first letter Paul wrote to this Church. In fact in the fifth chapter of this letter, we are told by Paul himself that he wrote a letter prior to this. But that letter was not persevere as this one was. Why is that? The truth is, we do not know, but from what Paul writes in this letter, one can get the feeling that he is covering the same information again, but this time going into greater detail. So it could be that this letter, was more comprehensive and therefore thought to be more suitable to all Christians.
Now with that basic understanding of the background of letter, let’s start reading in verse 1 of 1st Corinthians chapter 1.
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes (Sos-theen-s),
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
We see here, Paul opening his letter by uniting the Corinthian Church with the whole Church around the world. This theme of uniting the Corinthian Church not just with believers outside of their city, but with the believers within their city, is a common theme that we’ll see more and more within the letter.
But in his opening, Paul shares encouragement with the Church of Corinth. He tells them that he thanks God for them, these were the ones he himself preached to and many of them came to know Christ through Paul’s work. So he loves them as a father loves his children. And Paul desires that this Church be a strong one with the gifts of God moving in their community, and that they would be in perfect fellowship with God when Jesus returns.
Notice some of the things that Paul references as strengths in the Corinthian Church. First, they have the ability to speak in a way that is divinely inspired, and that speech is coupled with knowledge that is wisdom based. This speech and knowledge are a sign that God truly has saved these people. Second, Paul says they do not lack any spiritual gift. That means that when we eventually get to chapter 12 where Paul talks about spiritual gifts, these people have them. Healing, tongues, prophecy and more are all within this Church. This is important for us to understand because as we’ll see, just because a person, or a church for that matter, has good teaching, preaching, or the gifts of the Spirit, doesn’t mean it’s doing everything right.
This opening is very uplifting, and shows Paul’s heart for the people of this Church. Those uplifting words are necessary, because without them, what follows may be taken as Paul bashing the Church, but it’s not that at all. Rather, what follows these opening words, are Paul’s gentle rebuke of the Church to bring them to the place in which he desires to see them in. This opening address is Paul’s way of saying, everything that follows is said to make these first words a reality. So let’s continue to read in verse 10.
10 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. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
It’s in verses 10 and 11 that we get the reason why Paul is writing to the Corinthian Church. Division is happening, the body of believers are not united. There is quarreling among them. Paul cites one of these points of quarreling, who people point to as the authority over them. Paul was the founding pastor of the Corinthian Church, and so some were putting him up as the main authority. But others put forth Apollos as a main authority, who was a brilliant speaker and teacher of the Scriptures, and a man that came to saving faith through Paul’s ministry (Acts 18:24-28). Still others put forth Cephas, which was the Apostle Peter as still a greater authority to follow.
This division was causing the Church to become fractured, with each having their own “teacher” who was better than another. We don’t have this today right? But Paul completely rejects this fracturing, this elevating of teachers to follow, and instead brings it back to Christ. In verse 13 Paul writes, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
In other words, who is suppose to be the main focus here? Is it an earthly teacher or is it Christ himself?
In the past two winters, two different people have sat in one of my classes. One was an adult who sat in on my Counter Arguments Class that I was teaching our youth for Sunday School. In this class, this person told me that the teens needed to hear from the Christian prophet that this person followed. And if the teens would only just hear from the prophet, then they would know that God loves them, and they would never have to struggle in their faith, and everything that I was teaching them wouldn’t need to be taught.
The other person sat in on our Apologetics class as we talked about world religions. At the end of this class one night, they asked a series of questions that took us almost two hours to go through. At the end of which, they proceeded to tell me how they were taught under a greater teacher. Inferring that their teacher was greater than me, which, to be honest, is probably true.
But in both cases the underlying sentiment was the same, there was an earthly teacher that was important, and that if others weren’t going to that teacher, then they were not fully experiencing God. See we have the same attitude today, that Paul wrote about to the Corinthian Church. The Corinthians were taking their focus off of Christ, and putting it on to a person, which was leading to a division in the Church. We can fall into that same trap today. When we hold up a particular teacher as the end all of our faith, then we fall into the trap that can lead to a fracture within our fellowship. Because then, someone else who has their favorite teacher or preacher, will then push back and say no mines better, and the fracture gets bigger.
Now, can we have a particular preacher or teacher we like and think others should listen to? Sure, but we must be careful that we do not elevate them to the height of Christ himself.
And that’s what was happening to the believers in the Corinthian Church, and that’s what was happening with these two people that came into my classes. They were holding up a person over Christ. And the reason I know this to be true, is because when I challenged them with God’s own word, they didn’t have a response. They kept returning to, well this is what this teacher said. To which I responded with, that’s great but what does God’s word say on the subject.
No human compares to Christ. No human word on any subject is greater than Christ’s word. We must take the caution of Paul in these opening verses of 1st Corinthians and ask ourselves the question, do I hold another above Jesus? Do I say I follow this pastor, or that teacher, and so downplay Jesus’ authority over me? Do I run to hear that human’s word on a subject before I run to God’s Word?
My challenge for us this week is to look at ourselves and ask, who am I following? Is it Christ first, or Christ second? If we are holding up a particular teacher or pastor, we need to repent of putting Christ second. We can thank God for the teachers and preachers that he brings into our lives, but we should never usurp Jesus’ position with that of anyone else.
Let us proclaim only Jesus as the one we follow. Let us go to his Word first, thereby bringing unity to our fellowship, as Christ has called us to. Amen.
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