...pray for unity...

“10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ 13 Has Christ been 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 can 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 proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power” 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.

Paul sometimes says things that are impracticable — if not impossible. For example, in the text above he says this: “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose” (verse 10). But dear friends, that we should be in agreement sounds impossible. That there should be no divisions among us also appears impossible to do. And that we should have the same mind and purpose is equally impossible.

However, the context here has everything to do with what Paul is saying. You see, after Paul established the church in Corinth, he left, continuing on with his work to spread and grow Christianity. Not long after he left Corinth, a wonderful speaker, greatly learned in scripture and able to explain it powerfully, followed Paul into Corinth. His name was Apollos. Apollos came from Alexandria in Egypt, where there was a strong Jewish community which included a great Jewish philosopher by the name of Philo. Apollos had been in Ephesus, where he had met some of Paul’s colleagues (the story is told in Acts 18.24–28). Paul’s colleagues helped teach Apollo a full understanding of the Christian message.

Now we should not be surprised that there were some in Corinth who had decided that they preferred Apollos’ teaching, style, methods and perhaps content, to Paul’s. Go to any church today where two preachers or pastors have worked side by side, or in quick succession, and you will find people comparing them. That’s natural; but how easily it can pass into factions and rivalry. “I’m with Apollos!” many said. Others said, “I’m with Peter!” So there were constant power-plays for different leaders who would lead the church in Corinth. This is why Paul writes this letter, and this is why he appeals to the people in these words: “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose” (verse 10).

Paul realized that the Christians in Corinth had begun to treat Apollos, Peter and even Jesus himself, as a bunch of teachers to be played off against one another. And that is to miss the whole point. The church still sometimes makes the same mistake today. We tend to like certain pastors and preachers, while comparing them to other pastors and preachers.

Remember this in your own church. Pray for your leaders and support those whose focus is not on themselves, but on Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on men a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, I praise You and thank You for our pastors.

Help us all in our churches to support our leaders to be people of God.

Help me not to compare one with the other,

and keep me from gossiping.

Please bless and grow our current churches

with people who wish to follow You.

May we be witnesses to being followers of you —

united in the same mind and the same purpose.

And this we pray through Christ, our Lord, Amen.