Articles
Reasons For Division (3)
We have been taking a look at Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth in the previous two articles, and today we conclude with another, particularly noting how the church there was very divided and the numerous reasons why. We continue this week by looking at more reasons for their divided condition.
Valuating and Classifying Brethren. (1 Cor. 12:1-31) In many of the cases where the Corinthian brethren were divisive, one might at least see why it happened and not be totally surprised, but this one is always one that just baffles me. In this case, it appears the brethren had classified the spiritual gifts in some descending order of importance, thus assessing more importance to some spiritual gifts than others, and consequently valuing the one who had the ‘more important’ spiritual gifts over those who did not have such gifts. At the same time, it appears that such classifying and valuating led to the devaluing or even the assumption of no value for the ones with the ‘lesser’ gifts.
The foolishness of such valuations and classifications is made clear when Paul noted the commonality of all the spiritual gifts being this: “one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). In other words, the Holy Spirit was the source of each and every gift, and He gave to each individual as He willed to do so — not because that individual was somehow ‘more important’ than another disciple. Those gifts should have been used for the edification of one another — not the classification and valuation of each individual, based on which gift they had been given.
While we may not have the spiritual gifts as they did in the first century, men still find ways to make these same valuations and classifications that inevitably lead to division, rather than unity. Brethren somehow find reasons to classify and assess some value [or none at all] to their brethren, and for reasons just as foolish as that of the Corinthians. Brethren divide over race, the level of education, which school of higher learning they attended, their political leanings, the job title or position they hold in the secular world,…and on and on they go, dividing over foolish and, ultimately, meaningless reasons, forgetting we are “many members, yet one body” (1 Cor. 12:20), and “the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25). We do remember that, right?
And if we can make some specific application here, we will hopefully avoid doing such ourselves. On the matter of wearing a mask or not, there is an obvious difference of opinion. Some brethren feel it is absolutely necessary for their health and well-being, while other believe this is all just a hoax or that the requirement to wear a mask is infringing on their personal freedom and is an unnecessary burden being placed upon them. Some wear a mask whenever they are out of the house, and others never wear one unless forced to do so. There are many brethren in between those two opinions.
In the first century, there were brethren who believed eating certain meats was wrong and would not eat, while there were other brethren believed all meat was proper for eating, and did so (Rom. 14:1-23). Let us note at this point that there is no ‘compromise’ position on that issue; either one believed you could eat certain meats or you did not believe you could eat certain meats. There was no middle ground where one could ‘give’ a little to appease the other side. Unfortunately, the result of this was that those who believed eating certain meats was wrong were judging those who ate the meats, and those who ate the meats were judging those who believed it was wrong.
The solution was simple, but difficult: “Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him” (Rom. 14:3). Paul admonishes them, to close out that portion of the letter, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself” (Rom. 15:1-3). Whatever the issue may be, our aim should be the edification of one another, and not the pursuit of what we believe to be our ‘rights’ to do what we want to do, with no regard for our brother.
So, when it comes to wearing the mask in the assembly or in a Bible class, consider this: How could there be a compromise between wearing a mask or not wearing a mask? Well, there is no ‘middle ground’ n this issue, either; we either all wear a mask, or we all do not. Someone has to concede, if we are all to be able to assemble together, and the decision was made, based on the best information we could gather, that wearing the mask provides the least amount of risk, along with good hygiene and social distancing. To my knowledge this has never been argued as a matter of faith [one side or the other], but simply a matter of finding a way to enable all members to attend and none to feel excluded. At no time should one side or the other make judgments about those who stand on the other side of the position. Is it too much to ask that we bear with one another until this all clears up, or must we find yet another reason to be divisive?
Lacking Love. (1 Cor. 12-14) These chapters all deal with the misuse of the spiritual gifts [chapter 12] and how they were supposed to be used [chapter 14]. But have you ever stopped to think about why Paul wrote, in the middle of those two chapters that talked about the use and misuse of the spiritual gifts, about the characteristics of love, and how important it is in all we do?
Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Paul wrote about love in the middle of addressing that problem because it was exactly what they were missing! In reality, this lies at the heart of much of their division and each of the issues that Paul addressed in this letter. They formed cliques and divided themselves over who taught or baptized them because they lacked love for their brethren; they were taking one another to public courts because they did not love one another; they disregarded the conscience of their brethren because they did not love them as they should have; they disregarded customs because they did not love their brethren; they excluded brethren because they did not love them as they should have; they were classifying and placing arbitrary valuations on their brethren instead of simply loving them. In short, they did not love one another as they should have.
Brethren, let us not look for ways to divide ourselves, but, as Paul wrote, “pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19). Let us live “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2, 3). Let each disciple “in lowliness of mind…esteem others better than himself” and “look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3, 4). Love is, by its very nature, not self-centered -— love “does not seek its own” (1 Cor. 13:5).
As we have seen in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian brethren, selfish thinking only leads to division. Let us seek to be unified by demonstrating the kind of love for one another that our Lord demands of us. I believe it is worth it. — Steven Harper
