The Corinthian church has been the subject of much ridicule in sermons, Sunday school classes, and Bible studies for as long as I was old enough to remember. The Corinthian church was always used as the bad example of the church—they were the church that showed you how not to be.
The believers in Corinth indeed had a plethora of issues going on in the church. Sexual immorality, lawsuits against each other, the improper taking of the LORD’s supper, the improper execution of the spiritual gifts were all a part of the sinful issues operating within the church of GOD that was in Corinth. Because of the proper and necessary rebuke given by the Apostle Paul, many consider the book of 1st Corinthians to be a harsh letter. Yet, with all of those issues that I highlighted, that many of the Christian faith will choose to highlight as problems in the church today, the first sinful issue that the Apostle Paul addressed was sectarianism.
Concerning sectarianism, Paul told them that it was not proper and not becoming of a brother: groups saying they were of Paul, groups saying they were of Apollos; groups saying they were of Cephas. Paul goes on to ask some very good rhetorical questions. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul acknowledges that there is one source when he asks the question “Is Christ divided?” Paul acknowledges the unity that the three, whose names became the dividing lines, shared. That unity was Christ.
Paul showed that out of all the names mentioned there was a name that should stand out among them. Paul showed that out of all the good work that had been done, there was the work on ONE that stands out compared to everybody else. That ONE is CHRIST.
To the Paul-ites, was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? To the Apollos-ites, was Apollos crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name or Apollos? To the Cephas-ites, was Cephas crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Cephas? Well, who was crucified for you then? In whose name were you baptized into then?
This issue was so pressing, that the Apostle Paul addresses it again at the beginning of chapter three. Paul calls them carnal, and babes in CHRIST. He says they are behaving as mere men. Once again, Paul has yet to address any of the sins that we today consider to be synonymous with the Corinthian church. The fact that Paul hits this twice before touching anything else lets us know how big this issue of sectarianism really is.
Furthermore, in the fight against sectarianism, one must be careful to not become sectarian themselves. I’ve witnessed some leading the fight against denominationalism while becoming a denomination themselves, or I like to say, “a non-denominational denomination.” I have been in circles where the founding principles of their movement are to not be sectarian but in many of those circles what they truly have become is a new sect. There is a saying of “we are Christians only but not the only Christians” and in my experience, it is a nice saying, but in conversations and interactions, I have not seen this lived out in a way that is congruent with that particular phrase.
I am not saying that you need to withdraw from your denomination or non-demonimination. I am saying that your regenerated identity is not grounded in either, or a pastor, but rather in CHRIST. Consider what the Apostle Paul has said about the Corinthian sectarianism and measure yourself against it.
Grace and peace.
