Divisions in the Church
1 Corinthians 1:10-16
After Paul has given a greeting and expressed his confidence in the salvation and sanctification of the believers
in the church of Corinth, he begins a long journey of addressing specific sinful situations within the body life of
the church that need to be dealt with. The first of these is the division within the body over secondary issues
which Paul will speak into in this passage.
A Call to Unity
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Paul calls the Corinthian church to agree with one another and be united in the same mind and
judgment, allowing no divisions among them. Paul makes this appeal by the name of Jesus
Christ, which coincidentally, is what brings unity to divided preference loving Christians.
What Led to Splinter Groups?
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It says that there is quarreling within the church because members are identifying themselves
with specific Christian leaders as their primary influence (instead of Christ). They are picking
their favorite or most influential apostle/pastor and claiming spiritual superiority because of
who they follow.

Imagine during the greeting time in our service if one old lady went to say hi to another and
one said, “I heard you like Billy Graham.” The other said, “Well yes, he’s been very influential in
my life.” She responds with, “Well, I’m a Rick Warren girl, you know, the writer of the Purpose
Driven Life?” Another lady overhears this and pipes in with, “Ladies not to belittle your
influences, but I listen to John Piper sermons online.” The first lady says, “Rick Warren and John
Piper’s ministries wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Billy Graham and his crusades.” And the ladies
bicker, begin to gossip, form small groups based off of who likes their favorite pastor, and have
a leery eye and a hardened heart against their other sisters in Christ, thinking they are superior
because of who they follow.

This is what had happened in the body life at First Baptist Church of Corinth. Splinter groups
were forming and it was affecting life within the body so much that someone had written to
Paul to seek counsel and discernment in how to deal with this issue.

Paul responds with questions that both mock their foolish squabbles and remind them of who
they are united in. He asks if Christ is divided, if Paul was crucified for you, and if they were
baptized in the name of Paul? The obvious answer to all of these questions is of course not. In
the same way today, those pastors and theologians and church leaders from Calvary’s past and
present didn’t die for you, they weren’t raised for you, you don’t pray to them, they aren’t your
Savior or your Lord, ONLY JESUS IS! And that is Paul’s point. We can avoid division and
experience supernatural unity when we keep our eyes on who unifies us, Jesus Christ. Paul calls
them to gaze at Jesus and to let their Savior unify them.
The Importance of Theological Triage (taken from Albert Mohler article from 2004)

Paul tells the Corinthians to be unified and we will all agree that is a good thing. But how does that
actually play out? Are we really to be unified with everyone who claims to be a Christian? What about
Jehovah’s Witnesses? What about Catholics? What about Westboro Baptist Church? What about
health, wealth, and prosperity preachers? What about people that believe baptism saves you or that
your good works save you? What about people who have different beliefs on the end times, God’s
sovereignty, women’s roles in the church and home, the authority of the Bible than us?

What is triage? In an Emergency Room, emergency medical personnel are trained in this discipline
which is a process that allows trainded personnel to make a quick evaluation of relative medical
urgency. They need to decide which patient takes priority given their injuries. The word triage comes
from the French word “trier” which means to sort.

If we are to practice theological triage, we must determine a scale of theological urgency that takes
priority to help us think through what issues are non-negotiable to the faith (and thus we must divide
over them if they are not adhered to) and what are secondary issues that we can still stay in fellowship
together around the gospel together in the midst of.
o First level theological issues (that we would divide over) include doctrines most essential and
central to the faith. These would include the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ,
justification by faith alone, and the authority of Scripture.
o Second level theological issues (those we can disagree on and it will cause difficulty and
boundaries between believers in normal body life and church governance) include the mode of
baptism, women serving in ministry, church government).
o Third level theological issues (doctrines over which we can disagree and still stay in close
fellowship in local congregations) include discussions about the end times, evangelism
strategies, who our favorite authors and pastors are, and the role of God in salvation.
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I believe that the people in Corinth weren’t dividing over first or second order issues but over third
order issues, which although important, don’t have to lead to division as we unite around our Savior
Jesus Christ. It’s important for us to seek to live in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we
truly are in Christ then we have been given the Holy Spirit and one of the fruits of the Spirit filled life is
peace and gentleness. These characteristics should describe our interactions with other believers in our
local church and youth group. We need to show the same grace and mercy that God has to us towards
one another. It’s easy to divide, the entire world divides over everything. That’s normal and natural. But
God’s church isn’t natural, it is a group of people who have supernaturally been saved and empowered
to unify around the one central thing that brings them together regardless of their story, their past,
their skin color, their socio-economic class, or their preferences. That one thing is Jesus Christ.