United in Christ

The Corinthian church had forcibly split their leaders into something like team captains, with each member deciding who they were going to line up behind. We read on 20 January that Paul and Cephas (Peter), despite their differences, were in good fellowship with one another and there is no reason to think that they weren’t similarly united with Apollos. But others pitted them against one another and chose their favourite, based perhaps on preaching style or personality, or by the personal connection of conversion or baptism.

We might think that those who claimed ‘I belong to Christ’ were on the right track. But it seems this way of using his name was more a claim to superiority over the other cliques than a rejection of factionalism itself. True allegiance to Christ is never a way of putting ourselves above others.  

Disunity has been the plague of the church not just in Corinth, but in all times and in all places ever since. In today’s world, we manage to quarrel and fight online as well as in physical spaces. The challenge of unity is as important as it ever was; so if we can find innovative ways to bicker, perhaps we can also find new ways to love.

God of all people, forgive the ways in which your church is divided and at odds with one another. Help me to see through your eyes, and inspire me to sow seeds of friendship and unity among your people. Amen.