- Sermon - Mickey Anders

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

In elementary school, older children sometimes instill fear in younger children. At least that was my experience. I remember that the 4th graders said they would throw me in the trash can when I got in the second grade. Such experiences can lead you to distrust older elementary children.

When I was in the first grade, a fourth grade boy boasted that he knew how to spell Mississippi. I, of course, was awed by anyone who could spell such a long word. But when he got to the part that included "pp," I knew he was pulling my leg. I was sure that nobody would put "peepee" in the middle of the name of a state!

Sometimes they would show their big fat books with the hard words and few pictures. I didn't know if I would ever learn to read such hard books. Probably the worst fear came when they showed me a page of long division. Learning long division seemed like climbing a gigantic mountain. The problem spread over line after line on the page. I thought I would never learn that.

But, you know, I did learn long division. And in a play on words I want to suggest that we have learned long division well in the church. If there is any one word that could characterize the Church of Jesus Christ, it is the word "division." We have long known divisions in the Church. Through the centuries Christian churches have miserably failed at reaching the kind of unity for which Jesus prayed and about which Paul speaks in our text for today.

The church at Corinth was already suffering from divisions when Paul wrote. Church members were squabbling over who should lead them.

Paul has learned from Chloe's household that the church members have divided into factions that are quarrelling with one another. Each group claims one of the famous teachers of the church to authenticate their ideas. Some claimed Paul, some claimed Apollos, some claimed Cephas or Peter, and some claimed Christ. The result is a growing division.

In verse 10, Paul makes an appeal to the Corinthians "that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose." In this verse Paul is not demanding uniformity, but does make a clear appeal that the Christians remain together. He wants them to be united in mind and purpose. The differences that divide Christians were not really of interest to Paul. Different interpretations and different worship styles were to be expected. But Paul called for a sense of common agreement on the substantial issues. We may disagree about the peripheral issues, but we can be of the same mind on the core issues.

This division in the church causes Paul to offer a rhetorical question. First, "Is Christ divided?" Certainly, Paul's question points to the central argument against division in the Church. Paul returns to this theme in Ephesians 4:4-5 when he says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."

Christ is one, and we are one in him. Therefore, how we handle our life together should reflect the oneness we have in Christ. We should do nothing to promote division. In our relationships with other Christians, we should focus on the core beliefs that unite us. What really matters is our common experience of Christ.

Paul did not come to Corinth to form a "Paul" denomination. He did not come to promote his own ministry. Paul was a sent one. He came to communicate the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Paul's task was merely to communicate that message.

In spite of Paul’s pleas, there were obvious divisions within the early Church. But the Church managed to stay together for several centuries. The Church was largely one with small breakaway groups labeled as heretics arising in every generation. But the Church was the one Catholic Church.

Then came the first major split called the "Great East-West Schism" finalized about 1054. After centuries of debate and conflict, the Church finally split into what is known today as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

While there were many factors that played into the dispute, but the major dispute was over one word - "filioque," which is Latin for "and the Son." The great debate of the first millennium was whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father or from the Father "and the Son." The Eastern Orthodox churches say that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. The Roman Catholic churches insisted that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father "filioque," "and the Son." They could not come to agreement on this issue. This seems to be an odd point to divide over, but the Church has continued to divide over issues just that obscure.

The next great schism occurred during the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther called for reform of the Roman Catholic Church in 1511 when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church, but the result was the further division of the church. Soon there were Lutherans and Presbyterians following Calvin. And it wasn't long before there were Methodists and Baptists and a host of other branches of the one true Church.

In 1809, Thomas Campbell decried the divisions by saying, "Moreover, being aware from sad experience of the heinous nature and pernicious tendency of religious controversy among Christians; tired and sick of the bitter warrings and janglings of a party spirit, we would desire to be at rest; and were it possible, would also desire to adopt and recommend such measures as would give rest to our brethren throughout all the churches-as would restore unity, peace and purity to the whole church of God."

Unity has been the polar star guiding Disciples. Throughout our history, we have emphasized bringing all the various factions of Christianity back together, believing the divided church is a scandal. But our movement has been stained by division as much as any other religious group.

The history of South Elkhorn Christian Church foreshadowed the difficulty establishing unity among all the churches. When our church came under the influence of Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, our ancestors decided to leave their Baptist ways and join the Restoration Movement. But our church split over the issue!

Those wanting to remain Baptist split from our church and formed the South Elkhorn Baptist Church. Isn’t it ironic that their desire to end divisions in the churches led to an immediate division in our church? And the movement itself would experience two major divisions in the 1900s.

At our District 9 luncheon last Wednesday, I happened to be seated by Mike McColl, the husband of the pastor of First Christian Church in Midway, Kentucky. Somehow we stumbled on the topic of the famous melodeon from that church.

In 1849, Dr. L.L. Pinkerton was the pastor of that church. He had been a physician in his early years and was baptized under Alexander Campbell. He proclaimed that the singing in his church was so bad that it scared the rats away, so he brought a melodeon into the sanctuary. It was the first musical instrument introduced in any of our churches.

According to the story, the melodeon did not last long in the church. One of the elders who opposed the instrument arranged for his slave to steal the melodeon in the dark of night and hide it in his barn. Years later, someone discovered the melodeon there. It is now on display at Midway College.

That instrument is a historic symbol of the controversy that shook our movement and led to the first real split with the non-instrumental churches. But most scholars will tell you that the real issues were far greater than the instruments. The larger issue was a spirit of intolerance that sprang up over many issues.

There had been a saying among the leaders that said, “We are free to differ but not to divide.” But many intolerant leaders were coming into the churches in the late 1800s whose attitude was, “We are free to divide, but not to differ.” That made the organ, among other things, the occasion for the open split that occurred in 1906.

Today the flow chart of divisions in the church looks like a chicken yard where the hen scratching leads off in all sorts of directions. I suspect that no one really knows just how many different denominations there are. Someone has said there are over 1200 denominations in North America alone.

Many in the Restoration Movement thought the way to unity was to get everybody to agree. They thought that they could get back to the simple Gospel as a way to unite everybody, but then they were quick to condemn those who did not agree to do that.

Most Disciples today don't see much hope in forcing everyone to believe exactly the same way. That futile desire is demonstrated in an often told story about an attempted suicide. The narrator of the story says:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?"

"Well ... are you religious or atheist?"

"Religious."

"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"

"Christian."

"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist."

"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

"Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

To which I said, "Then die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

We will never get everyone to agree, so most Disciples have chosen to encourage people to tolerate their differences and work together in spite of them. We have seen it as our job to urge and prod Christians to be tolerant of each other's differences.

We should all remember a story told about John Wesley. Being much concerned about the rise of denominations in the church, John Wesley tells of a dream he had. In the dream, he was ushered to the gates of Hell. There he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes!”, came the answer. Then he asked, “Are there any Baptists?" "Yes." "Any Disciples of Christ?" "Yes." "Any Methodists?” The answer was "Yes!" each time.

Much distressed, Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven. There he asked the same questions. "Are there any Presbyterians here?" And the answer was "No!" "Are there any Baptists?" "No." Any Disciples of Christ?" "No." "Any Methodists?" "No." Then, Wesley asked, “Who then is inside?” The answer came back, “There are only Christians here.” (http://www.bible.org/illus/nt/nt-445.htm)