Walking With Christ

1 Corinthians 3

It’s not very often that I reference an entire chapter of the bible, but this chapter is so important that it warrants an exception. The church in Corinth was divided. Different factions within the church aligned themselves with various leaders who had visited Corinth—Peter, Apollos, and, of course, Paul. The addition of Apollos to the early Corinthian church only added to the confusion. As a result, the church was splintered, with some members claiming to follow the teachings of Paul, others Apollos, others Peter (Cephas), or still others Christ.

Paul essentially called them all children, referring to them as “infants in Christ” and saying that he fed them with milk. Ouch. He pointed out that arguing over which teacher they followed was a sign of their immaturity. He emphasized that each of the teachers served a purpose, but they were all just small pieces of a larger puzzle. They all followed the same God and were building on the same foundation, Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but wonder what Paul would say about all of the various denominations we have today. Actually, I don’t really wonder—I think he would shake his head and chuckle at the divisions we’ve created among ourselves. He would probably call us children, too. We criticize each other for worshipping differently, just like children arguing over who ahs the better toy. Truly, I say that we may not all see the same shade of blue, but we do worship the same God. When we care more about the rituals we use than we do about the God we serve, then we become like the Pharisees that Jesus so strongly opposed during His ministry.