Divisions in the Church, 1 Corinthians 1:11, 17-18

The central word in this passage describing the problems in the church in Corinth is the word translated “contentions.”  The Greek word is ἔριδες – erides, quarrels (plural).  In recent years, this word has become an unfortunate reality in many, many churches.  The cause and substance of the quarrel is perhaps less significant than the fact that the quarrel exists.  Whatever else may be happening, the foundational weakness that has permitted differences and quarrels to sprout is the movement away from the simple message of the cross.

The message of the church today seems to have become one of how to mix the blessing of God with the difficulties of enjoying the material comforts, recreations, and amusements of the world.  Christians are becoming morphed into victims of disappointment, envy, and unsatisfied desires along with all the emotional and material failures of the “popular” culture, and the messages of the church have become motivational, self-help instructions offering shallow comfort rather than the adoration and presentation of Jesus Christ crucified, buried, risen, and coming again.

According to 1 Corinthians 1:17-18, the solution to the problem that manifests itself in the contentions in the church is to return to the singular focus of the church which is to know and to preach Jesus Christ alone and to live sacrificially for Him and for Him alone.