God of all people, bless and protect this dear reader and their loved ones; grant them healing, joy, and peace. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Here is our text for today from 1 Corinthians 1: 10 I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. 11 I bring this up because some from Chloe's family brought a most disturbing report to my attention - that you're fighting among yourselves! 12 I'll tell you exactly what I was told: You're all picking sides, going around saying, "I'm on Paul's side," or "I'm for Apollos," or "Peter is my man," or "I'm in the Messiah group." 13 I ask you, "Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul's name?" 14 I was not involved with any of your baptisms - except for Crispus and Gaius - and on getting this report, I'm sure glad I wasn't. 15 At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. 16 (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas's family, but as far as I can recall, that's it.) 17 God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center - Christ on the Cross - be trivialized into mere words. 18 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. (The Message)
Imagine fighting among believers in the church! Is such a thing possible? Not in the church! Okay, that's tongue-in-cheek humor. You and I know that some of the most hurtful fights we've seen have taken place in the church. And if you haven't, I ask you to pray that you never do. Yet, here is Paul addressing that issue in the church at Corinth. "Sides" or parties had been drawn up and a power struggle ensued in trying to decide who was who, and what was what. Paul has to ask them, Have you chopped up the Messiah into little pieces so that each party can have its own? Paul himself had been dragged into this bickering and he asks, Was I crucified for you? Were you baptized in my name? The purpose of the Church is to bring followers of Christ in and to grow the Church! And if you find your church doing otherwise, prayer and fasting must follow!
The truth is that most families will have a disagreement every once and a while; some more often than others. And like most families, if the Church does, it should figure out a solution yet all the while still love each other. You see, the Church as God's institution invites more attacks on it than a Rotary or Lion's Club. We stand for God and all that God offers to the world. Satan does not want the Church to stand. Satan would rather see the Church on all fours, looking for direction and purpose, confusing everyone, while Satan does his work among those fighting. Let God work in you, and may the work be a work of unity and of building up.
PRAYER: Loving God, it seems that the trivial can become the major thing if I'm not careful. And like the church in Corinth I can find myself fighting among brothers and sisters. I pray for Your Church and for the one I attend. May I be a force of peace and unity and strength for You and for the cause of Christ. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
