No room for rivalry
"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 ....
"So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." - 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 - The Apostle Paul
I was listening this morning to a podcast from a preacher that I highly respect (I've talked very highly about him, but for the purposes of this blog I'll refrain from naming him), and he started to talk about how some folks would come into his church from other churches and talk poorly about their former pastors and how this grieved him. Some of these times it could have been because of poor doctrine and sometimes about a disagreement they had with that persons' style, but the result was the same... to talk down this person who God put into a place of leadership to minister the gospel to people.
Apparently the same thing happened as early as Century #1... the Corinthian peeps chose sides and rallied around their leader of choice. I'm not sure if these leaders really asked for it or wanted to be put into the pedestal they were put on, but they were put on it nonetheless. It didn't bolster the body of Christ... in fact it fractured it. That's what divisions do.
And Paul hated it. He (inspired by the Holy Spirit) called it out for what it is. He didn't mess around.
And somehow today in the church in America we still deal with the same thing. Especially those of us that go to megachurches with highly influential leaders. Since I go to NorthPoint in Atlanta I'll pick on my own: Is your spiritual life centered around Andy Stanley or is it centered around your own walk with Christ in community with your fellow Atlanta believers? Also, when you talk about other church leaders around town (such as his dad: Dr. Charles Stanley), is that speech constructive and uplifting around all that God is doing around this city through these great men that He has put in place to lead His Ekklesia in this city - or does it ring of competitiveness and rivalry?
If you think about it... you know the answer to this question. I can't claim innocence either. I too need to repent. Paul in many ways could say the same thing he said to the Corinthians to us today.
Seriously, as great of communicators of the gospel as these guys are: neither Andy Stanley, nor Charles Stanley, nor Ed Young, nor Francis Chan,nor Rick Warren, nor Bill Hybels, nor Louie Giglio, nor even John Piper went through the trouble of sending their son to die on a Roman cross to pay for the sins we deserved punishment for. This was accomplished once and for all by Jesus Christ himself. In addition, neither of these men live inside our heart and empower us to live the life God intended us to live. This alone is through His spirit living in us if we know Him by grace.
This we all have in common, despite who speaks in our pulpits on Sunday morning. And Paul says that this life in Christ should unite us all, despite which parking lot we lodge our cars in on Sunday morning.
There is no room for rivalry. We really are on the same team.
And guess what... these men are going to fail us. They are all human and have the same weakness that all of us humans have. At the very least, they're bound to deliver a bad talk every now and then (yes, even Andy :) ). If we trust in them, we are potentially setting ourselves up for a crisis of faith because we are not putting our faith truly in the one who can never fail us, and no human being or human organization can truly 100% give us what our hearts desperately need.
In the early days of the church, there were no buildings or programs or Sunday School/Small Group curriculum. There was simply a bunch of people that met in homes and met around the temple to worship; that lived in community with one another and learned from men who had been with Jesus in the flesh. The constant was that they "were together and had everything in common" (Acts 2:44). In our modern world of megachurches, relevant programming, and influential church leaders... how are we doing in this regard? How do we love one another.... not just the guys in our own small group but the guys at work that go to the other church around town (even the one where you don't completely agree with everything their pastor says or does)? Do you see him/her as a brother in Christ to invest in or as a person that "goes to that other church?" Jesus said that the world would know that we are His disciples by the love we have one for another, and He didn't caveat that with a building or denomination or leader.
There is no room for rivalry. Absolutely none.
The gospel is bigger than that. Our God is bigger than that.
It's time we as a Christian community became bigger than that too.
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 ....
"So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." - 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 - The Apostle Paul
I was listening this morning to a podcast from a preacher that I highly respect (I've talked very highly about him, but for the purposes of this blog I'll refrain from naming him), and he started to talk about how some folks would come into his church from other churches and talk poorly about their former pastors and how this grieved him. Some of these times it could have been because of poor doctrine and sometimes about a disagreement they had with that persons' style, but the result was the same... to talk down this person who God put into a place of leadership to minister the gospel to people.
Apparently the same thing happened as early as Century #1... the Corinthian peeps chose sides and rallied around their leader of choice. I'm not sure if these leaders really asked for it or wanted to be put into the pedestal they were put on, but they were put on it nonetheless. It didn't bolster the body of Christ... in fact it fractured it. That's what divisions do.
And Paul hated it. He (inspired by the Holy Spirit) called it out for what it is. He didn't mess around.
And somehow today in the church in America we still deal with the same thing. Especially those of us that go to megachurches with highly influential leaders. Since I go to NorthPoint in Atlanta I'll pick on my own: Is your spiritual life centered around Andy Stanley or is it centered around your own walk with Christ in community with your fellow Atlanta believers? Also, when you talk about other church leaders around town (such as his dad: Dr. Charles Stanley), is that speech constructive and uplifting around all that God is doing around this city through these great men that He has put in place to lead His Ekklesia in this city - or does it ring of competitiveness and rivalry?
If you think about it... you know the answer to this question. I can't claim innocence either. I too need to repent. Paul in many ways could say the same thing he said to the Corinthians to us today.
Seriously, as great of communicators of the gospel as these guys are: neither Andy Stanley, nor Charles Stanley, nor Ed Young, nor Francis Chan,nor Rick Warren, nor Bill Hybels, nor Louie Giglio, nor even John Piper went through the trouble of sending their son to die on a Roman cross to pay for the sins we deserved punishment for. This was accomplished once and for all by Jesus Christ himself. In addition, neither of these men live inside our heart and empower us to live the life God intended us to live. This alone is through His spirit living in us if we know Him by grace.
This we all have in common, despite who speaks in our pulpits on Sunday morning. And Paul says that this life in Christ should unite us all, despite which parking lot we lodge our cars in on Sunday morning.
There is no room for rivalry. We really are on the same team.
And guess what... these men are going to fail us. They are all human and have the same weakness that all of us humans have. At the very least, they're bound to deliver a bad talk every now and then (yes, even Andy :) ). If we trust in them, we are potentially setting ourselves up for a crisis of faith because we are not putting our faith truly in the one who can never fail us, and no human being or human organization can truly 100% give us what our hearts desperately need.
In the early days of the church, there were no buildings or programs or Sunday School/Small Group curriculum. There was simply a bunch of people that met in homes and met around the temple to worship; that lived in community with one another and learned from men who had been with Jesus in the flesh. The constant was that they "were together and had everything in common" (Acts 2:44). In our modern world of megachurches, relevant programming, and influential church leaders... how are we doing in this regard? How do we love one another.... not just the guys in our own small group but the guys at work that go to the other church around town (even the one where you don't completely agree with everything their pastor says or does)? Do you see him/her as a brother in Christ to invest in or as a person that "goes to that other church?" Jesus said that the world would know that we are His disciples by the love we have one for another, and He didn't caveat that with a building or denomination or leader.
There is no room for rivalry. Absolutely none.
The gospel is bigger than that. Our God is bigger than that.
It's time we as a Christian community became bigger than that too.
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