Unity in the Cross
Apr. 7 2008
There’s an old, worn out joke about a man on a desert island who was rescued after living there for years by himself.
The captain of the boat that found him asked, “If you were alone why are there three huts on the beach?”
The castaway said, “Well, that one’s my house, and the other is where I go to church.”
The captain says “What about the third one?”
“Oh, that’s the church I used to go to.”
Sadly, division in the church doesn’t surprise us anymore. It’s become a punch line to a joke. But, for people who have been a part of or watched a church split, it’s not funny at all. Although at times there can be appropriate and biblical reasons for Christians to part ways, the sad truth is that most of the time division in churches is motivated by sinful pride and is deeply grieving to God.
A while back I gave a message at my church (Covenant Life Church) on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (you can download the message here). In this passage, Paul addresses a deeply concerning report he received about petty and prideful division in the church. “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’” (1:11-12)
Whatever the reason, they were allowing these opinions to divide them from each other. They were using these men as mascots for their own preferences. Ultimately it wasn’t about the leaders they identified with at all. It was about themselves. The “I” in “I follow Paul” was the real issue. Pride was driving them, and thus driving them apart from each other and their Savior.
Look at how Paul corrects their faulty thinking. In verse 13 he asks, “Is Christ divided?” They dividing up their church based on which leader they like, they’re essentially sidelining Christ, making him one option among many. Paul wants them to see how ludicrous this is. “Is Christ divided? Is he just one way of salvation among many? Is he optional? Can you just take part of him and leave the rest?”
He presses the argument further: “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” The answer is clear. Only Jesus was crucified in the place of sinners. It is only into Jesus name that we are baptized. Only Jesus name can save.
And that brings us to an examination of the essential problem in Corinth. Division is not good, but ultimately the disunity over leaders is merely a symptom of a much deeper, more significant problem. Their division is the result of bad theology.
The Corinthians had strayed from the defining truth of Christ crucified for sins.
The Corinthians were enamored by human methods instead of God’s divine means of salvation through the cross. They were in awe of human eloquence and fancy speech, and as a result making void the power of Christ crucified. Salvation had become about talented teachers, personal knowledge and wisdom and whose religious club you were in. That’s why they’d degenerated into a group of quarrelling cliques.
How can we avoid the mistake of the Corinthians?
1. We are united by Christ’s death.
Christian unity is not something we have to create. Jesus brought it into existence through his death and resurrection. We are joined to him by faith and as a result we’re joined to each other as brothers and sisters.
That’s how Paul addresses the Corinthians. He doesn’t say, “I appeal to you diverse and rather odd racial and socio-economic grouping of individuals.” No he says, I appeal to you brothers. He calls them brothers because they are brothers.
The message of the cross is the great equalizer of the human race. It’s become common statement to say that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. It’s true. The cross says we’re all guilty. It says we’re all deserving of God’s wrath. It says that none of us can save ourselves. The cross says that God has shown all of us unbelievable mercy.
2. Unity is maintained where the cross is preeminent.
It’s not that we are just gathered at the foot of the cross, but we all need one hand on it clinging to it and agreeing that it is the center of our faith. It’s what brings us together. It’s what matters more than anything else. If we don’t have that one hand on it, things break down real quick. Paul asks the Corinthians to agree on what is most important, what is essential in our common faith (1:10).
In April 2006, a group of well-known and influential Christian leaders did a conference called Together for the Gospel and will be gathering again next month. Each leader has a significant ministry, each is a leader of leaders, and each has a sizeable following of Christians who has been influenced by their teaching and writing.
These men disagree on a multitude of issues. Two are Presbyterians who practice infant baptism. Three are Baptists. One wrote a book called Charismatic Chaos. Another is a tongue-talking, charismatic. They disagree about church government, they disagree about the end times. They disagree about what kind of music you should play in church. They even disagree about a proper dress code. Al Mohler sleeps in a suit. C.J. Mahaney believes ties are a result of the fall. These men have different leadership styles, different personalities and different burdens in ministry. So what put them side by side in real unity, friendship and shared ministry?
The name of the conference that gathered them says it all: Together for the Gospel.
That phrase “together for the gospel” isn’t just true about a conference of world-class leaders. It should be the theme of every local church. We’re not together for our preferences, we’re together for the gospel.
Unity is maintained where the cross is preeminent. Unity is maintained where individuals refuse to allow any other preference, priority, ambition or affiliation to be more important than what Jesus has done in his substitutionary death for them.
3. Unity takes consistent effort.
Unity isn’t a feeling or emotion that we wait for, it’s a reality that we have to work hard to maintain. Let me share a few suggestions how each of us can do this:
Distrust your “dislikes.”
Sometimes small things divide us. I’m talking about those things you don’t appreciate about your church or a person in the church. We call these our “pet peeves.” But let’s not assume these pets are justified. Let’s not allow them to separate us. Let’s not feed these pets. Are they leading you to a dissatisfaction or sinful judgment of others? Do they consume you or keep you from appreciating what is good? Take care of them. Maybe that means humbly share your suggestion with someone and moving on. Maybe God will just tell you to put your pet to sleep.
Distrust your “favorites.”
Some times things we feel strongly about divide us. Good, God-given burdens or preferences that begin to dictate our enthusiasm for ministry can lead to disunity. It might be a doctrinal issue you love to see stressed, or a particular Christian author or a certain style of teaching. It’s not wrong to like it. But do you speak of the gospel with the same enthusiasm?
Root out bitterness and apathy in your relationships.
Brothers and sisters in Christ don’t allow offense to separate them. Is there any relationship in your church that you’ve allowed sin to separate? Is there anyone you need to be reconciled with? Is there anyone you need to forgive? Anyone you need to seek forgiveness from? It takes work. It takes humility and patience and love, but we must extend the effort to heal and restore those relationships. Don’t wait to resolve it. Take action to maintain the unity Christ has bought us through his death on the cross.
For Christians, here’s the big idea that I think we’re supposed to take home from this passage:
The cross is the basis of Christian unity—we only fit together when our lives are shaped by it, and we only hold together when we’re all clinging to it.
Let’s continue together for the gospel.
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This article originally appeared on our site Oct 18, 2006 but we thought it would be a helpful contribution to our series applying the gospel to everyday life (that, and a reminder of our gratefulness for the men involved in the upcoming Together for the Gospel conference).
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