DEVOTION
THE 1ST
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
ONE MIND AND
THOUGHT
1 Cor 1:10-12
10 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. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed
me that there are quarrels among you. 12 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."
NIV
Paul has more to say regarding
this division within the church, but we have enough right now to consider a few
things. The first is being united in mind and thought. We know that the
modern church has not come to terms with this yet. Not that we are divided as to
who we follow, for we think that most of the churches follow Christ. However,
we are aware of a movement within some churches to take the gender of God away.
That is they will not use the term, Father and Son. So in that sense, they do not
follow Christ, but a God of their own design. Still, even among the churches that
say they follow Christ, we have many variations of what that means. The proof of
this is in the fact of so many different denominations with their own brand of
truths. This is not being united in mind and thought. We wonder what God thinks
of all of us and our divisions, even within Christianity. However, Paul is
talking about one church, one single gathering of believers in Corinth, a
city in Greece. This may be why there were so many problems because of the influence
of the Greek culture which infiltrated the thinking of the church. Then there
were the silver-tongued orators that brought all sorts of cultural ideas into
the church. Immorality as well as a host of ideas that should not be part of
the church. Because of so many different speakers, it became easy to start to
think about who was the best orator and follow his teachings. Of course, today
we have much the same thing happening in the church, even within one
denomination, or even in one congregation. We may all follow Christ, or at
least that is our confession, but we might well be choosing one particular church
because of the tongue of the local pastor, that is his style of preaching. Then
there are the diehards who have been at this one church through thick and thin,
no matter who the pastor is. Then we see those who leave because of a new pastor.
Who are all these people following? Is this a display of being united in mind
and thought? Do we follow a pastor, or do we follow Christ? Do we listen to the
ideas of the culture that has infiltrated the church? Do we accept some of
this cultural thinking, taking on the ways of its thinking, rather than holding
fast to the truth of God? Are we trying to live in both realms, following two
ways, being divided in our own minds and thoughts? The truth is that Jesus is
the only way, the only truth, and the only life, there are no other ideas that
agree with the word of God. Those ideas only cause strife within the church and
within us, a divided heart. How can we become one mind and one thought, both
in the church and within us? Will that ever happen before Jesus returns? Nevertheless,
the standard is one mind and one thought.
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