We are so accustomed to splits and divisions and spin-offs that we have a most difficult time taking this passage at face value. We seem to have an inherent need to find out what was wrong with the factions. What were they doing that caused the split(s)? Where had they drifted from right doctrine? Now we know from church history that there were plenty of theological rifts that nearly tore the church asunder. From the Palagians to the Gnostics, there were a slew of cultic teachings infiltrating the church. Paul himself fought against the Judaizers and their effort to destroy the work of Grace. But this furious reprimand of Paul had nothing to do with setting straight bad doctrine. It was an attack against the church way of life. Paul had absolutely nothing bad or good to say about whatever arguments and counter arguments were being cast about for the various factions. He just despised the splits.
Now there is a fascinating choice of phrasing Paul uses that explains the splits. He notes that each one separately is making his or her own decision about which group to join. The emphasis is on individuality, it is on personal choice, it is on independent thinking. Not that everyone was in some group or another but every person sectioned off in a group made the decision on his own. He did it. Now we have no idea what the criterion was for making these choices. It could have been quite logical and well thought. In fact probably every move into any of the groups was easily justified and explained. No lame explanations for these folk. They split off for a myriad of good reasons. This is the power behind the Me-Church. It makes perfect sense and always fits my needs.
The Me-Church is theologically built upon the premise that God is secondary to my values and concerns. Regardless of your talking points, every shism is a butchering of Jesus. Every split over a doctrine, every party faction vote that cuts apart the church is the severing apart of Christ. Now we can with quite lucid logic argue that there are divisions that can be justified. What if a pastor is teaching false doctrine, a business decision of the church is unethical or even not Christian, a rampant plague of immorality is running through the membership. Aren’t any of these problems a good reason for splitting off?
Just this week I was speaking with someone who was one of thirty pastors of a mega church that split apart. Half the staff were let go because of the financial difficulties the church faced as a result. He himself started a church when he was one of the pastors let go. Now I do not know what caused the split and I am certain that those on both sides of it felt justified in their actions. There very well could have been horrible and despicable goings on that infuriated members but for Paul, it still became a matter of cutting up Christ and sending His body parts across the land.
Paul feels so strongly about this that he even makes what seems an almost silly declaration that he was glad he hadn’t baptized hardly any of them. Now it is not that Paul thought little of baptisms, he just had no interest in anyone using him as their figurehead for a new split. It is silly of course to waste much time decrying the multitude of churches out there. And it is almost ridiculous to think than many, if any will retrace their steps and rejoin with churches they originally made a break. But we can begin to think seriously about what we can do to keep this plague of Me-Church from making headway among us.
Now I realize that conventional thought is that churches are comprised of ideologues that do not think much on their own and walk in lock step to some promoted value or cause. In other words, there is not much room for individuality within a church culture. Even believers in the church seem to fearfully guard against being trapped by some heaping tide of conformity. Christians too cheer for the boy who bucks the ethos of his church and attends dance parties and applaud the young girl who quits her constricting church choir and in opposition to the church leaders sings at jazz clubs. The ideal believer is one who isn’t afraid to walk away from his church if he doesn’t like how a vote goes or isn’t pleased with the style of worship. At least that is what it seems. Yet Paul, in his assessment of splits within the church could not accept any form of groupism, justified or otherwise, let alone a traipsing here and there between congregations.
The last verse in our section is not so much a formula for creating unity in the church but rather a reaffirmation of what must be our talking point. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to evangelize without wise words in order that the Cross of Christ might not be emptied. It is not about formulating alliances and building allies in your causes, the main part of our life together is doing nothing as a group that would empty the cross. I know that the NIV translates this as “empty the cross of its power”, but power is not mentioned by Paul. Paul just keeps sharing the Gospel because he does not want in any way to empty the Cross. The risk of this is not in baptizing though; it is in making do with the “wisdom of a word”. The “wisdom of the word” and living by it is the way the Cross is emptied, and that Paul will not tolerate.
All sorts of things can seem right and logically they may make a great deal of sense but the church is not built on what makes sense to me. There are all sorts of wise words that can be justified and a myriad of actions that are perfectly acceptable but the church is not that. It is the cross of Christ crucifying self and making us His. I live within a bent and wavering Christian community not because it fits but because Christ is fitting me within it. Churches make bad decisions, sing poorly, preach poorly, act inappropriately and generally make fools of themselves endlessly. But the church is the center within which the Cross of Christ makes its home and does its most revolutionary work.
Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t just make us like turtles…drop us down into a hole somewhere and let us hatch alone and then fend for ourselves? God places us in specific families, gives us certain parents and then makes us stay there. We follow this same pattern generation after generation and somehow although at times people breakdown and families bust apart, this is the way it goes again and again. The Church is the believer’s family and for better or worse, where He places you is the spot of your most crucial growth and significant work. It doesn’t make sense to me that God would expect the church to be together and stick together because that seems too stiff a restriction on my freedom. But if the church is not to be Paul-Church or Apollos-Church or Cephas Church or even Christ-Church (now doesn’t that seem odd), then it certainly is a curse upon us if it is Me-Church. Empty your will, empty your opinions, empty your comforts, empty your wallets even but do not empty the Cross. If we divide, it may seem logical, and if we split from one another, it might make sense, but we have grossly miscalculated if we think that by doing so it is not that critical. You cannot empty the cross and hope to make a better life. Unless of course you only want to be a Turtle…
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