1 Corinthians Chapter 1
Verses 10-16—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. I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! 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.” 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?” (MSG)
Read more about the culture of Corinth at Got Questions.
I have written and taught this chapter many times in the past, and what I have experienced every time I teach this chapter is the lack of acknowledging that the very same practices are present in our time. I do not really want to undertake another open forum study on this chapter again because it will simply fall into a black hole. What I do wish to convey is that today – the twenty-first century, many of the western churches are apostate. My reason for saying that is think about what we have today that is like Paul’s argument with the Corinthians in the first century: We have many different factions of Christianity under numerous names and distinctions. Please understand that people who are within each of these factions who are knowledgeable the factions founding follow the founder’s theology and beliefs, and not those of Christ Jesus. Oh sure, the founders call themselves believers, and they are truly believers. However, being followers of Yeshua is questionable when examining their history.
Even today we find ministers questioning other ministers or calling them things that makes anyone who believes in Yeshua question the ministers standing as a shepherd Yeshua’s flock. When you attend church services what do you hear? Do you hear a message given to the minister by the Holy Spirit for the congregation, or do you hear bible stories with various explanations about those bible stories? I’ll bet that many of the services today use the old and new testaments as a psychological tool for behavioral modification. There is extraordinarily little mention of surrender, sacrifice, obedience, being a solider of Yeshua, picking up your cross (load of daily issues) and following Yeshua, or loving your neighbor as yourself. Look here at what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.
Another question is how many pastors or ministers today actually follow the principles outlined in Titus, 1Timothy and 2 Timothy. I would venture to say few. We as followers of Yeshua, are not to be searching for teachers who say things we can agree with. We as followers of Yeshua are to seek out teachers who teach the TRUTH and that TRUTH is a person, not a book, and that person is none other than Jesus (Yeshua) Christ (Hamashiach).
Mike Kovach
September 2021
Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: The Bible in contemporary language (1 Co). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
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