Jump Start # 3738

1 Corinthians 1:12 “Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I am of Apollos,’ and ‘I am of Cephas,’ and ‘I am of Christ.’”

The first Saturday in May around here is very special. That’s Derby day. There is a lot of excitement leading up to that famous horse race. The local news coverage is filled with Derby stories. The rich and famous fly into Louisville on their private jets. Hotels raise their prices and it’s hard to find a place to stay. It’s all about one race, where three-year-old thoroughbreds run for the roses, as they say. Behind all the betting, charts, stats of these horses is the pedigree or the bloodline. Tracing the horse’s background, added to that, who trained the horse, what jockey is riding the horse and finally, how has the horse done in other races, often points to a sure winner or a long shot.

Our verse today in some ways seems like a spiritual pedigree. Who you belonged to, who baptized you, who you followed, was important to these Corinthians. Four names are listed. Two are apostles, Paul and Cephas, or Peter. One was an amazing preacher, Apollos. And, one was the Lord. It’s interesting that the Lord is mentioned among these others. You’d think that He ought to be in a class by Himself. You’d think that everyone followed Jesus and these other names were competing for second place. You’d think that, but that’s not the case. I am of Paul. I am of Cephas. I am of Apollos. I am of Christ.

Rather than seeing that each of these remarkable teachers were a blessing and what an honor it would have been to sit at any of their feet, they had turned this into a prideful, ‘I’m better than you,’ situation. The verse before says that there were quarrels about this. Had they never heard the Gospels preached? Who is the greatest was a problem among the first disciples. Jesus wouldn’t have any of that. Now, the Corinthian brethren were arguing about which pedigree was the greatest. None of the four names, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or our Lord, would want any of that. How could something good be turned so upside down?

Now some thoughts for us:

First, belonging to Christ is the only one that we need to belong to. We are not disciples of a congregation, a preacher or a parent. We follow Jesus. The fact that they were arguing over such things is an illustration of their spiritual immaturity. The Corinthian church seemed to be an arguing church. If it wasn’t over which preacher was the best, it was over spiritual gifts, the Lord’s Supper, food sacrificed to an idol. They had gotten so deep into this that they were taking each other to court.

This shows us that our emotions can get ahead of our thinking. We can get so worked up about things that we toss the Bible out the window.

Second, what was lacking among the Corinthians was some decent humility. Pride takes us places where we do not belong. Pride can ruin us. Among the three, Paul, Peter and Apollos, Apollos may have been the best public speaker. Does that make him better than Paul? We all have favorites. We all have preachers that we like to listen to. But, this isn’t a contest. It isn’t American Idol or the Voice. We are all on the same side. Pride will ruin us if we allow it to fill our hearts. Be thankful that there are so amazing and talent brethren among us these days.

Three, this problem of pride wasn’t something new. They hadn’t just learned this. Turn the topic to idols and pagan gods, and you’d find the same quarrelsome discussion taking place. The Corinthians had not learned pride from following the Bible. Neither Paul, Peter or Apollos would have taught them to like one over the others.

All of this illustrates a much deeper issue that even we must face and deal with. Faith in Christ doesn’t immediately change our thinking in all areas. We are a work in progress. Some old ways and old thinking and old attitudes can remain deep within us. They must be run out and replaced with the mindset of Christ. Sometimes one doesn’t see it until something big comes up. Then, all of these nasty attitudes, mean spirited tongue wagging and very worldly thinking rises to the surface. These things just didn’t pop into a person the moment a crisis arose. No, they have been in there, but just laying asleep. Something stirred them up and old ways came back. Crucifying self is a hard and life long process.

For others, it’s greed that rises to the surface. Others will see selfishness. These are not new things. They were there before one came to Christ. But, now, they have found a reason to manifest themselves. And, I tend to doubt that this was the first time the Corinthians ever quarreled. They may not have quarreled with each other, but you can be sure that there had been quarrels at home, at work and among friends. Peacemaking was something that they still had to learn.

Something good turned into something bad. The devil will use that to get us. I hope we would do better…would we?

Roger