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A SINGLE HEART (II)
FRIDAY, MAY 21
1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Philippians 4:1-3

 

“…whereas there is among you
…strife, and divisions,

are ye not carnal…?”

 

A SINGLE HEART (II)
 
Hindrances to a single heart. It is not only in the early chapters of the book of Acts, that we see fractures and tensions present within the local church. We see strife on a very personal level in the Philippian church: a discord so deep and serious that Paul feels bound to address it in a public letter, and to “beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Phil 4:2).
 
But perhaps the clearest example of the kinds of contentions and conflicts that can arise is found in the Corinthian church. The problem is so severe that it is almost the first thing Paul mentions in his first epistle ‒ “it hath been declared unto me… that there are contentions among you” (1 Cor 1:11). Factions had developed in the church, with each group attaching themselves to some prominent personage, and this had progressed to the point that practically every member of the church was involved: “every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ” (v 12). The situation pointed to a fundamental misunderstanding, or lack of appreciation, concerning the nature of Christ and His gospel, prompting Paul to ask, “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?” (v 13).
 
What was the root of the problem? The problem was carnality. “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Cor 3:3). Now when Paul says “carnal,” he is not referring to them as unbelievers, but as “babes in Christ” (v 1) ‒ that is, they were displaying, in their divisions, a great immaturity in the faith. They remain “yet carnal” in their thinking.
 
Dear reader, this sort of strife and division is everywhere in the world, in every sphere from the political to the familial. We are fallen creatures, after all, and “the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy” (James 4:5). Yet at the same time, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17). Let us therefore put away the old, carnal ways of thinking!
 
THOUGHT: One body should have one heart ‒ and the church is one body in Christ.

PRAYER: Father, help me not to remain a “babe in Christ”!

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