E pluribus Unum

1 Corinthians 1: 10-17
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. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas]"; still another, "I follow Christ."
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.


The best way to say this is that the people had lost the focus on Christ and put the focus on the preacher. We see much the same today in churches throughout our communities. People focused on the preacher, or the music, or the ministries, yet there is not much focus put on the teachings of Christ. Or more to the point there is a lot of flash, but not a lot of substance. This is what Paul was talking about when he talks of emptying the cross of Christ of its power.

To take it even a step further, when we think division within the Church, we think of all of the different denominations. We have, on many levels, let legalism dictate our beliefs, instead of aligning our beliefs to the doctrine of the Lord.

I was talking to a fella the other day; he is quite convinced that the Catholics are going to hell. He had all types of examples of why, yet none of the examples really had anything to do with going against sound doctrine, his examples were largely based on his beliefs, not the Lord’s. In the same respect I have heard Catholic priests talk long and hard about why they are the one true faith, and all others are deceived.

I do not mean to point fingers or start any disagreements, what I am trying to bring to light is the foolishness of all of this bickering. In John 17 Jesus is praying to his father for all believers, listen to what he says “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” That all of them might be one…..no us and them within the community. I do not think Christ could have been anymore specific about how he wants us to live as a Christian community. To borrow a line from our founding fathers, Unified, E pluribus Unum….out of many, one.

Now I am not saying that everyone needs to quit their Church, or that a specific denomination is a bad thing, What I am saying is that we are Christians first, and foremost, that is the key; that is the glue that bonds us together as brothers, and sisters.

We should be striving as a community to come together, not tear each other apart. We should be looking for all the things that we agree on, and believe me, there is more that we all agree on than we disagree about. Each of us need to drop the pre-text that comes with our denomination, and join hands as Christ intended us to, all as one, in Him, as He is in the Father.

Peace,
Rev. Thetford