1 Corinthians 1
10Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your arguments, dear brothers and sisters. 12Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” 13Can Christ be divided into pieces?
Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16(Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. (1 Corinthians 1:10-17, NLT)
The Daily DAVEotional
If you haven’t noticed, there is a lot of political division in our country these days. And this political division has seeped into the church.
Perhaps it’s always been there. But with the advent of social media, it’s definitely more pervasive and widespread.
The first letter from Paul to the Corinthians was written in part to address the problem of divisions in the church. I wrote my thoughts on this passage a few years ago in my blog post “Name Dropping in the Early Church“. Members of the church in Corinth were aligning themselves with different church leaders, which was causing conflicts and divisions in the church.
Certainly, there is no problem with following certain pastors and religious leaders. The problem comes when we elevate those figures to celebrity status and begin to idolize them or place them on a pedestal, where they may take precedence over even Jesus himself.
As I re-read this passage recently, it occurred to me that perhaps the biggest source of division within the church today is political divisions. People within the church are aligning themselves with certain political figures and ideologies, which is causing major divisions within the global church.
These last 8-10 years in the United States have been a breeding ground for the enemy to sow hatred, divisiveness and discord among Jesus’ followers.
It’s become apparent that for many who call themselves Christ followers, their political party and candidate of choice is more important than Jesus himself. This heightened commitment to politicians and political parties is driving their behaviors and greatly influencing their views of others and even their understanding of what it means to be a Christian.
It’s been amazing to me to see people who claim to be followers of Jesus, belittling others, bullying others and berating others who don’t share their love and devotion for a particular candidate or political party.
For example, I’ve seen people on various social media platforms who have made the statement, “I don’t see how you can be a Christian and vote for . ” I’ve also seen “Christians” claim that God hates candidate “X” while other “Christians” have rebutted that God actually hates candidate “Y”.
Ironically, Christians on both sides, in defending their preferred candidate and ideology, are appealing to the need to “love” people, all while demonstrating hate towards those who disagree with them.
Let me be clear. It is not unbiblical to have a preferred candidate or a preferred political party. But when we place those candidates and parties above Jesus himself, and when we’re incapable of basic civility towards those with whom we disagree, we’ve unwittingly made an idol out of our political identity.
Paul, in this passage, has some words of wisdom for us. Was Donald Trump crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Joe Biden or Kamala Harris? Christ did not send us to promote the Democratic or the Republican party platforms BUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.
It’s apparent that we all have different ideas about how to solve the problems that we face as a nation and as a culture. While it’s ok to promote our views, as Christians, NOTHING should take precedence over Jesus and the gospel message. To do so could become idol worship or worse, the promotion of a false gospel.
Reflection
What steps do you think Christians can take to ensure that they don’t promote politics over Jesus?
Do you think it’s possible to be a Christian and also be heavily involved in politics?
What would you say to someone who says that a certain political party is the only party a “true” Christian could support?
How do you reconcile the different political views with the gospel message? What do you think is the proper way to integrate our political views with the gospel message?
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-people-standing-face-to-face-10350693/
The Lowedown 