The apostle Paul is like a spiritual physician throughout 1 Corinthians, diagnosing church maladies and then prescribing cures. One of those is the disease of church division. It is a contagious thing. The Christian must be aware; to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Conflict between people is inevitable this side of the fall. We are going against the grain of the flesh and the world like salmon swimming upstream. What is troublesome today is that Christians are increasingly buying in to the world's philosophies. The healthy Christian judges the world by the Word, but now people are judging the Word by the world! This should not be. They think that Biblical truth claims should be scoffed at as mere techniques for oppression. Satan plays people like pawns. Jesus says, "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:4-5) The "lampstand" is symbolic of the Lord's presence and His recognition of that congregation as belonging to Him. They could become a church with no spiritual influence or impact. Sadly, there are thousands of churches like this in our country today. They are still meeting Sunday after Sunday, doing religious things, but having no spiritual impact and seeing no change in people's lives. Their light has failed. Jesus says in effect, "I'm going to literally shut the church down because you have replaced your love for Me with something else." Paul is going to give us the cause, the symptoms and the cure.
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David Bodanza is the pastor of Mission of Grace Church in Massachusetts. He is also a practicing lawyer. He holds an M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a J.D. from New England School of Law. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, four children and four...
