THE STORY OF JESUS: 1 Corinthians 11-13
“When you come together as a church, there are divisions…” (1 Corinthians 11:18)
Paul is dealing with issues causing division in the Corinthian church.
They are divided on how women should dress in the church.
They are divided in how they celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
They are divided in how they think about their spiritual gifts.
Paul is urging them to follow the path of love with each other.
We might wish today that Paul challenged the head covering culture.
But Paul is more concerned about keeping peace over secondary issues.
In that time and place, Paul does not urge rebellion against tradition.
Paul himself seems to believe these cultural distinctions.
But his primary motivation is their unity and community as a whole.
With the maturity of love, childish divisions will pass away.
In the meantime, be patient, kind, hopeful, etc… the way of love.
Build bridges, not walls; do what you can to make peace.
Our cultural issues will be different, but our response shouldn’t be.
As a Jesus follower, am I gracious with those with whom I differ?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me not to divide Your family over secondary issues. Help me to be gracious and loving like You, so that others can be drawn into doing the same.
We all are not the same but different with different gifts to be used for the same purpose – to praise Him, to serve Him. Our uniqueness is not to divide nor cause us to be stumbling blocks but to see this rich diversity as part of His majesty. We are combined together in His love for us and our love for Him and eachother.
Each day I need the dress myself with the clock of love so that I may produce the fruit of the Spirit.
My gifts for His service.
Chorus :
Bind us together Lord,
bind us together with cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together Lord,
bind us together Lord, bind us together in love
Verse 1:
There is only one God, there is only one King.
There is only one body, that is why we sing!