Division in the Church

“But I, brothers,[a] could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”

In this chapter Paul is addressing the division in the church … again … and how the pride of the people has lead to boasting which has lead to division. In the first nine verses, Paul essentially calls them out and tells them that they really know nothing; that they are spiritual babies. They are not ready for the “meat” of the word or else they would choke on it, so he has to continue to give them “milk”. The reason they are not ready for the meat is because they are still living in the flesh and not in the spirit. They are following the ways of man (Apollos/Paul) instead of remembering they have been saved by Christ alone. Apollos and Paul are just the instruments that God uses to plant the seeds.  

Often times we are like the church of Corinth. If you look at the church today there is a lot of division due to pride, judgement and just plain fleshyness. As humans we often forget that we were saved by Christ and that it is in Him alone people grow in faith. We are not the ones who are wise, or spiritually sound. He is. He so graciously uses us to plant and water the seeds but ultimately He grows each person. It is our job to remember we are God’s vessels. 

“18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God’s."