Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sports fans love to show their devotion. They buy overpriced jerseys, sit on hard bleacher seats, and shout at the top of their lungs to show their support for their favorite team and their disdain for opponents. Even watching at home, they might share enthusiastic opinions about the game with the television set or friends on social media.

In the right context, pursued with sportsmanship and in good fun, it’s fine to be a fan. But the Corinthians were acting like sports fans in church! They had divided into fan clubs, each supporting a different leader, and in forming these factions they had lost sight of the true nature and purpose of the church. The church belongs to Christ alone. He alone is its Head (see Col. 1:18). In unity, we must follow Him alone as our true leader (v. 10).

The Corinthians were guilty of disunity due to their quarreling over who among Paul, Apollos, or Peter was the best (vv. 11–12). They had somehow forgotten that these men were all on the same side—Christ’s side. Neither Paul nor any of the others had tried to recruit personal disciples at one another’s expense, as a pagan orator in Corinth might have done. Instead, they were dedicated to the cause of the gospel— Christ’s gospel (v. 13).

Through rhetorical questions and reminders of his ministry among them, Paul conveyed his incredulity at the way the Corinthians were thinking and acting (vv. 13–17). He had personally baptized very few of them. He had been faithful to his call to preach the gospel, not to win “converts to Paul.” Furthermore, even his evangelism was not about his own “wisdom and eloquence” but rather about the power of the Cross. The Corinthians’ strife dishonored the gospel and tainted their witness to a watching world.

APPLY THE WORD

Are we sometimes guilty of making spiritual leadership into a popularity contest? Do we treat musicians, radio preachers, or bestselling authors like our favorite sports teams? Do we look to them before we look to Jesus? A godly leader would be the first to remind us that it’s all about following Christ for the glory of God.

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