Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-13What's your pet peeve? I have several...not having my phone calls returned, people who brag about themselves, having to hear long stories about people's pets... We've all got things that just bother us! One of my main pet peeves is unfortunately found in the Christian community and is described in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 by the apostle Paul.
In this passage, Paul is addressing divisions in the church. There are numerous things that divide the church, but the one he is focusing on here is one of my aforementioned pet peeves! What is causing division in the church in Corinth is that Christians are forming groups within the church based on which teacher they follow. Some believers boasted that they followed Paul, some claimed to follow Apollos, others strictly adhered to the teaching of Cephas (better known to us as Peter), while others claimed to follow Christ.
So what's wrong with this type of behavior? Aren't Paul, Peter, and Apollos excellent teachers and leaders in the church? What's wrong with following people God has clearly chosen as leaders? The problem is that the believers in Corinth were exalting these people in a way that was taking the glory away from the Lord. Apollos, Paul, and Peter were just ordinary humans who were vessels for God. Yes, they made incredible contributions to Christianity, and their influence (especially of Peter and Paul) has majorly shaped the Christian faith. However, these individuals only had this kind of influence because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. God was doing the work through them, so He alone should get the glory.
The great thing is that Paul (who wrote 1 Corinthians) recognizes that the unhealthy loyalty and admiration that he is receiving is a bad thing. He doesn't let their adoration of him boost up his own self esteem (like most people would!). Rather, he rebukes them for their behavior and calls them to stop exalting him to a place of equality with Christ.
You might be wondering what the Corinthians' exaltation of Apollos, Peter, and Paul has to do with you today. However, the same type of behavior is very prevalent in the Christian community right now. People have a very dangerous tendency to over-exalt individuals who are having influence in the church and become strict followers of them. Once they become one of these leaders' followers, they become arrogant and develop a sense of superiority over those who don't follow their favorite teacher. There are a lot of big names in the Christian world today...Paige Patterson, John Piper, Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Joel Osteen, Tony Evans, Pat Robertson, Rick Warren, Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, Charles Swindoll, and James Dobson, to name a few... Surely you have met people who have become obsessed and smitten with one of these teachers. This is such a dangerous thing to do, because it is taking the focus off of Christ and putting it on a human. Even if this person is a strong and wise believer, this person is still flawed.
Not only is putting your focus on a certain teacher dangerous, it is harmful to the unity of the church. Like I mentioned before, there is a certain degree of arrogance and competitiveness that accompanies this type of behavior. It forms cliques in the church and shuts out those who may not prefer that teacher. I will give you one of the most troubling examples I have observed in the Christian realm. There seems to be a resurgence of the predestination teachings first popularized by John Calvin several centuries ago. I am not commenting on Calvin's teachings in particular but on the unhealthy following he has obtained in the church. People have gotten so into Calvin's teaching, that they have become obsessed with it. They refer to themselves as Calvinists, which makes me cringe, because they should be referring to themselves as Christians. Calvin didn't die for them and he is not the one they should be devoted to. These individuals are very proud of being "reformed" and continually talk about it, looking down on those who are not part of this following. Their facebook profiles have more about Calvin and reformed theology on them than about Christ. To me, this is exactly what Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for in chapter 1. It is over-exalting a person in the church over Christ and forming exclusive groups within the church based on that person's teaching.
I have been very blessed by so many Christian authors and teachers and am so thankful for their leadership in my life. However, I try to stay away from focusing in on 1 particular individual to an unhealthy degree. When we become all about Beth Moore and her Bible Studies, or Matt Chandler and his sermons, we are taking the focus off of Christ. I am sure that these 2 individuals I've just listed would join Paul in telling you to stop exalting them! Be careful not to fall into this dangerous trap that the early Christians in Corinth fell into...it is very prevalent in the Christian community today and utterly detrimental to the unity of the church~
