Rivalries

page detail from 1 Corinthians, 1611 KJV Bible (Replica Edition) photo by jch

Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 66, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.  –1 Corinthians 1:10

Our journey “Through the Bible” moves from Romans to Paul’s Corinthian correspondence, which includes the letters we know as 1 & 2 Corinthians. Scholars generally agree that at least one other letter by Paul has been lost, as have the letters from the Corinthians to Paul. Through the centuries, the Christian Church has turned to the Corinthian correspondence for instruction about many ethical and practical issues: conflict, lawsuits, sexual immorality, marriage, family order, liberty, order and division of labor in the church.

We read about conflict in the Corinthian church right at the beginning of this letter. The conflict was so severe, and so obvious to anyone paying attention, that Paul wastes little time with introductory pleasantries.  By the tenth verse – in the letter’s fifth sentence – already he is appealing for unity rather than division.

Some parts of the Bible raise skepticism among modern readers, but no one has ever asked me whether I really believe that this part is true. Most of us probably don’t need to read it twice, because the conflict to which Paul’s letter bears witness is so universal. We are intensely loyal to our team, our school, our clan, our peer group, and our cause.  And we see people who are just as intensely loyal to their team, school, clan, peer group, and cause. When loyalties come into conflict, some primitive instinct for self-preservation goes to work, with consequences ranging from mild disagreements to military warfare.

The rivalries in Corinth were threatening to tear the church apart.  In their context, many religious ideas competed for attention, so it may have seemed natural for them to fight over which of their leaders was most faithful and true to Jesus. Some said, “I belong to Paul,” the most widely traveled disciple, Apostle to the Gentiles.  Some said, “I belong to Apollos,” the learned teacher and apologist from Alexandria, Egypt. Some said, “I belong to Cephas,” Peter the Rock, the chief of the Apostles. 

Bitter rivalries in the Christian Church are as old as the Apostles, who already were fighting when they were gathered around Jesus, early in his ministry. And, truth be told, such conversations are as current as today and as local as Edwardsville.

Friday night, I attended a public forum about the effort to open a new overnight warming location – OWL for short – to serve the homeless of Edwardsville. Representatives of OWL previously have approached the Glen-Ed Ministerial Alliance to ask for support. The concept is simple: a location which would be opened when the nighttime temperature drops below 20 degrees F, and staffed appropriately so that a certain number of homeless people may have a warm, safe space to spend the night. Up to 15 people will be accommodated, some of whom already are spending the days in the local library or other safe daytime spaces, and already sleeping in downtown doorways or other spaces neither warm nor safe. I heard more than 80 volunteers are available. I heard there’s a 20+ page operations manual, and volunteer training will be required.

But the path to implementation still has hurdles. What other elements of infrastructure must exist? How will discipline and safety concerns be handled? To what extent must local government be involved with approving such special use? Are public safety officials on board? Which neighborhood will give its blessing to an overnight warming location in its backyard? A church leader offers one solution. Another church leader offers a different solution.

A week ago Saturday, I spent part of the day in a meeting of our regional Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy.  Some of you may have read in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the recent news regarding Dardenne Presbyterian Church.[1] During October, presbytery leaders received notice of a lawsuit filed by the congregation claiming exclusive ownership to their property. “The denomination has long held that even if local congregations own their land in property records, if the church breaks away from the denomination it doesn’t get to take the property with it.”  There are complicated arguments that can be made from either side, as they were during a lawsuit involving another St.-Louis-area congregation not so many years ago. And, partly as a result of that painful struggle, there exists a policy for gracious separation, that begins with conversation, and leads toward a mediation that benefits both parties. But when conflict escalates to lawsuit, conversation becomes quite difficult. While this news was being shared with commissioners from all our congregations, it was noticed that at least six participants joining the meeting virtually via Zoom were associated with Dardenne Presbyterian Church. Our moderator invited the Dardenne members to unmute their microphones and speak. How were they doing? How was their pastor?  How was everyone responding to these stressful events? Would they share even a brief comment or concern to begin the conversation? It soon became clear that the response would be total silence. Our moderator, barely containing a sob, offered a prayer for the congregation and our presbytery.

Rivalries threatening to tear the church apart are as current as today and as local as Edwardsville and St. Louis.

Cynthia Campbell is professor and former president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  I was blessed to share conversation and a meal with her when she led the lecture series I managed at Westminster Presbyterian, Springfield. She has watched the Church struggle about many controversial issues.  She once wrote that much theological debate surrounding such issues, on another level, is something entirely different. 

She writes, “What has been happening, I think, is one sibling asking another: ‘Do you really love our parents?’  And the subtext is: “I really love them more than you do.’  It’s not about how either child relates to the parents: it’s about how the siblings relate to one another.”[2]

I think Campbell makes a good point: conflict in the church often looks like displaced sibling rivalry. “I support this solution – I love God more than you.”  “I support that solution – I love God more than you.”  “My team is more faithful and godly than your team.” 

Our primitive instincts, when unchecked, can get us into all kinds of trouble.  The unity that Paul recommended is possible only when each of us remember that the Church is not mine, but God’s; and that I am not in charge, rather it is Christ who is in charge.  Unity is possible only when each of us recognizes that when I contribute to the good of the whole, then I ensure blessings for each individual.

There is a rabbinic tale that seems to stem from the time of the Holocaust.[3]  Like many rabbinic tales, it may be more of a parable than a historically accurate account.  But it contains a powerful spiritual truth.

Rabbi Israel Spira had been taken to the Janowska Camp.  While there he made friends with a Polish freethinker.  Experiences of war and prison camp had confirmed this man’s opinion that there was no such thing as God’s love.

One day the whistles sounded, and the order was given for Rabbi Spira’s cellblock to march into a field, where they soon found themselves at the edge of a large pit.  The guards told their prisoners to jump over the pit, or face gunfire.  The prisoners understood that if they fell into the pit they would die.

Rabbi Spira looked down at his arthritic feet, then looked at his young companion, who was malnourished and worn out.  His friend said, “We might just as well jump into the pit.”  The rabbi replied, “No.  If God has ordained that pit shall be put in front of us, and that we shall jump across it, then we shall jump.  If we fall into the pit, then a few moments later we shall be in God’s glory.”  The young man grabbed the rabbi’s hand, closed his eyes, and together they jumped.

When he opened his eyes, they were walking away from the other side of the pit.  He said, “Rabbi, how did you do it?  How did you jump across the pit?”  The rabbi replied, “I held on to my family, and 3,000 years of tradition and love.  I held on to my grandfather, and my father, and to the faith that has kept me this far.”  Rabbi Spira looked at the young man, and asked, “And you, how did you make it across the pit?” His friend replied, “I held on to you.”

Like Rabbi Spira and his friend, the Church has often faced overwhelming opposition.  From its beginnings as a small group of frightened disciples in Jerusalem, and a confused and contentious group of Christians in Corinth, the Church has grown into a force of love and justice that has changed the world for 2,000 years.  We, too, are part of this movement each time we hold on to one another and, together, take a leap of faith, trusting that in life and in death, we belong to him.

NOTES

[1] Erin Heffernen, “St. Charles County church sues its own denomination over who owns historic property,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 Oct. 2023,  https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/st-charles-county-church-sues-its-own-denomination-over-who-owns-historic-property/article_2b43ea70-6d1a-11ee-90e2-6729d63e0f7b.html accessed 8 Nov. 2023.

[2] Cynthia M. Campbell, “When a Theological Debate Isn’t,” The Presbyterian Outlook, 11 Feb. 2002, p. 9. The article may be found at https://pres-outlook.org/2002/02/when-a-theological-debate-isnt/ accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

[3] The story of Rabbi Spira was told by Kevin C. Brown, “Teamwork,” sermon delivered to Plymouth Congregational Church, Wichita, Kansas, 5 Feb. 1995. I don’t know its original source.

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