Shhhh...Don't Tell the Church of Christ

1 Corinthians 3:1-4Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

16-17Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Something rampant in the Corinthian culture was a competitive spirit. It was the culture, Corinth was a thriving metropolis, know for diversity, culture, commerce, paganism, immorality and wealth….sound like anywhere we know?
Well, as the founder of the church at Corinth…Paul was hearing things about the divisive, competitive nature of those inside the church…and he is reminding them…The Church (collective) is the people not the building…and we the Church are suppose to be united.
Whats funny about the argument about “I follow Paul” vs. “I follow Apollos” is that they basically had the exact same teaching. So to argue about which one you follow….would seem to mean the early church was arguing about style, or personalities or looks. How petty is that? But that is exactly what we do today. The Free Methodist have a problem with Southern Baptists (Mike), the Presbyterians have a problem with Episcopalians….etc….

The church has grown, but it is still collective. Yet all believers are still part of one body. And to this day, we still argue about style, personalities and what the church looks like.

I’m pretty sure denominations are not God’s idea, but mans idea. Another funny notion is that The Church of Christ (which my sister in law is one) doesn’t consider themselves a denomination….they believe that they are THE Church of Christ. Well, when we get to heaven….we’ll be quiet, as to not let them know we got in.