Dealing with matters of sexuality is always hard. It was hard for Paul, and it is for us, too. In these situations, we must be faithful to the Scriptures and address the issue with prayer and love. We must never forget that our goal is restoration.
Read again 1 Corinthians 5:1–13. How does Paul tell them to deal with this situation?
Throughout Christian history, theologians, pastors, and laypeople have studied the New Testament in order to determine what the church should look like. We marvel, for instance, at the church of Acts. But we quickly lose sight of one significant element: people have problems. It seems that we can also read the New Testament to see what the Bible says about what a church should not look like. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are a good starting point.
Read Ellen G. White, “The Training of the Twelve,” pp. 17–24, in The Acts of the Apostles.
“The oneness and unity of God’s truth-believing remnant people carries powerful conviction to the world that they have the truth, and are the peculiar, chosen people of God. This oneness and unity disconcerts the enemy, and he is determined that it shall not exist. The present truth, believed in the heart and exemplified in the life, makes God’s people one, and gives them a powerful influence.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 327.
The fact that we should not form cliques, especially around human leaders, does not mean we should not support our leaders. We are supposed to appreciate and help those who lead out in church work. God commissions people to do His ministry on earth. Church leaders who display a lifestyle that reflects the submissions represented by the Cross are worthy of being heard and followed.
By and large, cliques result from too high a view of human leaders. This is very threatening to the unity of the church and to the members’ spiritual health, for a distorted view of Christian ministry may lead a church to give excessive importance to certain leaders, all to the detriment of others. The consequence of such behavior is an atmosphere of competition, which can split the church. More than that, if we treat human leaders as central to our Christian identity, we risk moving Christ from the correct position in our lives.
Paul’s appeal that “there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10, ESV) dominates the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians. In fact, most scholars agree that unity is the all-encompassing theme that binds all the parts of the letter together.
Read 1 Corinthians 1:12–17. How does this passage help us understand how absurd it is to form cliques around local leaders? What is Paul’s solution?
