October 26th

Can You Believe This?

For when one says, I am of Paul,' and another, I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 1 Corinthians 3:4-5

Everyone likes a good debate, right? We especially love it right now with all the political candidates hammering out their various issues for all of us to see. The crazy thing is that all these candidates divide up one party into separate camps, hoping that they can somehow call them back together again when they're done arguing.

Maybe this works in that arena, but let me tell you one place where this doesn't fly: The church.

In the world you can say, I follow this person, or, I follow that person, or, This one is my favorite. We have our Twitter accounts and we all follow all these different people. But in the church, we only follow one person. We follow Christ.

This is a problem Paul had to address with the Corinthian church, calling them on the carpet for allowing divisions to split their body into sects that aligned themselves with a specific teacher. So Paul wrote to them to say, Listen, these aren't guys in whom you believe, but through whom you believed. The point is still about Christ Jesus and always will be.

Paul wanted them to know that it is good for different teachers to be involved in our lives. Each one plays a different role that we need, but that doesn't make one more important than the other, and it shouldn't draw us into divisions based on whom we think is best.

It doesn't come down to the teachers in our lives, but the message those teachers bring. It comes down to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do they proclaim Christ crucified? Do they preach the power of the cross and the resurrection? Do they teach that our hope is in Jesus Christ alone, that we can be saved by no other name but His?

The gospel is what matters. Don't get distracted by the person who preaches the name of Jesus. Instead, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Himself.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You are the truth by which I live my life! You are the focus and goal of my life! I look to You alone and ask for Your help to follow You more no matter which teacher speaks into my life.

Amen