Quarrels in Church
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2025 · 27 April 2025
Quarrels happen in all churches and this occurred in the beginning of the church. It's really no different today. It's one that need to be dealt with. And the apostle Paul felt that it was the primary problem in Corinth. He identifies the people in that church as saints, those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. And then he begins to urge them to behave in accordance with their position in front of God.
They haven't done anything worthy. It is only something to thank God for and He has done that and now He begins to try to change their behavior. And the first thing that he deals with is this whole idea of unity in the church. People are basically self-centered and that's part of depravity, being selfish, following their own fancies, their own goals, their own ideals. All of us who are sanctified in Christ still have problems with sin.
You have a lot of sinners in the church. They happened to be justified sinners, but they're still sinners and so you have conflict because you have people with desires, goals, and purposes that are generated by their own egos. James 4:1 says, “What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? Because in you are desires that are opposite to the desires of others.
All of us have selfish, independent desires. Quarrels are a part of life. We're competitive. Little children fight from the very beginning of their lives. The kids fight over the toys. They go to high school and they fight over the girls or the boys or the football. They go to college and they fight over campus policies. Then they become politicians and fight over policies. Married people fight over whatever.
Mankind fight because he is depraved, selfish and egoistic. And that problem finds its way into the church. Tragically, though they are forbidden by God, though they are totally out of character for transformed people, still they exist. And Satan eats it up, because it fosters his attempt to break down, destroy and degrade the testimony of the church. Selfishness is a problem in the church, because sin is a problem.
And the fractured kind of fellowship not only wipes out the joy of the believer, but it sucks the foundation out from under the testimony of the church. God is dishonored. Christ is disgraced. Christians are discredited. And it isn't anything new. You're going to go all the way back to the beginning and you're going to find it there, because the church has always been made up sinners and Satan’s always active in it.
And so when we come to 1 Corinthians 1 there is this disharmony and division in the church. There were splits. Verse 10-17 says, “Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. 11 For it has been reported to me about you,
My brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is division among you. 12 What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.
16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.’ And you'll notice in verse 11 the word division. That is the word in the Greek that means quarrels. And Paul begins his exhortation by starting with this issue.
Paul begins with this. Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17 that the church would be one. He told the disciples to love one another that the world might know who they were. In fact, it tells us in Acts 2, that when those people had singleness of heart and one mind and met together daily and shared in common love they had favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
So Corinth's first need was harmony, unity in the church, and I see that as our first need in the modern church today. Paul then begins this Epistle, in its exhortation aspect by calling for unity in the church and the end of all splits and all quarrels. You've got the same textbook I have and the same resident truth teacher. So if you really want the answer to the question, pursue it further than I'm able to this evening.
There are four basic emphases in the passage from 10 to 17. The plea, the parties, the principle and the priority. So number one is the plea and Paul begins with a plea to the Corinthians. Verse 10, "Now I urge you," the word now is a transition. It means to come along side and help. And what he's doing here is coming alongside them. He's saying, "Now, I come along side to encourage you brethren along this line."
So he begins with a very coercive, a very comforting, a very exhortative kind of thing. Now there is the plea that he begins in the passage and I want to just pull out one thought. It's amazing, how some people pull a verse out of context and use it almost as a pretext. So to be fair with verse 10, we've got to read verse 9. "God is faithful; you were called by Him into the fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Whenever you see the term "name" in relation to the Lord or to God, it means all that He is and all that He wills. "This I pray, because this I believe is what Christ would want, because this is consistent with His will." So Paul is saying, "Brethren, I'm asking you this for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of who He is and what He wills." Your behavior as a believer has a direct relationship to Jesus Christ Himself.
And you can go around and complain all you want about the church and it really won't reflect on your church. It'll reflect on Christ. Some of us talk about the church in front of unbelievers and we tell them certain things that we may not like and we think that that has reference to the church, when in fact, in their minds that has reference to the Christ whom we really claim to love and adore. It reflects on Jesus Christ.
Now your Christian life reflects on Jesus Christ. And your church, this local assembly right here reflects on the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul calls for unity because he knows it reflects on Him. Now let me hasten to add this. The emphasis in this passage is on a local assembly. He is not talking about denominational unity. He is saying that within the framework of a local assembly there should be unity.
And the message is directly related to those of us who are a part of this local assembly. Let's look how he begins the plea. We've got to agree on the same things. You say, "Well, what does this agreement involve?" Number one, it involves doctrinal agreement. Philippians 3:16 says, “In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.” Now all of you need to behave yourselves consistently with that truth."
Romans 16:17 says this, "Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them.” They're not really serving the Lord Jesus, they're serving themselves. If you've got a little shade of distinction on a certain verse that could possibly have two interpretations because we don't have enough info that is not the issue.
But there are some basic truths that we must agree on. We are more concerned with the truth than anything else. If you're going to have a Biblical pattern, then you've got to have the Biblical pattern all the way. Christ is the head of the church, He rules through Spirit filled Godly men. And the congregation is called upon to agree with them in what they say. They have the right to make decisions regarding you.
And we're not perfect by any means. We stumble along endeavoring to be obedient to Christ, as we see His Spirit work. But there is a responsibility of the congregation as well as the leaders. 1 Thessalonians 5:12 says, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you.” There are some people over you in the Lord. You should esteem them highly."
Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” Scripture simply asks the congregation to obey. To submit there must be unity in the church. God only has only one opinion on a two-sided issue. You have to trust your leaders.
Every single decision that is ever made in regard to the policy of a church in any way shape or form is made with absolute unanimity no matter how long it takes us to agree. Why? Because we know the Spirit has one will and it's up to us to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit until we get in line with His will. Whenever there's discord and disunity in the church, there is carnality. Now he goes further than that even.
1 Corinthians 1:10 says, “Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.” It means get back together. That's the determination that comes from the same mind. So whether it's principle, opinion or action, it is all to be the same.
This is tremendously important. Not for the sake of the ego of the leaders, but for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He wants unity in His church. Where he says in Ephesians 4, "Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The unity of the church is already done by the Holy Spirit. He says, “Keep that unity." Why? Because there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.
That is having a mind like everybody else, having the same love. That means you love everybody else the same. Being of one accord of one mind. You say, "Boy how do you ever get that kind of unity?" "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory." Don't ever quibble. Don't ever quarrel. If you have an issue, take it to somebody who needs to hear it and lovingly present it. No strife and no vain glory.
And what is the plea based on? Verse 11 says, “For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is division among you.” The plea is based on the factions there. Chloe was apparently some prominent person in the Corinthian church who had come to see Paul in Ephesus. They were split into parties, but not just silent factions. They were fighting each other.
Verse 12 says, “What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” They had grouped into identification with various teachers. This is wrong. They were boasting about the excellency, the gifts, the ministries, the attainments of the men whom they identified with. You see, the first pastor of the Corinthian Church was Paul.
But they had split into parties. It isn't necessary, people. You can have a Paul and Apollos and a Peter and Christ and not have to split into groups. The splitting into groups had nothing to do with Paul, Apollos and Peter. 1 Corinthians 3 says, "Are you not yet carnal? Is there not division and strife among you? Are you not saying I am of Paul and I am of Apollos?" The reason they said that those men were carnal.
Carnality is that which produces parties rather than spirituality. It is not Paul's fault. It is not Apollos's fault. It is not Cephas's fault or it's Christ's fault. It's the fault of carnality. Identifying with humans. The Christ party had the right idea. They all belonged to Christ, but they had turned the belonging to Christ into a party. Paul goes from the plea to the parties to the principle in the next verse.
Verse 13 says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?” Do you see what he's saying? He's saying, "Look, disunity in the church violates a basic principle. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit." Ephesians 4:4-6 says, "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, one body, and one God." Is Christ divided? Absolutely not.
John 17:20 -21, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in You. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent Me.” The church is one because Christ is one because God is one. 1 Corinthians 12:25 says, “so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.”
Fourthly the priority. Verses 14-17, I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.”
Well, didn't Crispus and Gaus get baptized?" Sure, but they had other people doing it. Very often that was the case. Peter at Cornelius' house didn't do the baptizing actually. He commanded that they be baptized. In the gospel of John it records that the Lord didn't do the baptizing, but He had others do the baptizing. This is an insight into inspiration. Biblical inspiration ensures the infallibility of the author not his omniscience.
That isn't the priority. Verse 17, "For Christ did not sent me to baptize." It was to go and preach the gospel. He says, "Look, He sent me to preach the gospel to make all men one, not to baptize to create a party." His priority was to preach the gospel and this throws him into where he gets into the preaching of the cross. That was his priority. People, we're in the church to work, to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His will.
To preach the truth, not to create parties. If all of us have the right priority to honor Him and to preach His truth and we walk in the Spirit and not carnality, we'll see a blessed unity here that'll magnify our Lord and that'll draw to Him those people that are coming to Christ. And this is a priority. And it's our prayer that it may be true of this church that we are one in Him in what we say, that He may be honored. Let's pray.