Competition in Ministry? Spiritual Elitism? Our lesson reveals a deep fissure in the congregation at Corinth. Seems to have something to do with partisanship or a sectarian spirit, or maybe just a popularity contest among notably leaders in the early church.

• Division in the Church. Such bantering and one-up-man-ship was tearing the congregation apart. "Christ is divided!" is how the Greek text could be read. By their divisions they were dividing Christ himself. "By parceling out Christ as one among others, and by saying ‘I am of Paul, etc.,’ they must allow then that Paul, too, could have been crucified for them or that they had been baptized into Paul’s name" (The New Int’l Commentary: 1 Corinthians, Gordon Fee, commentator, page 60).

• And then there were two. The names of Cephas, Christ, etc. may be fictitious to veil the real competition: Apollos and Paul. The third chapter has led scholars to this conclusion-for here Christ and Cephas are omitted. Paul refers solely to Apollos for comparison. The Corinthians are "puffed up" in favor of one (Apollos) against the other (Paul). Both are powerful in their ministries; Paul we know. But Apollos was also popular. He was "a learned" and eloquent man with a thorough knowledge of Scripture Acts 18:24). Later in his letter, Paul insists that he and Apollos are not in competition (3:5-9) and uses the agricultural metaphor as if to say that individual ministries are not in competition, but in partnership, seeking a common goal.

 

What are your experiences with the issue of partisan spirit and ministry competition reflected in this passage?

• The 1980’s reminded us of what can happen to thousands of Christians when they gravitate around personalities rather than Christ. Jimmy and Tammy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, and Marvin Gorman-all of these national Christian celebrities had cultivated national followings. The televangelists may have become wealthy from donations, but when they fell through hostile takeovers, sexual misconduct, or money, they left deep wounds and divisions in many communities.

• How might such behavior fractionalize our vision of Christ and enervate our testimony of Christ to the world?

• Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a leader, what you need is not a scepter, but a hoe (Bernard of Clairvaux).

• Let us be servants in order to be leaders (Feodor Dostoevsky)

 

Begin with an example of competition among members of the same team; e.g. a professional ball team that caters to a star player

• Shift to the text and suggest a relationship between your example and this ancient "team" (congregation)

• Move back to post-modern times-but move closer to home: the church; suggest how we face the same temptations in what we do in God’s name.

• Provide a story that envisions what happens when we all gravitate around Christ and share ministry; could also move back to original story that you began with only this time with a positive lesson learned about teamwork