Thanks to the correspondence between Paul and the church at
Corinth, we know more about this church than we do any of the other first-century
churches, including the wide range of issues affecting this community of
believers. It is important to remember,
also, that when we approach the Epistles, we are reading someone else’s mail
that was Canonized for us.
The church at Corinth contained a wide socio-economic cross-section
of people; while being composed of largely Gentile converts, there were some
Jewish members of the congregation. Some
members were slaves, while others were educated, powerful, and even of noble
birth. And do you know what happens when
you get a large group of very different people together? Well, we do what people do: we divide ourselves off into similar groups,
fracturing the whole in our favor.
We can see, and most of us know, that this was exactly what
was happening in this church at Corinth.
Groups of similar, or likeminded people, have band together, for differing
yet common purposes. Word of this has
reached Paul, and while not “clergy” to this church, being the person who
established this church made him someone whom they would have respected and sought
counsel from.
In today’s text, we aren’t given any clues as to what they
are divided over, and for today’s purpose, that isn’t what I want our focus to
be on.
Think for a moment, if you will, about the things that might
bring a group of people together:
hobbies, vocation, like-mindedness…. My grandma used to remind me that “birds of a
feather flock together”, and while she may have meant it in a derogatory manor,
it’s true on the positive side of conversation.
Dog people can bond over being dog people, cat people can bond over
being cat people. When I attended
research meetings, you could see the groups that organically formed among the
nurses, the doctors, and the scientists.
It makes sense, if you think about it.
Commonality fosters conversation and comradery. We like to identify and be around people who
understand us. And that’s a good thing!
If we aren’t careful, though, the very things that bring us
together can become the same things we use to isolate us and our groups from
others, taking on an almost “us vs them” mentality. When we look at the list of things that might
bring groups of us together, there are as many, if not more, things that will
divide us. Sometimes they’re benign
things like Apple or Windows PC, iPhone or Android, car or truck, automatic or
straight shift, having a steak well done or rare, and even sports teams. These are divisions that are surface,
divisions we can light-heartedly discuss.
In case you’re wondering, I’m Apple, iPhone, Sport Utility, Straight
Shift (although my knees would disagree), medium-rare at most, and Tennessee
Vols.
But, we don’t stop at the surface level on our
differences. We allow other things,
things we value at a higher premium, to draw lines between us: race, gender, social and economic status,
ideals, politics…this list is never ending.
So, why do we hold these things in higher regard than the surface things
above? Why would someone choose to disaffiliate
with me over the way I vote but not the phone I prefer? Why would a lifelong friendship dissolve over
economic disparity, but not over the way I order my steak? Why would someone refuse to even be in the
same room with me because of my religious affiliation, but has never even asked
if I prefer a dog to a cat? I’m here to
tell you what I think about that, and the answer is, I don’t know. But the bigger question, is why do we allow this?
We are everyone different, with different likes, different
ideals, and different values. It was
once said if everyone was the same the world would be a boring place. We’ve all heard that; but do we appreciate
that? Do we embrace the differences, or
do we villainize them?
What Paul was trying to relay to the people in the church at
Corinth was this: we aren’t to follow
the ideals of man (even Paul’s ideals), but we are all to be one in the Gospel
message. We have a task to accomplish –
and it’s a daunting task; we are to be fishers of people.
I know there are several in here that fish. Fishing is one of those things I never caught
on to; perhaps I don’t have the patience.
My Granddaddy could fish with the best of them. He loved it.
What I remember about my time with him fishing was equipment and
effort. First, he had to have the right “stuff”
to fish with. The right pole with the
right reel and line, the right boat, and the appropriate lure for what he
wanted to catch. After he had equipped
himself, then the effort part began.
Choosing the right spot, knowing how to cast, catch, and reel in. Being fishers of people is no different. We are tasked with equipping ourselves with
the right tools, but we aren’t to stop there.
We are to go to the place where the fish are and we are to contribute
great effort in actively trying to cast, catch, and reel in. This goes for all of us, and the only way we
will be successful is if we work together.
If we are so focused on what divides us, how can we catch
anything?
I took a college sociology class years ago, and the
instructor did an experiment with us.
She took the class and divided it in half, and half the class had white
dots placed on their foreheads and the other half blue. We had a project to complete as a class, and
it was designed so that it took all of us to complete it. You didn’t know what color dot you had, but
instinctively, all of the blue dot people grouped together and all of the white
dot people grouped together, and almost immediately the two groups began to
clash. The blue dots had created a plan
to accomplish this project, and their idea was superior…unless you asked the
white dot folks. They, too, had
constructed a plan which was superior.
Without prompting, the competitive nature rose to the top and then fueled
feuding between the two groups. While we
did not complete the assigned project, we didn’t realize that we were the
project.
Christ calls us to remove the dots from our foreheads and
see each other, differences, flaws and all, as people all working for the
common task of transforming the world by making disciples of Christ.
Today, I want you to do some reflection; are you open to
embracing your neighbor in working together?
Are you focused solely on what Christ charged us with? Are you equipped? Are you giving the effort? Finally, I want you to look in the well of
your boat; what does your catch look like?
Is it full? Is it empty?
We have our work cut out for us, and it’s time to get
moving.
