UNITE AND CONQUER (2 OF 36)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
This content is part of a series.
Unite and Conquer (2 of 36)
Series: Saints Gone Wild
Keith Krell
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
C.S. Lewis has written a book entitled The Screwtape Letters. In this haunting work a senior demon advises his young nephew, Wormwood, how to afflict Christians. At one point, he challenges Wormwood to focus in on what he calls "purely indifferent things" (e.g., clothes, candles, the semantics of "mass" and "holy communion"). This demon believes that if Wormwood persuades Christians to focus on "purely indifferent things" that they will be distracted from their mission.
Today, there are many "purely indifferent things" that distract Christians and churches from their mission. We call these indifferent things "non-essential issues," meaning that they have nothing to do with salvation. There are doctrinal, philosophical, and practical non-essentials. While all of these non-essentials are different, they all share one thing in common: Satan loves to use these issues to polarize and divide Christians. His goal has always been to turn Christians against each other. Not only has Satan's strategy worked for centuries, with every year he learns how to divide us more effectively. He has become so good at his craft that today the greatest problems that face the church come not from the world, but from the church! Satan's strategy is to divide and conquer, but we must turn the tables on him. We must choose to unite and conquer. In 1 Cor 1:10-17, Paul will exhort us to unite and conquer by majoring on the majors. Our two majors are: the right person and the right passion.
1. Major on the right person (1:10-12). Paul will argue that we can only have true and lasting unity when we are focused on the right person. Therefore, Paul will argue that we must major on Jesus Christ. In 1:10, Paul begins the body of his letter by expressing his earnest desire for unity. He writes, "Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be ...
Series: Saints Gone Wild
Keith Krell
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
C.S. Lewis has written a book entitled The Screwtape Letters. In this haunting work a senior demon advises his young nephew, Wormwood, how to afflict Christians. At one point, he challenges Wormwood to focus in on what he calls "purely indifferent things" (e.g., clothes, candles, the semantics of "mass" and "holy communion"). This demon believes that if Wormwood persuades Christians to focus on "purely indifferent things" that they will be distracted from their mission.
Today, there are many "purely indifferent things" that distract Christians and churches from their mission. We call these indifferent things "non-essential issues," meaning that they have nothing to do with salvation. There are doctrinal, philosophical, and practical non-essentials. While all of these non-essentials are different, they all share one thing in common: Satan loves to use these issues to polarize and divide Christians. His goal has always been to turn Christians against each other. Not only has Satan's strategy worked for centuries, with every year he learns how to divide us more effectively. He has become so good at his craft that today the greatest problems that face the church come not from the world, but from the church! Satan's strategy is to divide and conquer, but we must turn the tables on him. We must choose to unite and conquer. In 1 Cor 1:10-17, Paul will exhort us to unite and conquer by majoring on the majors. Our two majors are: the right person and the right passion.
1. Major on the right person (1:10-12). Paul will argue that we can only have true and lasting unity when we are focused on the right person. Therefore, Paul will argue that we must major on Jesus Christ. In 1:10, Paul begins the body of his letter by expressing his earnest desire for unity. He writes, "Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be ...
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