Texts from Paul to Divided United Methodists
Texts from Paul to Divided United Methodists
Jan. 22, 2023
Rev. Lisa Schubert Nowling
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
– 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (NRSV)
When I was in college, my dad and my great aunt Eloise mailed personal letters almost every week to me. That’s increasingly becoming a lost art. While Americans send 6 billion text messages a day, the U.S. Postal Service processes and delivers only 167.3 million pieces of first-class mail each day. We’re drifting away from the letters that have been our primary means of communication for centuries. In the next month, we’re going to reclaim the art of letter writing as we explore letters from the apostle Paul addressing the struggles of the early Christians in Corinth. If Paul were alive today, what types of texts might he send our church?
The good ole days
Church people love to wax nostalgic about the good ole days. They reminisce about when times were simpler: When you knew and trusted your neighbors. When folks took care of each other and got along. When people were in church every week, sometimes twice. I’m always struck how we can look at history through rose-colored glasses because from the beginning, the church faced debates, infighting, power struggles, and division.
Temple of Apollo (Ancient Corinth) and Acrocorinth Fortress
The Peloponnese, Greece. April, 2006. No changes made. License.
The church in Corinth was no exception. We believe Paul founded the Corinthian church about 20 years after Jesus’ death and spent about 18 months getting it off the ground. Corinth was part of a large and prosperous urban area with an ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse population. The congregation was predominantly Gentile, not Jewish, and probably mirrored the city’s diversity. Among them were Priscilla and Aquila, Crispus and Gaius, Chloe and Phoebe. Most were of lesser means and social standing. They numbered in the dozens and were situated in different quarters of the city. They would regularly come together for church – a common meal and worship. Paul probably wrote them four letters, of which two and a portion of a third survive today. This first letter was written about 54 CE in response to their reports about serious problems within the church, including but not limited to the jockeying of rival groups for power and control, their indifference about morality, and their disregard for the disadvantaged and marginalized members. What’s more, they also questioned Paul’s apostolic authority (Victor Paul Furnish, intro to 1 Corinthians in the Harper Collins NRSV).
Koenig, Peter. Conversion of St Paul, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58543 [retrieved January 18, 2023]. Original source: Peter Winfried (Canisius) Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.
Paul’s rugged past
It’s no wonder. Paul had some skeletons in his closet. Under the name Saul, he was a Pharisee who persecuted early Christians. He stood by and watched the stoning of Stephen. On the road to Damascus, Saul had a dramatic conversion experience of being blinded by the light of Christ. He was baptized by Ananias, and his name changed to Paul. After this transformation, Paul became God’s instrument to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and establish the church in Corinth.
Paul writes to Corinth from Ephesus. He wants them to be in agreement, with no divisions among them, united in the same mind and purpose. He’s disappointed the seeds of faith that were planted by different Christian evangelists have sown division among them. Some say they belong to Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Jesus himself. Apollos was a Jewish Philosopher from Egypt, and some identified most with his teaching methods. The apostle Cephas or Peter may or may not have visited Corinth himself, but some were following his influence. Others were saying, “I’m Paul’s person.” Still others claimed they were the real Messiah people who lived according to the Word of Jesus. Paul retorts: Has Christ been divided?
Paul’s response to divisions
It's sobering to realize the early church faced such divisions. There was no honeymoon period. Yale Professor Harry Adams says there are a few things we should note about Paul’s letter to the divided Corinthians.
Paul is distressed about the quarreling and conflict. He won’t allow the followers of Jesus to be satisfied with these separate camps. There may be no quick solution, but neither can there be casual acceptance of the problem.
Paul addresses them as brothers and sisters because they are his siblings in Christ. Whatever the issue, they are part of the same Body, the same family. Next Paul identifies the issues that caused division, specifically, how they’re caught up in a power struggle of identifying with different leaders.
Finally, Paul seeks ways that these divisions can be dealt with meaningfully and constructively. He reminds them that the saving grace of God doesn’t come through any human leader or effort, but only through the gospel that manifests the saving love of God. Paul is clear that the expression of God’s saving love is not in human wisdom, but in the cross of Christ, the awesome manifestation of the way and the humble power of God (Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, pgs. 279-283).
Methodist splits
There are no good ole days for Methodists either. We’re a movement that split from the Anglican Church in 1784 to become the Methodist Episcopal Church in the U.S. In 1816, The African Methodist Episcopal Church separated because of the discrimination of Blacks and segregated worship. In the 1830s, The Methodist Protestants split with a congregational polity. The Methodist Episcopal Church South splintered in 1845 due to the impending Civil War. Some of these Methodist branches came back together in 1940 and then in 1968 to form The United Methodist Church, which clearly isn’t very united these days.
Since the 1970s, our Book of Discipline has stated that while all people are of sacred worth, the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, and it forbids same-sex marriage ceremonies in our churches and self-avowed practicing homosexuals from being ordained as clergy. In 2019, our General Conference passed a Traditional Plan, heightening the consequences for clergy who violate the discipline around same-sex weddings and LGBTQIA+ ordination. Most moderates and progressives responded by pushing for a more inclusive church, and sometimes, ecclesial disobedience. Consequently, some conservative churches and clergy are leaving the denomination through a disaffiliation process, including about 130 congregations in Indiana. Approximately 10% of those have joined a new conservative denomination called the Global Methodist Church. The majority have become independent churches.
Our fractured witness
Our divisions and exclusions grieve the very heart of God and fracture our witness to the Gospel through the all-inclusive love of Jesus Christ. When Paul tells the early church there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose, he doesn’t intend for them to have identical thoughts, practices, beliefs, and opinions like Christian robots. Rather, Bishop Robin Dease says that we share the mind of Christ by recognizing our connectedness and our belovedness in our Creator, in whom we live and move and have our being. She adds: In a world that is fractured, divided, and wounded, where we are filled with sides and camps at odds with each other, The UMC is called to proclaim by word and deed the unifying love of a living God because our oneness in God through Christ produces love. … Jesus knows that unity in diversity lends credibility to the Gospel and increases our spiritual power (link).
Ahlefeldt, Frits. People Around a Baobab Tree, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58723 [retrieved January 18, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watercolor-baobab-tree-with-people-group-painting-by-frits-ahlefeldt.jpg.
Pray globally, act locally
To increase our spiritual power and our witness as First Methodist, we need to pray globally and act locally:
In the grace-filled power of the cross, we can repent of the many ways our denomination has caused harm to our siblings who are LGBTQIA+. At First Methodist, we can ensure that God’s doors are truly open to all, no exceptions.
In the transformative power of the cross, we can pray for changes in language and polity. At our church, we can embark again on a journey of holy conversation about becoming a Reconciling Church, where we proclaim to the world that all are welcome. Advocate magazine ranked Bloomington the 4th gayest city in the country. If we are going to reach our community, they need to know about the welcome we seek to offer to all.
In the healing power of the cross, we can mend relationships with people on different sides of the theological or political aisles. At First Methodist, we set a wide table where all are welcome. You’re not expected to agree with me or be in the same place as the person beside you. But you are expected to open your arms ever wider to love radically and inclusively and sacrificially, just as Jesus did on the cross.
Cross-shaped love
That’s the only way I know to heal the tragedy of our divisions – to let go of our power struggles. To set aside the wisdom we’ve accumulated. To stop determining who’s in and who’s out. And instead to focus together on the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, most fully expressed in his death on the cross, which to those of us who are being saved, is the very power of God. Amen.