Brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg all of you to agree with each other. You should not be divided into different groups. Be completely joined together again with the same kind of thinking and the same purpose.
The Apostle Paul begged the members of the Corinthian church, and members of all churches by extension, “to agree with each other.” He begged them “by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, on the basis of the authoritative teaching of the Lord Jesus. It was Jesus Himself who prayed that the church would be one. He prayed, “Father, I pray that all who believe in me can be one. You are in me and I am in you. I pray that they can also be one in us” (John 17:21). Obviously, unity amongst the members of His church was important to Jesus.
Jesus’ prayer means, first of all, that the unity of the members of His church is a spiritual unity with the Father in heaven and with Himself. Paul concludes, as a result, that the members should not arbitrarily divide themselves into different groups. The example he gives of such division is those who say, “‘I follow Paul,’ and someone else says, ‘I follow Apollos.’ Another says, ‘I follow Peter'” (1 Corinthians 1:12). Although each of these leaders had his own unique style of preaching, it was not a sufficient reason for dividing the church into different groups.
Instead of division, then, the church should be joined with “the same kind of thinking.” They should all be in agreement on the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel. Minor differences in style and practice should not be the cause of divisions in a church.
In addition to the same thinking, a church should be joined with “the same purpose.” Although each leader may have unique goals for his ministry, they should all agree on the fundamental purpose of spreading the Gospel and building up a church. Here, too, where there is disagreement on non-essentials, Paul counsels that they differ with a good spirit. Paul is warning that factionalism should not be given a foothold in a church. Pray for the churches today to pursue and preserve the unity of Christ.
