Division: Evidence of Spiritual Immaturity

I Corinthians 1:11-12 where Paul writes, For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” NLT 
It's human nature to divide up into little groups and war against other groups. In the world it's Republicans against Democrats, Red Sox fans against Yankee fan, Chevy Drivers against Ford drivers, Mac users against PC users. That's how the world operates. But this isn't how Christians are supposed to act. But this is exactly what was happening at the church in Corinth.

You see - the Christians at Corinth had divided up into little factions - into little dissenting groups within the same church.

• Paul’s ministry was geared towards the Gentiles (Acts 18:6), so no doubt the Gentiles (that is - the non-Jews) in the congregation were saying “I follow Paul”. 
• Peter’s ministry was geared towards the Jews, so no doubt the Jews were saying “I follow Peter”. 
• After Paul left Corinth to start another church in Ephesus, Apollos became their new pastor (Acts 18:27), and some liked Apollos better than Paul so they were saying “I follow Apollos”. 
• Now - while the first three groups were guilty of overemphasizing human leadership (and in so doing causing division), this last group was guilty of underemphasizing human leadership (and in so doing causing division). These were the rebels in the church who refused to follow the spiritual leadership God appointed in the church. In saying "I only follow Christ" they were really saying "I follow only me!" 

The people divided into camps and weren’t friendly towards others not in their camp. In the same way the people in the church were saying “Paul is best” while others were saying “No, Apollos is best” while others were saying “No, Peter is best”. And then the self-righteous people were saying “No, I’m the best.”

So in a pretty strong rebuke Paul has to tell the people in the church “Knock it off! Division in the church is evidence of spiritual immaturity and it needs to stop." 1 Corinthians 3:3-4, “...You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? NLT

Pave the Way to Peace

1 Corinthians 1:10a, “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church...” NLT 
God desires that his children live in harmony with one another. It breaks His heart when he sees relational division in the body of Christ.

Let’s pretend while taking a shower this morning (hopefully you did that) your right arm did a great job of washing your left arm, but then when it was your left arm’s turn to wash your right arm, your left arm did a subpar job - and consequently your right arm was offended and therefore refused to help your left arm put on your clothes for the day. Image how difficult it would be to put on your shirt with only one arm. Imagine the difficulty of putting on your pants and buckling your belt with only one arm.

In the same way that your physical body was designed to work together in harmony to be effective, so it is with the body of Christ. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.” NLT Just as a human body is supposed to be a united whole, with all the parts working in harmony with one another, so should it be with the body of Christ (the church).

Division among the members of your physical body will render you ineffective at whatever it is you’re trying to do. And the same thing is true of the body of Christ. For those who don’t know - the church is on a mission to make disciples. And when we don't work in harmony with each other, we're rendered ineffective.

Therefore, we ought to do everything within our power to pave the way to peace with our other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the clear teaching of the Bible both in the Old Testament and New.

• In the Old Testament Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” NIV 
• In the New Testament Jesus prayed for his disciples in John 17:11, “...Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” NIV God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit live in harmony with one another. They work in unison with each other (i.e. God the Father sent God the Son into the world that the world might find salvation in him. And God the Holy Spirit convicts people of sin and helps them see their need for Jesus). They are one and here Jesus prays that we would be one, so that people far from God the Father, can be led by God the Holy Spirit to God the Son (who is Jesus). 
• The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” NIV To have no conflict is unrealistic. We live in a sin-filled world and have stubborn sinful natures. As a result some conflict goes unresolved. But as far as it depends on us, we’re to live at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ - with the other members of the body of Christ. That means that we do all we can to create harmony and destroy any possible cause of division and conflict. 
• As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:3, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” NLT We won’t resolve every single conflict on this side of eternity unfortunately, but we’re to make every effort to, for this greatly pleases the Lord.