[Steve Myers] The church in Corinth was a mess. Well, maybe in a lot of ways it was like our world today. There were so many problems, so many issues, so many things that were going on that just seemed to tear that congregation apart. I mean, it had adultery – in fact, as you read through the book of 1 Corinthians, it talks about some of these major issues they had. Adultery was one of the big ones that they went through. In fact, almost chapter by chapter, you can see these different issues that they were dealing with. So, adultery in chapter 5. They were taking each other to court and law suits, in chapter 6. Chapter 7 talks about sexual immorality. Chapter 8 goes on with the problems with idolatry and eating foods that were offered to idols. Other chapters talk about, even just the confusion at church services themselves. And yet, among all of those things, there was a main problem that was even bigger than these. It superseded all of these problems. And the apostle Paul dealt with it right at the very beginning of his letter.

If you take a look at 1 Corinthians 1:10, he gets to the very heart of the issue. Here’s what he says. He says, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. Let there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” You see, Paul pointed to the main issue that was a contributing factor to all of those things is that they weren’t together. They weren’t on the same page when it came to worshipping and honoring God. And so it created division. It created schisms. It created problems between all of them in so many different ways. And this is something we cannot allow to be a part of our existence. It can’t be a part of our families, it can’t be a part of our church, it can’t be a part of our way of life. And so we have to take what Paul says here, and I think when we begin to do this, he gives us a goal to shoot for – the goal that I think overrides so many things in our life.

If you read through 1 Corinthians he designates these different things as he writes this letter. He talks about the fact that, first of all – in fact, I’ll call these the “B’s” – what we need to do is we’ve got to be together. Our world, it seems today – everybody’s got their own thing going, and we’re not together, and we don’t have a sense that we’re in this as a group. There’s a collectiveness about us that is so important, especially when it comes to worshipping and honoring God and making Him a vital part of our life. And so, if we’re going to be together, I think it also reminds us that we’re going to be unified. In fact, we have to be unified. It’s not a choice. If we’re going to follow God, we have to have unity like the unity between the Father and Jesus Christ. And of course, I think the intimacy that’s implied then in all of that is that we’re family. We have to be family.  We have to be more than just acquaintances. We have to be more than just casual people with each other – that as a church, as a congregation, we have to be family. And it’s a good reminder for our families, as well.  We have to be unified. We have to be together. And we have to be striving to have the unity of the Father and the Son.

So let’s make that our goal. Read through 1 Corinthians. Notice the problems that they suffered through, and let’s make it our goal to live by the words that Christ gives us, to be unified, to be together, and in everything we do, let’s really strive to do that very thing.

That’s BT Daily. We’ll see you next time.