Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:10-17
In 1:10 Paul says, “Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” From this verse the apostle begins to deal with the divisions among the Corinthians. First, he beseeches them through the name of our Lord, which is the name above all names (Phil. 2:9) and should be the unique name among all His believers. However, by ranking the names of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas with the name of Christ, the divisive Corinthians made the same kind of mistake Peter made on the mount of transfiguration when he ranked Moses and Elijah with Christ (Matt. 17:1-8). To keep the oneness in the Lord and to avoid divisions, we need to uplift and exalt the unique name of our Lord by dropping all names other than this highest name.
In verse 10 Paul urges the believers to speak the same thing so that there be no divisions among them. In this Epistle Paul deals with eleven problems among the believers in Corinth. The first is the matter of division. Division is nearly always the leading problem, bringing in all other problems among the believers. It may be considered the root of the problems among believers. Hence, in dealing with all the problems in the church at Corinth, the apostle’s ax first touches the root, that is, the divisions among them. The first virtue of the walk worthy of God’s calling is the keeping of the oneness of the Spirit in the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:1-6).
In verse 12 Paul goes on to say, “Now I mean this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” In principle this is just the same as saying I am a Lutheran, I am a Wesleyan, I am a Presbyterian, I am an Episcopalian, I am a Baptist. All such designations should be condemned and rejected. They can only be terminated and eliminated by taking Christ as the unique center among all the believers.
To say “I am of Christ” in the way of excluding the apostles and their teachings or of excluding other believers is as divisive as to say “I am of” this or of that.
These verses indicate that divisions among Christians always result from placing another name above the name of the Lord Jesus. When certain of the Corinthians said, “I am of Apollos,” they automatically uplifted the name of Apollos above the name of Christ. Throughout the centuries, divisions among Christians have been caused by this practice. Today believers commonly designate themselves as Lutherans, Presbyterians, or Baptists without any sense of shame. Actually it is a shame for a Christian to call himself a Lutheran, for this means that he places the name of Luther above the name of Christ. No believer should do such a thing.
It is very significant that in verse 10 Paul beseeches the brothers through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This indicates that we should not uplift any name above this name. For this reason, Christians should not have any kind of designation. To designate ourselves with a name is to make that name higher than the name of Christ. This is a shame both to the Lord and to the believers. However, some Christians are proud to say that they are of a certain denomination. Furthermore, these names are put on signs and are advertised. This indicates how far today’s Christians have gone astray. They have no feeling of shame when they designate themselves by a particular name other than the name of Christ.
Through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Paul charged the believers at Corinth to all speak the same thing. When I was a young Christian, certain Christian leaders told me that I should not expect all Christians ever to speak the same thing. Do you think it is possible for us as Christians to speak the same thing? If you regard this as possible, I would ask you how we can speak the same thing. As we consider the differences among nations and races today, we see that people do not speak the same thing. For example, the Chinese do not speak the same thing as the Japanese, nor the Germans, as the French. How is it possible for believers of different nationalities to speak the same thing? To answer this question we need to understand what Paul means by the expression “the same thing.”
When Paul speaks of “the same thing,” he means Christ and Him crucified. Thus, for us to speak the same thing means that we all speak concerning Christ and Christ crucified. From experience I can testify that, although according to history it is impossible for Chinese and Japanese, Germans and French, to be truly one, I have seen real oneness among the believers from these different nationalities. It is beautiful to see the genuine oneness between Chinese and Japanese believers and also between German and French believers. Such a oneness is possible only when we concentrate on Christ as our unique center and unique portion. As our unique center and portion, Christ is in all the saints (Col. 1:27) to even become all the saints (Col. 3:11). Whereas many of today’s Christians are divided because they emphasize many things in place of Christ, we are one because we have nothing but Christ.
Christians are divided because they care for many other things instead of Christ. For example, some argue concerning the name in which we should baptize believers. For us, the all-inclusive Christ must be our center and our unique enjoyment. As long as people have a living faith in Christ Jesus, it does not matter whether they are baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus or into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Because the Lord has raised us up to carry out His recovery, we focus our attention on Christ and not on any practices. We have turned away from everything else to the Lord Himself. This has caused others to spread rumors about us and to criticize us. For example, beginning in 1968, some brothers and sisters were convicted of their oldness and wanted to be buried in the waters of baptism. Eventually, some rumors were spread that we teach re-baptism. The opposers quoted Paul’s word in Ephesians 4 concerning one baptism. However, that refers to a baptism which is one in nature or in kind, not to the practice of baptizing a believer one time. It is a fact that we neither teach nor practice re-baptism. If some believers are convicted of their oldness and want to be buried, they should not be condemned for it.
Others have criticized us because we practice calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. Some have even said that this is a mantra and is the same as oriental chanting.
In the past some were distracted by what they thought was a better way of meeting. However, our center is not a certain way of meeting — our center is Christ Himself. Should someone come to you and criticize the way of meeting and propose another way, you should reply, “I don’t care to talk about this. I only know Christ and Him crucified.” Talk about things other than Christ, even about the church meetings, can be a snare. In the Lord’s recovery our only choice and preference is Christ crucified. The best way to silence the gossiping tongue is not to respond when someone seeks to turn you from Christ to other things. Suppose a brother comes to you and says, “How did you feel about the meetings last week?” You should answer, “I don’t care about the meetings — I care only for Christ.” However, if you begin to talk about the meetings, the door will be open for gossip and criticism.
Many Christians today do not talk at all about Christ. In their conversation they are preoccupied with many other things. In the local churches we all need to speak of Christ crucified. Do not discuss the meetings, whether they are high or low, and do not talk about the church, whether it is good or bad. Likewise, do not speak about the elders, whether they are right or wrong, capable or incapable. Our attitude should be that we care only for Christ, for the church of God in every place, and for the Lord’s recovery. God’s goal in His recovery is to recover Christ as everything to us.
During more than fifty years in the church life, I have observed that many saints in different countries and cities have not yet been absolutely rescued from the degraded situation of Christianity. Even some of the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery talk in the way of the practice of today’s Christianity. Instead of speaking of Christ and Him crucified, they talk about the meetings, the elders, and the saints. When others want you to talk with them in such a way, you should say, “I do not have any heart for this. My only preference is Christ. I only care for Christ, not for the condition of the church or the meetings.”
Whether or not a local church is a genuine church is not a matter of condition. Do not think that if a certain church is healthy, it is the church, but that it is no longer the church if its condition becomes unhealthy. Brother So-and-so is the same person whether he is strong or weak, healthy or sick. Likewise, even if the condition of the church is poor and very unhealthy, it is still the church. If we see the church in the Lord’s recovery in this way and care only for Christ as our unique center, we shall not have any divisions.
For a person to be able to leave the recovery means that he has never seen what the recovery is. If you are able to give up the church life, this proves that you have never seen the church. Whether the church is good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, living or dead, it is still the church. If we realize this, it indicates that we have seen that Christ is God’s unique center.
If you were a Christian living in Corinth, would you have met with the church there? I believe that most of us, bothered by such a confused and divided church, would prefer to move to another locality for the church life. Although such an attitude may not seem divisive, it actually is divisive. No matter what may be the condition of the church in our locality, we should not make our choice, have our own preference, or seek an opportunity for ourselves. On the contrary, we should let the wind of the Spirit blow freely. At the present time we are in a certain locality by God’s ordination. We should not move elsewhere according to our preference. But if the wind blows us to another city, this is God’s ordination, not our choice or preference.
Do not take for granted that because you are now in the Lord’s recovery, you are secure in the recovery and that it is not possible for you ever to be divisive. Whether or not we are secure in the recovery and protected from divisiveness depends on the vision we have seen. If we have seen that Christ is the unique center, we shall be secure. No matter what may take place in the recovery, we shall remain in the church life. We shall have the assurance within us that we are in the Lord’s recovery.
Whenever we visit another locality or have fellowship with saints from another locality, we are tempted to ask about the church in their place. This kind of question can open the door for many negative things to come in. We must learn to care for Christ and not be curious about the condition of the churches elsewhere.
In 1942 there was great turmoil in Shanghai, mainly caused by opposition against Brother Nee. This turmoil spread to other places. At that time I was in Chefoo, in north China. The leading ones made a strong decision before the Lord that whoever came from Shanghai should be told not to talk about the situation of the church there. We said, “Do not talk about the church in Shanghai. We here are the church in Chefoo. Let us talk of the Lord Jesus Christ and the church here.” This saved Chefoo from being involved in that turmoil.
It is crucial for us all to learn the secret not to know anything except Christ and Him crucified. However, it is actually quite difficult to practice this. It is not easy for us to speak the same thing. Nevertheless, we need to learn to speak the same thing — Christ and Him crucified.
In verse 10 Paul also tells the Corinthians to be “attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” The Greek word rendered attuned here is the same word that is translated mending in Matthew 4:21. It means to repair, to restore, to adjust, to mend, making a broken thing thoroughly complete, joined perfectly together. The Corinthian believers as a whole were divided; their oneness was broken. They needed mending to join them perfectly together that they might be in harmony, having the same mind and the same opinion to speak the same thing, that is, Christ and His cross.
The testimony of the church in Corinth had been severely damaged, and Paul wrote this Epistle to mend this situation. This mending was also an attuning. The word attune is a musical term. Among the saints in Corinth there was no harmony. In writing this Epistle Paul was seeking to restore the harmony, to attune them so that they might be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.
The problem among the Corinthians was not with their spirit. They had been regenerated, and the Lord Jesus dwelt in their spirit. Their problems were with the mind and their opinions. There is a difference between mind and opinion. Thinking takes place in the mind; opinions are thoughts expressed in words. If we only think about a matter, that is an activity in the mind. But when our thinking is turned into speaking, it becomes opinion. It is difficult to be attuned in the same way of thinking, that is, in the same mind, and in the same way of speaking, that is, in the same opinion. To be attuned to the same opinion actually means to speak the same thing. When we all speak the same thing, we are in the same opinion.
If we would be attuned in the same opinion, we need to have a vision of the place of Christ in God’s economy. I am burdened that all the saints would see Christ and know Him. When you have seen the all-inclusive Christ and have learned the secret of enjoying Him, your way of thinking and speaking will be changed. Then you will become pure and simple. Instead of expressing your own opinions, you will care only to enjoy Christ and speak of Him. Having become a person who does not know anything except Christ, you will be faithful to the Lord’s recovery.
Today the Lord is seeking a people who care only for Him. Collectively, here and there, these people will be lampstands. Among them, there will be no preferences or opinions — only Christ. May we all learn this secret.
Suppose you come into the meeting hall and the chairs are arranged in a very unusual way, altogether contrary to your preference. It should not make any difference to us how the chairs are arranged. As long as we can meet together to read the Word and speak of Christ, we should be satisfied. If you complain about the arrangement of the chairs and are distracted by it, this proves that you have not seen the vision concerning Christ. Divine diamonds are available to you in the meeting of the church, but you are distracted from the diamonds by the arrangement of the chairs. Does this not indicate that you do not realize the preciousness of the diamonds? As long as you can receive more diamonds from the Lord, you should not care how the chairs are arranged. If you know the preciousness of diamonds, you will not have the heart to care for anything else. You will not care for the arrangement of the chairs, for you will come to the meetings for Christ and Christ alone.
In the Lord’s recovery we care only for Christ. In the recovery the Lord is not recovering anything other than Christ Himself in our experience. Only by focusing on Christ can we be saved from division.
By nature we all are divisive. We were born with a divisive element. The only way to be rescued from this divisiveness is to see the all-inclusive Christ and learn the secret of enjoying Him. Please be impressed that the only way to avoid division is to see Christ, receive Christ, and enjoy Christ. This and only this will cause us to be attuned in the same opinion. Then there will be real harmony among us.
If you visit another locality, do not seek to know things about the church there. Do not ask about the elders or about the young people. Instead, care only for the harmony which comes from the enjoyment of Christ. When I visit any church, I care only to behold such harmony. If this harmony is not present in a particular church, I realize that the saints in that place have not been enjoying Christ adequately. But if we enjoy Christ continually, there will be harmony among us.
Sometimes I have been disappointed when saints tell me of what they have seen during their visit to churches and different places. What disappointed me was not the news they related, but the very fact that they spoke of things other than the enjoyment of Christ. Their conversation indicates that they did not have a proper view and that they have not been fully rescued from their divisive nature. Instead of caring for Christ, they are interested in the way the elders manage the church or in the way the young people are going on. To care for such things instead of Christ is divisive. Whenever you visit another local church, you should seek to be blind and not see anything other than Christ. Then you will be one who has learned the secret, who speaks the same thing, and who has the same mind and the same opinion.
Let us learn not to have any choice, preference, or taste other than Christ. The all-inclusive Christ is our unique choice, preference, taste, and enjoyment. This will preserve us in the church in the Lord’s recovery until He comes back. Otherwise, eventually we shall be disappointed or distracted and forsake the Lord’s recovery.
In verse 13 Paul asks, “Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” Christ is unique and not divided. This unique and undivided Christ, taken as the unique center among all the believers, should be the termination of all divisions.
Christ, not any other person, was crucified for us. The One who was crucified for us should be the One to whom all the believers belong. This surely is Christ, not anyone else. All believers were baptized into the name, that is, into the Person, of the crucified and resurrected Christ. This issues in an organic union with Him. His unique name and unique Person cannot be replaced by the name and person of any of His servants.
After speaking in verses 14 through 16 of those baptized by him, Paul says in verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.” Paul was not sent to baptize people in a formal way, but to preach the gospel, ministering Christ to others for the producing of the church as an expression of Christ.
