1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. [1] These eight verses (1 Cor. 1:10–17) introduce the basic concept Paul will drive home in the next four chapters (1:18–4:21) and indeed in the rest of the letter: Christ is not divided like the Corinthian community is. The way they are “choosing sides” is inappropriate. We can thus think of 1 Cor. 1:10 as the key result Paul wishes to achieve by writing, namely, unity in the church. Paul appropriately begins with a charge for the church to be united(1:10). This verse is arguably the “proposition” of 1 Corinthians, the key verse of the letter. If the Corinthians would put this charge into practice, Paul’s mission would be accomplished.[2] 1 Corinthians 1:10 is arguably the “proposition” of the letter, the basic point Paul was trying to make. If the church would only learn to be united in their attitudes, their problems would be solved.[3] One of the characteristics of the ancient Greeks was their inability to get along with each other. The Greeks loved to be independent from one another. Cities fought against neighboring cities—Sparta, Troy, Athens, and others.
And so the individual citizens took on attitudes of super independence. The city of Corinth was no exception to this kind of thinking. Corinth was noted for its internal factions.
Aren’t we like that today? It is one thing to be a free people, but it is quite another thing to be an independent people. Americans have placed independence on their altars to worship. But no one can live in independence from others. There is a song that says, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Some animals can be born without any follow-up from their parents in upbringing. But no human being can survive after birth without the intimate, caring and involved input from other human beings. And we never outgrow that need for other humans. We not only need people who are close to us, we also need people who live on the other part of the globe that we have never seen and will never see.
Our children today are protected from diphtheria by what a Japanese and a German did. They are protected from smallpox by what an Englishman did. They are saved from rabies because of what a Frenchman did. And the list goes on and on.
The world has been bettered because of the spirits of individuals who never built fences between them and others who may have been different from them, but rather committed themselves to serve the welfare of mankind. These are the people who thought in terms of interdependence instead of independence.
But the Greeks had not caught on to that spirit. And so the spirit of the city of Corinth began to catch on in the church at Corinth. And that is a tragedy. For the church is not to catch the spirit of its community, but rather to correct the spirit of its community. The strength of God’s people is not seen in just having faith in God, but also in maintaining fellowship with Him by demonstrating fellowship with His people.
So Paul begins here to address the primary issue that could weaken and destroy them—disunity.
It is quite clear from the Greek language that in 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul is introducing a contrast. It begins with the word, “but” (de). He is contrasting their calling—fellowship (1 Corinthians 1:9) with their conduct—factions. As an apostle, he could order them to demonstrate fellowship. But no one can demand fellowship and then stand back and watch it automatically take place.
So Paul uses a softer word than the word for command. He says, “I appeal.” This word literally means, “to call alongside.” Paul is not appealing to them as someone who is distant from them, but rather someone who is one of them. His heart beats for them. He appeals to them on the basis of his fellowship with them (“brothers”) and on their fellowship with Jesus (“in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”).
Paul then moves in a very general way to what is weakening their fellowship—disagreements that lead to divisions. When Paul says, “that all of you agree,” he is not suggesting that we cannot have differences of opinions or say things differently. He is not calling for total conformity. Paul recognizes that Christians are different from one another.
Each of us is unique. Each of us is in a different stage of growth. We come from different environments.
In fact, it is God’s design that there are varieties among us (1 Corinthians 12:4–6). However, the problems come when we allow our differences to become bigger than the Christ who has united us. Christians must be committed to not allowing differences to make a difference.
Literally, instead of saying that you “all agree,” the Greek says, “that you all speak the same thing.” But what is the “same thing” that Paul wants them to speak? Are we all to say exactly the same words, the same sentences? Of course not! But we all are to say that we have been “called … into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). We are to agree that we belong to Him and to one another. To fail to speak that way is to divide up into various cliques that can split the body apart. And that is precisely what the Corinthians have been doing.
It is not wrong to have differences of opinions, but when we allow those differences of opinions to judge our brother to be a non-brother—to begin to see him out of fellowship instead of in the fellowship, then the seed for division is among us.
The word for divisions is plural, which shows that there are many factions and not just one within that body. The word is the Greek word schimata, from which we get our word schism. The church will have diversity, but she is not to have schisms, which polarize around those diversities. One of the marks of maturity is that we can have diversity within the body without personal animosities. The church must demonstrate to the world how to handle differences differently. This word schism was used in Biblical days to refer to a torn garment that had not yet been separated into two pieces (Matthew 9:16).
The church at Corinth is probably meeting in homes throughout the city, but the members still see themselves as one united body. Their party spirit, however, has planted a seed for splitting the church and destroying that unity. In fact, there is the potential that out of that one congregation could come four different, distinct denominations (1 Corinthians 1:12).
So Paul appeals to them to get their act together, “that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” The words, “perfectly united,” was a Greek term used for patching up fishing nets that had holes in them. It was also used for setting broken bones. Both of those uses are so graphic for the church.
The church is called a body. But whenever disunity dominates, then members of that body become broken and thus cannot function for the support and good of other members. The body is weakened as if it has broken bones.
The church is also referred to as a net. But when disunity dominates the church, the net has holes in it that can cause people within the church to fall through the holes. The church as a net is to keep Christians (fish), together to function in fellowship. The word really means that something be “restored” to its originally intended design and function.
Paul is appealing to the Corinthians to restore the original intention of fellowship and to practice it within the body. Restoring fellowship begins with submitting our thinking (“mind”) and evaluations (“thought”; also translated “judgment”) to that of Christ. When Paul says that we should have the same mind and the same thought, he means that we are to have the same mind and the same judgment as Christ has.
Christ has a mind and a judgment of humility that reaches out to serve others (Philippians 2:5–11). In this context, Paul is speaking about a unity in thinking and evaluation concerning the differences that exist among the Corinthians. Paul picks this up again in 1 Corinthians 12, where he develops the theme that there is to be unity amid their diversity.[4]
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Co 1:10.
[2]Kenneth Schenck,
1 & 2 Corinthians: a Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2006), 39.
[3]Kenneth Schenck,
1 & 2 Corinthians: a Commentary for Bible Students, 39.
[4]Knofel Staton,
First Corinthians: Unlocking the Scriptures for You, Standard Bible Studies (Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1987), 29–32.
