“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
1 Corinthians 1:10
Likeminded, Not Identical
This verse immediately follows Paul’s normal introduction to his letters. It’s a call to unity among all believers in the church at Corinth. While we read this and see that Paul writes that “there [should] be no divisions among [us],” I don’t think he means that we should always be in agreement.
First, that’s not possible. We can be likeminded in that we’re pursuing Christ, which is what I think he’s actually saying as evidenced by the next two verses and beyond—I’ll come back to that in a minute. Second, Paul made it a point to call out elsewhere that he disagreed with Peter on a matter. So, if he’s not talking about complete and total agreement on all topics, what is he talking about?
In the next couple of verses, Paul mentions he’s heard rumblings of arguments among the church at Corinth. The disagreement comes from people saying that they follow Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Christ. But, Christ is not divided. Paul makes it clear in verse 13 by asking if these people were baptized in the name of Paul or, implicitly, Peter or Apollos. No, they were baptized in the name of Jesus.
The Name That Binds Us
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we live in a highly divided time. Not just politically, but also spiritually. What Paul said then applies now.
We may not all always agree on the things that don’t matter eternally as long as we agree on the things that do. That is that Christ died for sinners like me so that I might have a relationship with God the Father through the forgiveness of my sins. Beyond that, Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day, proving he was God and then ascended to be at the right hand of the Father shortly after. That’s the name in which I’ve been baptized.
So, despite everything else that’s going, it’s important to remember what truly binds us together in community: the name of Jesus. Not the name of your favorite pastor, musician, influencer, or political figure—the name of Jesus.
Prayer
Jesus, unite us. Help us to see past the unimportant, temporary details and focus on you and the everlasting, full life you have for us. Show us how to love one another as you have loved each and every one of us.
In the hard times, when it’s not easy to love our neighbors, give us strength and discipline to do it anyway. And we do this because we know you did it for us. So, be with us today.
We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.