United in Christ (3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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Click here for this Sunday’s Old Testament Reflection (Light out of Darkness)

After the introduction to 1 Corinthians which we read last week (See: Sanctified in Christ Jesus), St. Paul launches into a series of complaints that he has against the Corinthian church. He identifies many problems going on among the Corinthians, which include factionalism, sexual immorality, misuse of spiritual gifts, and unworthy partaking of Holy Communion.

In this reading, Paul focuses specifically on the issue of factionalism. He mentions that the Corinthians have divided themselves into different factions, each corresponding to a particular personality–Paul, Peter, Apollos, and Christ. They have been influenced by the tendency among the pagan Greeks, who were known to form rival groups based on their adherence to specific teachers whom they revered. It seems they carried that tendency over into the church, desiring to distinguish themselves against one another by identifying with a specific preacher of the Gospel, or else with Christ Himself (but even that last group isn’t exempt from the accusation of having divided the Church).

Paul’s rebuke highlights the need for Christians to be united. As he states elsewhere in his epistles, we are called to “one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). To divide the Church into different factions or groups is to go against this spirit of unity.

Finally, one noteworthy comment is Paul saying he did not come to baptize but to preach the Gospel. Some have wrongly concluded that he is denigrating baptism or downplaying his significance here. That is not at all the case. He is saying he is glad that he did not baptize anyone because he fears that those whom he baptizes will use it as an occasion for further factionalism. Instead, he wants to draw their attention to the Gospel which he preached, from which every aspect of the Christian life (including Baptism) draws its power and efficacy.

Divisions continue to exist among Christians, but this is not to be so. This week of Christian Unity, we should pray that all who profess faith in Christ be united, just as He Himself prayed (John 17:11, 21-22). In so doing, we may be able to present a unified witness to the Gospel to the unbelieving world.

J. Luis Dizon