During the first century, Corinth was the commercial capital of the Mediterranean. Situated on a narrow isthmus, the city literally bridged northern Greece with the southern Peloponnesian peninsula; and since it was only four miles across from sea to shining sea, it was easily accessible to both the Adriatic and the Aegean. As a result, almost everything that could be bought, sold, or traded eventually made its way through there.

However, as the Apostle Paul soon discovered, exotic merchandise wasn’t the only thing being offered at bargain basement prices. Moral standards and common decency had also been drastically discounted. In fact, Corinth claimed the rare distinction of actually having its name turned into a verb. To “corinthianize” was a slang term which meant “to go to the dogs”—presumably because it was only wild, ravenous beasts that would feel at home there.

It would be difficult to imagine a more unlikely place for a New Church Development, and most scholars surmise that it was never a particularly large congregation. But for a church with just handful of members, it had a host of problems.

For starters, the members were divided into factions—with some boasting that they deserved preferential treatment because they had been baptized by Paul, while others asserted the superiority of being baptized by Peter. They were split over matters of worship style—traditional vs. contemporary. They were debating sexual ethics and scriptural authority. They were tearing themselves apart over the priority and importance of spiritual gifts. They couldn’t agree on how to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. And most of the members had serious doubts about the historical reality of the resurrection.

Other than that, they were doing just fine!

The Apostle Paul responds by reminding the Corinthians that, despite their differences, they are still members of the same body—the Body of Christ. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need for you.” Nor should the head suggest to the feet, “Since we do different things, you should belong to a different body.”

It is a wonderful image. But of course, it’s one thing to believe that we are members of the same body; it’s another thing to behave like we are. In my experience, most conflicts in the church develop because the brains want everyone to act like brains … and the hearts want everyone to act like hearts … and usually, there is a hangnail or two, who bring out the hangnail in everybody else!

From Corinth onward, the church has always been involved in one conflict or another. Some have suggested that, if we could ever get on the same page, we would provide a far better witness to the world. Perhaps so. But then again, maybe that is our witness. Maybe what the church needs to show the world is that people can disagree and still love one another … that, while we don’t always share the same agenda, we do share the same God.

That, in and of itself, may be what the world most needs to witness!