No division

Now I plead with you, brethren, by 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 perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement  For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. – 1 Corinthians 1.10-1

There are only a few things that Paul begs, or pleads, or urges, or beseeches believers to do or not to do. He seems to save that for the really, really important stuff.

Here is something he feels really strongly about. He knew from the very start that the one thing that could destroy the church would be division from within.

He doesn't mince words here. He doesn't hold back. He lays it on the line

'I beg you,' Paul writes, 'in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:'

That you all speak the same thing

That there be no divisions

That you be perfectly joined together

That you be of the same mind

That you be of the same judgement

Paul puts it five different ways, but the issues is the same - we must be unified. We must all be on the same side. The enemy knows the one of the key concepts of battle - divide and conquer. Unity is key. As the old saying goes 'united we stand, divided we fall.'

Jesus prayed for our unity. We have the Lord’s Table to remind us of the importance of unity. The New Testament is packed with instructions about unity.

The key to unity is simple. Each of us should be growing daily to be more like Christ. If each of us are becoming more like Christ it obviously means that we are drawing closer and closer to each other. Paul speaks of this in Philippians where we read ‘let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ.’

Sure, we need to deal with daily squabbles and differences, but our primary goal must be to strive for the mind of Christ because that will always bring us together.