Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1Corinthians 1:12-13
Here, Paul is saying that our loyalty needs to be to Jesus. Since Jesus declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life, our allegiance is to the Truth. If we decide that we are loyal to anyone else or anything else except to the truth, we become divisive and a political spirit develops. People, creeds, denominations, church, etc. are not perfect. If we have an allegiance to a person or an organization to the level that we are willing to deny the truth, deny the mistake, or not address sin, we can actually go against truth.
In recent history we have seen this with clergy’s improper relationships with members of their congregation, or a coach of a well known college having inappropriate sexual relations with minors. These and many other examples continue in various places. It is time for God’s people to speak up and be loyal to the truth!
Mistakes happen and sin occurs. In order to not show partiality, we must be loyal to the truth and address the issue. Always defending someone means they are always right, which is not true. There are times that they could be wrong and there are times that there could be more than one accurate view of the situation. By defending only one position we cause hurt, injustice and divisiveness. We need to come to the place of seeking God’s heart in any situation and not move on flattery, religious spirit, friendship, or the fear of man.
Paul asks three questions that need to be addressed in our loyalty.
1. Is Christ divided?
If we are truly followers of Jesus Christ, there should be peace and unity in relationships within the body. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be disagreements, but in everything people are submitted to one another, they are controlled by humility, and they are under their designated authority. Psalm 133 describes how pleasant is the unity of the brethren. Unity does not mean we must keep peace at all cost or not address issues that need correction. The Bible clearly tells us how to deal with correction or offenses, so it is done properly and doesn’t cause division within the body. That allows us to be loyal to the truth, but handle situations with grace so as not to cause division.
2. Was Paul crucified for you?
This is clearly speaking of putting great significance in someone other than Jesus. There are very important people in every one of our lives’. The person who led you to Christ, your mentor, your spiritual leader, a spiritual celebrity or just a very gifted person are all examples of someone you may hold in high esteem. Regardless of their importance in your life or their significance in the body of Christ, your faith must be founded on Jesus being crucified for you and not on anyone else. No other person should have the place of Jesus in our hearts regardless of what we think they can offer us.
3. Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Galatians 2:20 tells us ,” I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. When we get water baptized, we are identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Our only hiding place is in Christ. We cannot hide behind our culture, our family, a person, our education, or job title. Our only hiding place is Jesus because we were baptized in Him. The life we live has to continually be right with the Lord and intimate with Christ. If our loyalty is to someone or something else, it takes away from being hidden in Christ, and then our loyalty has been unlawfully given to someone else.
Where is your loyalty today?
Do you sift everything through the lens of truth?
Are you impartial when you have to make decisions or judgments that involve others?