The candidates for President are giving a lot of attention to Florida right now. The concerns of Floridians and the issues that confront our state are foremost in their minds and the topics of their campaign speeches. One might get the idea that Florida is the most important state in the Union to these candidates — and it is … this week. Following the voting in our primaries on Tuesday the surviving candidates will quickly adjust their priorities and emphases to address the concerns and issues of other states and their citizens. Such is the nature of politics.
The nature of politics also involves dividing people into parties and camps. While many politicians speak of unity, they are actually working very hard to create divisions. They need to divide people in order to get the support and votes necessary to win the nomination they are seeking. This is tricky business in the primary season as the tools employed to divide candidates within one party can provide ammunition for the opposing party's candidate in the general election. Hence the difficult task of dividing while maintaining unity.
In today's Epistle lesson we find this same issue in the church. The congregation at Corinth was divided. The divisions that had taken place were along the lines of which church leader people identified with. Some liked Paul better than Peter. Others liked Apollos better than Paul. Still others didn't identify with any leader. Their rebuke is harsh. All who are called by Christ into the Faith are united in Him, not divided. There is no place for such divisions when we are untied in Christ.
Divisions continue in the Church today. Some people consider all such divisions as bad, but some of those divisions are essential for genuine unity. It may appear as though the Church is thoroughly and hopelessly divided through differences in teachings and practices, but for all who confess Jesus as Savior and Lord there is a unity that transcends these outward divisions. In the Cross of Jesus we are one with Him and with one another. The Gospel is the power that divides the faithful from the unfaithful and the power that unites all believers in Christ Jesus.
