When I was in school, at the end of each school year, I would bring home an envelope and hand it to my mother. It contained my school report-which was, inevitably, bad news! So, I never waited for her to open it. Instead, I would run to the bathroom, lock the door behind me, and not come out!

In today's reading, Paul talks about a bad report, too. He mentions a report he has received about the church in Corinth, and says: ″My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you″ (1 Corinthians 1:11). We don't know who these people in Chloe's household were, but Paul considers them a reliable source. They tell him that the church is in danger of splitting. There are many ways in which you could ruin a church but, in our passage, Paul highlights two.

The first way is to fall out with each other and be divided (vv. 10-13). As Paul observes in verse 12, ″one of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas' [Peter]; still another, 'I follow Christ.'″ The church in Corinth is splitting into factions, and the word that keeps coming up is ″I″. That's the root of the problem. Divisions occur when ″I″ matters more than Christ.

Paul thus appeals to the church to be united: ″I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree″ (v. 10). While there are plenty of things which can divide us, we need to remember that there's one person who has brought us together-and that's Jesus! He's not divided (v. 13) -and so, neither should His church be.

A second way to ruin a church is to focus on human leaders and forget Jesus and His cross (vv. 13-17). It's easy to elevate human leaders, whether it's the person who led you to Christ, the youth leader who helped you grow, or the minister who prayed for you. Don't get me wrong, God does use leaders. But where does the real power lie in the church? It lies in the cross of Christ (v. 17).

In fact, Paul notes if he had simply baptised the Corinthians or impressed them with his own wisdom and hadn't preached the gospel, the one source of power-the cross of Christ-would have been emptied. Was Paul crucified for us (v. 13)? No! Only Jesus was. He gave His very life for us. And that's where the power lies-not in gifted leaders, but in the crucified Jesus.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the unity I have with fellow believers in my church, all because of Jesus. Help me to elevate Him and His cross, and nothing else.