Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Luther or Calvin?

Around the year A.D. 55 Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church. In that letter – among many other topics he mentioned basically that their contentions were not good.

1 Corinthians 1:11 – 18

They were arguing about who they were affiliated with. You could call it a divisive spirit. Some in the town of Corinth said they were of Paul, others Apollos or Cephas. When we look at the church today it becomes pretty obvious that this kind of contentiousness would not be uniting. Paul went on to argue he was glad he hadn’t baptized many, and that he was not assigned to baptize – but to preach, and as a church planter it says a lot about what Paul thought was a priority. If I understand my church history Luther did not want a church started after him, and Calvin would not have wanted Gods word named after him either, and yet here we are. Personally I think the less we emphasize doctrines and mans titles and inventions – and the more we emphasize a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our savior, and focus on Christ and Him crucified for our sins – which we need to be repentant of and serious about – the more we will find fellowship and unity in and among the bretheren, and less debates, contention and vindication as we walk our walk.