Throughout time, there have been conflicts and division around us due to the diversity of political ideologies, social beliefs, or interpretations of Christian theology. The church is a holy community that is different from the current divisions in how we should gather together, break bread, and commune with joy in sincerity to Christ. Nevertheless, we are experiencing conflicts and divisions within the church, and when the apostle Paul sent an epistle to the Corinthian people, it was the same situation as today.
When he heard about divisions and strife in the church at Corinth, he wrote a letter. When he looked into the situation, he found out that all of them had different opinions about how best to follow their beliefs. Some of them who wanted to seem highly educated and full of wisdom said, “I’ll follow Paul’s teaching.” Some of them who emphasized a more charismatic way of explaining God’s words valued signs and wonders and said, “I’ll follow Peter’s teaching.” And those who liked eloquent speaking said, “I’ll follow Apollos’s teaching.” They didn’t seek only Jesus who died on the cross for us. There was something more that they wanted. The crucifixion of Jesus on the cross was not enough for them. It was a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the Greeks (1 Corinthians 1:23). They tried to seek a better way to satisfy what they wanted. The major problem that the church of Corinth had was concentrating on wisdom and signs more than knowing who Jesus Christ was. So when the Jews and Greeks asked Paul for wisdom and signs, he emphasized: “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God”(1:24).
We Christians may face numerous spiritual problems if we do not feel that Jesus Christ alone is sufficient. It might mean that we could be easily tempted. James said, “Each one is tempted when, by his evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (James 1:14). The word “enticed” is literally “taken with a bait” in Greek.
If you’ve done it before, you’ll know what sort of things you’ll need before you can go fishing. In the States, if you want to fish, you have to buy a fishing license from somewhere like Walmart, and you need to renew it every year. But once you have the licence, you have to also prepare three essential things: a fishing rod, a bobber, and bait. You entice a fish using a worm, and then you can see if a fish has taken the bait by watching the movement of the bobber.
Satan tempts in this same way—and not just us. While Jesus had been fasting for forty days, the tempter asked him, “You’re hungry, aren’t you?” If Jesus had responded, “Yes, I’m hungry, and so I need to eat,” he would have fallen for the trap. Temptation starts small. Drug addiction is similar in this way. It starts with a low dose, but it inevitably becomes a high dose. Satan’s bait that he uses to lure people is always playing on some unsatisfied feeling in us. If you and I are looking for something other than Jesus Christ and his love and grace, the tempter will try to tempt us. The tempter’s bait or trick is to make us complain and agree with his negative suggestions.
A Christian is called to have the mind of Jesus to serve God and love others. In Jesus Christ, we should be united by mutual love and worship God together in harmony. We should respect every individual life rather than insisting on our own opinion, value, or righteousness. Because of him, we are in Christ Jesus, who has become our wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption (1:30). May this be the day we live a life where Jesus alone is sufficient.
