Division

Bible passage: 1 Cor 1.10-17

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Overview of the sketch / ad-lib

This has to be acted out very well so the young people believe that what is going on is real..

We sung a song (part of our youth service) and then one leader said, ‘I’m going to pray’. Another tutted and said, ‘It doesn’t say there’s a prayer here in the script’ (pointing to ‘script’).

From this an argument developed about ‘Well you didn’t give me a copy of the script’ etc. – much of this was ad-libbed. Gradually the skit becomes absurd with more and more ridiculous allegations/insults being branded (be careful here!)

So things you can bring up (politely) are things that others wear; their accent; the way they say things; that they’re the pastor’s ‘pet’; bring up some fake (and not at all serious) alleged ‘sin’. Basically just banter with each other!!

It ended with the youth leaders taking sides and physically putting dividers between the young people. Some of the young people were actually convinced (!), with some reluctantly taking sides and one sitting in the middle, ‘because she wasn’t going to take sides.’

The point is that this is what the Corinthian church were doing, with one group saying ‘I follow Paul’ and another saying, ‘I follow Apollos’. Paul writes and tells them off, pointing out that Christ is the one they follow and that they should work together in unity.

And then you’ll probably need to provide counselling for the upset young people! So don’t go that far…!

1 Corinthians 3.1-9 are also important verses:

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.