A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker (given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, January 23, 2011)
“IDENTITY THEFT”
(Homily text: I Corinthians 1: 10 – 18)
Did you get one of those scam calls last week (I think it was on Tuesday), saying something to the effect of “This is the security department of Farmer’s State Bank. Your debit card has been frozen, and you must call us to confirm your account.” (Or something to this effect).
Deb and I both got this same, recorded message on our respective cell phones.
Fortunately, neither of us fell for the scam, but apparently many people in the area did get the same call. Enough of them did for it to make the local newscasts last week.
Now what is at work here is nothing less than identity theft. A very common crime these days, crooks will try to steal personal information (like debit card numbers and PINs), and their aim isn’t to impersonate someone else, but to steal assets that rightfully belong to another person.
And that is precisely what was at work within the church in Corinth: Identity theft!
St. Paul probably had at least as many headaches with the Corinthian church as he did with any other church.
Alas, for Paul, he had to deal with many a problem among the Corinthian Christians: immorality, lawsuits between believers, out-of-control Eucharistic celebrations, and petty fights.
But fortunately for us, the Holy Spirit, in His infinite wisdom, made sure that Paul’s woes with the Corinthians were preserved in the New Testament, for we have two of his letters preserved which can enlighten us as we walk the Christian walk with God.
It is certain that some of the problems that Paul had to deal with are also problems that the Church has had to deal with again and again as time has passed. Indeed, some of the exact problems that Paul had to harshly deal with are extant within our own part of the Christian family today. In this regard, I think if the shame that is associated with the existence of lawsuits between believers and the tolerance of open immorality within the Body of Christ.
That said, let’s look more closely at the problem of identity theft within the Corinthian Church.
Paul begins by addressing the problem in our passage today by saying, “It has been reported to me by Chlo’e’s people that there is quarreling among you.” Having appealed to them to be in agreement with one another, and that there would be no dissensions among them, Paul continues by saying that people seem to be lining up behind one or another of the major figures in the early Church (or who had ministered to the Church): Paul, Appol’los, and Cephas (Peter).
But Paul goes on to ask on what grounds such partisan identities might be based? “Is Christ divided?” he asks. “Was Paul crucified for you?” he adds. “Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” he says.
But Paul’s consistent focus remains on Jesus Christ, and especially on the mystery of Christ crucified. “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” he says.
What Paul is driving at is that, by transferring the focus away from Jesus Christ and onto these other figures, the Corinthians are depriving Christ of something that belongs to Christ alone: devotion, glory and honor.
Succinctly put: a form of identity theft.
Paul drives at a reality which the Church would do well to remember: There can be no other basis for unity among Christians than devotion to Christ. Once we put Him first, and subject our wills, our wishes and our desires to His will, then we will have the basis for true unity within the Body of Christ.
No matter how much we might try to “make nice” with each other, failing a central devotion to Christ’s authority as Head of the Church, there will never be true unity within His body.
Why is this principle important?
The simple reason is that such true unity, a unity in which peoples of divergent interests and backgrounds show deep and abiding Christian love for one another, presents the strongest evidence that Christ is truly revered as head over all.
Disunity, bickering, and even lawsuits between believers, belies the message of reconciling love that we proclaim.
Hypocrisy is another name for such a disconnect between what we proclaim and what we practice.
St. Paul recognized the dangers to evangelism that the body of Christ in cient Corinth risked experiencing, for their behaviors mirrored the pagan society in which they found themselves.
Their actions allowed nonbelievers to point fingers and say, “You’re just like us, you behave just like we do!”
Of course, the next logical conclusion would be for those pagan observers to conclude, “Why should we become followers of Jesus Christ? It makes no difference in how we should live. Where’s the benefit in being a Christian?” they might conclude.
The lessons for us are simple and clear:
- So long as the Church is made up of peoples with differing backgrounds, interests and expectations, the possibility for divisions and party spirit to arise will always be a reality that the Church will have to be aware of.
- True unity within the Body of Christ can be achieved only when each believer subjects his/her will to that of Christ, endeavoring to understand what is the mind of Christ in each and every matter that arises, and holding each other’s convictions with esteem and honor.
- When true unity within the Church is achieved, it sends the most powerful witness to observers that Christ is truly present within His people,
What we are describing in these last points is nothing less than a classic definition of the word ministry.
Recall with me that the word “ministry” has as its Latin root the same word from which the English word “minus” also arises.
Described this way, a ministry becomes an undertaking in which we pour out ourselves in service to another. In so doing, we emulate the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came, not to be served, but to serve.
May we, by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, find true unity with Christ by the reconciling power of the Cross.
AMEN.
