When We Major On The Minors

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, I urge all of you to be in agreement and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. My brothers, some members of Chloe's family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to the Messiah." Is the Messiah divided? Paul wasn't crucified for you, was he? You weren't baptized in Paul's name, were you? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanus. Beyond that, I'm not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) For the Messiah did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah won't be emptied of its power.

Agreement.....what a big concept to wrap our brains around. We hear lots of people say we should be in agreement, but what is agreement? Websters says,

1
a : the act or fact of agreeing
b : harmony of opinion, action, or character : concord

The act of agreeing with a harmony of opinion. It sounds so clean and easy but can we remember anyone in our lives that we in every aspect of life agreed with completely? My parents....no. Any friends......no. Teachers or bosses....no. Not even my wife lol!
These people found themselves in division and disagreement and Paul exhorts them to agree and not have divisions, but what is Paul saying with the word agreement? Is he saying they should agree in all things or he is simply showing that we should agree in the major pillars of the faith and allow minors to simply fall to the wayside for the greater unity?
Paul says who cares who baptized them because it wasn't the baptism that was primary, but the power of the cross and the messiah that died and rose again for us!
How often do we let minors hinder the greater unity of the body. I follow 16 fundamental doctrines of my denomination, but some are debatable without division.......others are not. Are we looking for unity or uniformity when we come in contact with other believers? I choose unity in diversity under the fundamental truth of Jesus, my messiah.

Lord, I ask you show me how to handle minors without compromising your majors. Show me where I can be a vessel for unity and help me to not make people like me, but show them how they can become more like Jesus in His name. Amen

Location:S Lincoln St,Portland,United States