Friday
1 Corinthians 11:18-19

It’s been around forever. You will find it just about everywhere. The airplane has it—first class, business class, economy class. The baseball team has it—the top, middle, bottom of the batting order. The orchestra has it—first chair violin, second chair, third chair. Every branch of the armed forces has it—generals, colonels, majors, captains, sergeants, corporals, privates.

It is the pecking order or class distinctions. In all of the above, one group is considered better than the others. Yet, all of the above succeed or fail based on whether or not they work together.

The church in Corinth had experienced divisions. They were divided over loyalties to past leaders (1:11-13). They were divided over misunderstandings concerning the place of women in the church and how the congregation behaved in worship services (11:2-34).

Families can be dysfunctional. Churches can be dysfunctional as well. God has called us to operate in the church in the same way he has instructed us to do in our families. We are to handle conflict in a Christ-like manner. We are to forgive one another. We are to work together.