The Church in Corinth, founded by St. Paul and comprised of mostly Gentile believers, was deeply divided over many things. One of the things that they struggled with was how much they should separate themselves from the culture around them, from which many had come. Should they keep themselves totally pure and strive not to break a rule or violate a tradition of the community that they were joining, or should they recognize that they had received a new insight into the World and live freely as a way of proclaiming the power of that insight?

It turns out that pretty much every generation (and family system) in the Church since that early day has struggled with the same sorts of questions. We still struggle with that today. Paul’s advice to the community was that their decisions should always be driven by a mutual love and kindness toward each other. No matter who was “right” and who was “wrong” the correct response was to choose to stay in relationship above all other things. You can see how this is easily abused, but when both sides are honestly trying to God’s will, it is a breathtaking experience of what Shalom truly is.

In this week’s sermon, I speak about what the challenges were then and are in our day, and how I’ve seen people navigate these challenges over the years. It turns out that living into a life long loving covenant with another person is a pretty great model for what communities might do in response to division when it arises in their midst.

You can find a direct link to the video here.