Looking to spiritual giants is the first basis for dividing the church (1 Cor. 1:12-15; 4:6). This is not something new; it is an ancient matter which existed even in the first century. Some of the Corinthian believers who were for Paul said, “We are of Paul; we were saved through Paul’s gospel preaching.” Another group said, “We are of Apollos. We follow him because he is so good in expounding the Scriptures.” Still another group, speaking of Peter, said, “We are of Cephas. He is the number one apostle, so we are for him.” This shows men in their flesh uplifting spiritual giants. Paul truly helped people to be saved, Apollos surely was good in expounding the Scriptures, and Cephas was really the leading apostle. However, for the Corinthian believers to uplift them and belong to them, and thereby to separate themselves from others was to act in their flesh; this is not allowed by God.
In today’s Christianity, however, people actually consider this kind of division as being a glorious matter. Someone may say, “I am a Lutheran,” which means, “I belong to Luther.” Another may say, “I am a Wesleyan. I belong to Wesley.” We should not belong to Luther or Wesley because we consider them to be spiritual giants. Was Wesley crucified for us? Were we baptized in the name of Luther? This is what Paul asked the Corinthians when he said, “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1:13). Paul really knew how to speak. In chapter 3 he told the Corinthians that he belonged to them. He said, “Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas...; all are yours” (v. 22). The Corinthians said, “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1:12). Paul turned it around and challenged them, seeming to say, “Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas—all are yours. It is not that you are ours; rather, it is that we are yours.” Today people say, “I am of Luther” or “I am of Wesley,” but I believe if Luther and Wesley were alive today, they also would say, “I, Luther, belong to you,” and “I, Wesley, belong to you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we should never uplift any spiritual giant. In his Epistle Paul strongly rebuked the Corinthians concerning this matter. He seemed to be saying, “Why do you esteem me beyond what has been written in the Scriptures? You are proud, yet you use me as your ground. You highly appreciate me but look down on Apollos; this is altogether of the flesh and according to the manner of men in the world. People in the world exalt men and form parties. But these things should not be in the church. In the church only Christ is the Head, all the glory should go to Him, and all the people should belong to Him. If this was our situation, there would be no division in the church.”
The Scriptures also speak of dividing the church by taking the instrumentality, that is, the source, of our salvation as the one to whom we should belong. Among the children of God, many will not say that they belong to someone, but there is still a general atmosphere of paying attention to the person who preached the gospel to them or who baptized them. This is also not allowed by God (1 Cor. 3:4-8, 21-23). I believe that some of the Corinthian believers said, “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos,” because they were either saved through Paul or edified by Apollos. Since they were saved through Paul and edified by Apollos, they considered the instrumentality of their salvation or the instrumentality of their edification as a basis for their loyalty. Today many are like this. One says, “I was saved through So-and-so and therefore I should belong to So-and-so.” Another says, “Because I was saved in such-and-such a denomination, I should belong to it.” Still another says, “Because I was perfected by such-and-such a mission, I should belong to it.” God is not pleased with this. May we forget who led us to salvation, and may we also forget who baptized us. May we see that there is only one Christ, who is our Savior and who was crucified for us, and that we were baptized into His name and belong to Him. We should bear only the name of Jesus, and we should say, “I am saved by Christ,” nothing more.
I can still remember hearing someone rebuking another, saying, “Were you not saved in such-and-such a denomination? Why do you not belong to it now? You are an ungrateful person; you are a person who drinks the water but forgets its source; you are a person who forgets his origin.” This sounds very reasonable, but who is our source? And where is our origin? Our source is Christ, and our origin is in heaven. Only a fleshly person would count those who are saved through him as his own. Only a fleshly person would require those who are saved through him to belong to his “church.” Dear brothers and sisters, we need to be rescued in this matter. Neither the instrumentality of salvation nor the instrumentality of edification can be the basis of where or to whom we belong. We must be “ungrateful” ones; we must be ones who “forget their source,” because God is not pleased that we belong to any person or any organization, and He is not pleased that any person or organization would bring people to himself or itself. The instruments used by God—all the Lord’s workers, all the works, and all the missions—must turn those who are saved and edified through them over to God Himself and to His church. All those who come to work in Taipei, after saving and edifying some people, should pass them to the church in Taipei. This is the proper way. I should not keep those who were saved through me, and you should not keep those who are saved through you. Look at today’s situation. Those who are saved through the Presbyterian Church belong to the Presbyterian Church, those who are saved through the Baptist Church belong to the Baptist Church, and those who are saved through whatever denomination belong to that same denomination. This practice, which divides the church, is absolutely condemned by God.
May the Lord have mercy on us! We should not belong to anyone, and we do not want anyone to belong to us. We should belong only to our Lord Christ, to God Himself, to His church on earth. In whatever place we are saved, we belong to the church in that place. After Paul saved some people in Corinth, he gave them over to the church in Corinth. After Apollos edified the saints in Corinth, he turned them over to the church in Corinth. Peter, that is, Cephas, worked in Corinth and gained fruit; afterward, he gave the fruit of his labor to the church in Corinth. These three servants, who were used greatly by God, did not set up their own “church” in Corinth. Rather, they all participated in the building up of the church in Corinth, the one local church in Corinth. It was the pitiful Corinthian believers who divided Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. This is exceedingly foolish. Paul absolutely did not agree with this. He told the believers in Corinth, “You say that you belong to me, Paul; but actually I, Paul, belong to you. As an apostle and a servant of God, I am for you; I do not ask that you be for me. You are not mine; rather, I am yours.”
We need to see clearly that the early apostles worked for God in different places, but they all gave the fruit of their labor to the church in that place. Those in Corinth gave their fruit to the church in Corinth, and those in Ephesus gave their fruit to the church in Ephesus. Wherever they worked, they turned their fruit over to that place. Today’s situation is different: those who are saved are kept by those who save them. One keeps those whom he saves, and another keeps those whom he saves. When a person who belongs to a denominational church is not kept securely and joins another group, then that group is accused of sheep stealing. But where do the sheep belong? Whose sheep are they? The sheep belong to heaven; they belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. No man or organization can reckon the sheep as his own or its own. Today’s Christianity is truly pitiful; it is so pitiful that there are even fights over souls. This is too shameful! We should never have a share in something that divides the church like this.