1 Corinthians 1:12–17 (NKJV)
Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
I repeat verse 12 here because the NKJV says, “I am of …” where the ESV I used last lesson says, “I follow …” It seems that the division in the Corinthian church sprang up from who was baptized by whom.
But it was the same gospel is all cases. How silly is that?
First-century Greece had a culture of celebrity. A lot of people “identified” with the philosopher they “followed.” Socrates, Pythagoras, and Hero were familiar names. That’s not all bad. At least they were following people who were far more worthy than the actors and musicians that are today’s “heroes.”
But “hero worship” is still a problem. The problem isn’t with the heroes; it’s with the worship. The Greek culture of identity naturally led to a division in the church. Even something as insignificant as who baptized you was important to these folks. They saw their baptizers as their “spiritual fathers.”
It’s not wrong to remember who led you to Christ and to appreciate the role they played in your life, but c’mon. They were just agents of the King Himself; it was the supernatural stuff that really mattered.
So, Paul gives thanks that he did not baptize many folks. He’s not even sure whom! That just hammers home the point that who he baptized is not important. In fact, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”
And it just so happens that Paul only baptized a handful of folks, despite preaching the gospel to multitudes. Hmmm, what a coincidence! He doesn’t have a problem with baptism; it just isn’t his thing.
And do not miss the importance of the concluding clause—not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. Paul is emphasizing that he’s no Socrates.
Again, it was the supernatural that mattered. Hearts are opened by the Holy Spirit, not brilliant rhetoric.
Our culture of celebrity is light-years worse than the culture of first-century Greece. Ours is so toxic that we even call our heroes “idols.” How unbiblical is that? American Idol was an actual TV show on ABC.
None of the contestants on that show had any impact on history. There were no Edisons or Einsteins.
