Fences need mending

1 Cor. 1:10
“I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the Church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.”

In our cowboy era here in the United States, the writers and publishers brought an excitement to stories about the Wild West. Although cattle stampedes and gun fights were the exceptions and not the rule of everyday life, they were what the inner man wanted to express, strength, individualism, and the do it myself attitude.

These inner qualities may well be what the Apostle Paul is addressing in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians. The early church was letting the inner man rule in their emotional make up.

For clarification purposes, I am using the term “inner” man, speaking of the natural emotional being that we are. Paul addresses the Corinthian believers as saints, brothers, called by God, gifted by God, and yet he will discuss the failures and divisions with this Church.

In the cowboy era, and the Church throughout history, it isn’t the most exciting things that produce the desired benefit. Cowboys spent a lot of time mending fences to protect the cattle. As we so often see, mending fences in the Church is just as necessary.

Jim Mussetter