The Undivded Mind

1 Corinthians 3:5 What then is Apollo’s? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (ESV)

    Who is Apollo’s? Apollo’s is introduced in the Scriptures in Acts 18, and we see in Acts 19 Apollo’s was in Corinth. “Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”
    Who is Paul? We get Paul’s testimony in Acts 26, although there is so much to know about the Apostle Paul, for sake of space we will keep it limited to these few Scriptures. “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
    We see the Lords calling in both the life of Apollo’s and Paul’s. Both were called to be a witness for the Lord. Both were men who knew the scriptures and understood the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, as their ministry and calling was to share of the grace we have in Christ Jesus through faith in his name. They stood up and spoke boldly in times of heavy persecution. We also know that Paul established the church in Corinth, and Apollo’s encouraged and greatly helped those who through grace had believed in Jesus.
    But Paul himself recognized that he was a servant of the Lord. Simply empowered, lead and guided to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in all he did. The rest would be in vain, but Paul knew that humanity has caused a divide within the body of Christ. That men would separate over preference or opinion. I think this is such a key topic for the church today. Its only natural that there would be divisions, but Paul was writing to them in regards to the “name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” That we need to die to self, put off the fleshly thoughts, and put on the mind of Christ. He refers to this just back in chapter 2, “ ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” I like what Paul says in Philippians 2:5 in reference to selfless thinking, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

Application:
I have allowed for thoughts to enter that have divided me from being in communion with my housemates, today I will pray for a denial of these thoughts and put on the mind I have in Christ Jesus.