{"id":799,"date":"2005-01-23T21:42:17","date_gmt":"2005-01-23T21:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=799"},"modified":"2020-12-02T22:04:15","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T22:04:15","slug":"is-christ-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/is-christ-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Christ Divided?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1 Corinthians 1:10-18<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 23, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man was driving up a steep, narrow mountain road. A woman was driving down the same road. As they pass each other, the woman leans out of the window and yells, \u201cPig!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man immediately leans out of his window and replies \u201cWitch!\u201d or a word that rhymes with \u201cwitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They each continue on their ways, and as the man rounds the next corner, he crashes into a pig in the middle of the road. If men would only listen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re going to the Men\u2019s Retreat next weekend to learn how to listen better. Differences between men and women are quite striking. Some say, \u201cMen are from Mars, women are from Venus.\u201d I would say, \u201cMen are from Home Depot, women are from Nordstrom\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard our country described as rich and poor, urban and rural, conservative and liberal. This past week, we were once again reminded that we are Democrat and Republican, red and blue. How about \u201cHard and Soft?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a new book by a political analyst Michael Barone entitled, Hard America, Soft America<\/em>. Here he describes that in our country we are divided between those who are Hard and those who are Soft. Hard America is marked by competition and accountability; while Soft America is defined by government programs and social safety nets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example of Soft America is our public schools. It\u2019s filled with progressive values and the belief that all students can grow and learn. Playground games that seem to be too competitive and cruel like dodge ball are banned in Soft America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard America, on the other hand, is not afraid of competition. Companies fire people when corporate mergers promise greater profits and the military puts its people through intense physical training exercises or use plastic guns in a high school recently to win recruits. There\u2019s nothing warm and fuzzy about Hard America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On TV, we can also see examples of Soft America and Hard America. Soft America is HGTV and The Learning Channel where you learn how to remodel your house or to learn what not to wear. But Hard America is reality shows like The Apprentice<\/em> when Donald Trump tells you that \u201cYou\u2019re fired!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard vs. Soft. Competition vs. Caring. It\u2019s one way to view a divided and polarized America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church in Corinth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dividedness and polarization can be seen in the church too. Paul\u2019s letter to the church in Corinth reveals divisions and differences. He pleaded with the Christians to settle their differences, \u201cI appeal to you, brothers and sisters,\u201d he wrote in his first letter, \u201cby the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose\u201d (1 Cor. 1:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corinthian church was like a shattered Greek urn, lying all in pieces. Some members were swayed by brilliant rhetoric, others were influenced by knowledge, others impressed by spiritual gifts, and still others attached importance to wealth and social status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was sexual immorality in the church\u2014a man living with his father\u2019s wife\u2014and this behavior was being tolerated by some (5:1-2). There were abuses at the Lord\u2019s Supper, with the rich arriving early and enjoying the very best food and drink, while the poor arrived later and had only the leftovers to consume (11:17-22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the face of all of these divisions and problems, Paul calls the Corinthian Christians to be \u201cunited in the same mind and the same purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unity was a problem then and it\u2019s a problem now. We can say that in our churches, there\u2019s a huge division between the Hard Faith people and the Soft Faith people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard Faith & Soft Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hard Faith people place an emphasis on the obligations of religious life, and they appreciate moral clarity\u2014their scriptural foundation is a covenant with God, an agreement defined by righteous living. If your faith is hard, you\u2019re focused on knowing God\u2019s truth, keeping the Ten Commandments, and living a disciplined life in a community of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soft Faith people see religion as a liberation movement. They tend to stress God\u2019s love for the oppressed of the earth, and they trace their spiritual roots to the exodus, when God brought the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. If your faith is soft, you\u2019re focused on experiencing God\u2019s grace, keeping the commandments of Jesus to love God and neighbor, and living a life that is open and receptive to new understandings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard faith is all about obligation, clarity, covenant, truth and discipline. Soft Faith is all about liberation, charity, exodus, grace, and openness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re not talking right or wrong here, good or bad, because both sides are important to the church, both have deep roots in our Scripture and tradition, and both are necessary for a fully formed faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Hard and Soft perspectives create a tricky tension\u2014they cause a kind of magnetic pull as they draw people of faith in opposite directions. We find ourselves polarized and divided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apostle Paul had similar problems in Corinth, where the Christians of that community felt drawn to different leaders in the early church. Some felt they belonged to Paul, others to Apollos, others to Cephas, and still others to Christ. Some of the leaders were eloquent, some were not\u2026some were Hard, and some were Soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Christ Divided<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Paul rejected these distinctions by asking the Corinthians point blank, \u201cHas Christ been divided?\u201d Paul was saying that it wasn\u2019t he who was crucified or that they were baptized in the name of Paul. The unifying reality is always going to be Jesus Christ, whether we are Hard or Soft, competitive or caring, obligated or liberated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amazing thing about Jesus is that he is simultaneously Hard Jesus and Soft Jesus. The Hard Jesus lays out the obligations of discipleship, and is clear about the Christian way of life. He calls us into a New Covenant, one that is sealed in his own blood. He is devoted to the truth\u2014in fact, he himself is \u201cthe way, and the truth, and the life\u201d (John 14:6<\/a>)\u2014and asks his disciples to be so disciplined that they actually deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow him. You simply cannot get any Harder than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Jesus is the Soft Jesus. He liberates us from the captivity to sin and death, and challenges us to show Christian charity to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the imprisoned. He leads us on a new exodus, one that passes through death to everlasting life. And he shows amazing grace to all who follow him in faith, receiving with open arms the outcasts, the sinners, the brokenhearted, and the sick. He is a Soft, Soft Savior\u2014no doubt about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apostle Paul knows this, which is why he calls for unity in the midst of their diverse views. He doesn\u2019t expect the Corinthians to have identical views and perspectives on all things, nor does he expect them to live out their Christian faith exactly the same way. But he does expect them to be united in their determination to follow Jesus, and equally dependent on the power of the \u201ccross of Christ\u201d (v. 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Paul doesn\u2019t want to do anything to distract people from the cross\u2014the clearest possible symbol of Jesus\u2019 sacrificial death and life-giving resurrection. He doesn\u2019t want to baptize or speak with eloquence or do anything that might turn people away from the central message of what God has done for us through Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cross of Christ is what unites us, according to Paul. It is the perfect symbol of Hard Truth and Soft Grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FCBC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we started the new 9:30 Worship Service last June, some people expressed fear that it would divide our church. Some thought that our different music traditions would render us without the ability to worship together again. Some thought that our theological differences would gradually pull us farther apart. From where we may have received our scriptural understandings of either Hard Truth or Soft Grace, we feared that these differences might lead us to divisions. But today, we have seen that these differences do not mean that we have to lose sight of the centrality of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of us will naturally practice Hard Faith, and we\u2019ll be clear about our beliefs, our practices, our Scriptures and our morals. But at the same time, some of us will embrace a Soft Faith, and we will show charity to others as we focus on hospitality, inclusiveness, outreach projects and unconditional love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember our Vision\/Mission Statement? On the back of your bulletins, it reads,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The First Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco is a multigenerational bilingual bicultural church. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be a people so transformed by God\u2019s gracious love in Jesus Christ that we joyfully commit ourselves in worship, witness, discipleship, and ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the very onset, we recognize that we are people with differences: different ages, different languages, and different cultures. Through the Holy Spirit, we are called by God\u2019s gracious love in Jesus Christ\u2014Soft Faith that we commit ourselves in worship, witness, discipleship, and ministry\u2014Hard Faith. Soft Faith and Hard Faith are integrated in Jesus Christ for our sake so that whatever might possibly pull us apart is brought together on the Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t pretend to believe that there are no differences that exist in our church today. We have Hard Faith Christians and Soft Faith Christians. And if we were to sit down and start pressing for our beliefs and convictions, we would no doubt come to the realization that how on earth can we be united as one church. Like the Corinthian Christians, the question \u201cIs Christ divided?\u201d could be asked of us too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What unites us is always going to be more powerful and all-embracing than what pulls us apart. The way for us to be \u201cunited in the same mind and the same purpose\u201d is the powerful message of the cross. The message is that we stay focused on the power of God seen on the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not a matter of whether you belong to Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Pastor Mak or Pastor Chris or me. It\u2019s not a matter of whether you were baptized by Pastor Mak, Pastor Chris or me. It\u2019s not even important that one speaks so eloquently because it may distract us from what is central to our faith. What only matter is the powerful message of the cross of Christ that symbolizes for us God\u2019s Soft Grace of mercy and forgiveness and God\u2019s Hard Truth that as Christians, we are to follow Christ that leads us to suffer with him in the cost of discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foolishness of the Cross<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul tells the Corinthian Christians to not empty the power of the cross with their divisions and differences. He himself would not speak so eloquently in wisdom so that it would not reduce the power of the cross of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cross of Christ is why we are Christians. We believe that God so love the world that he gave his only Son to die on the cross so that we may receive forgiveness, mercy and grace and the blessings of eternal life. If you were to ask someone who has never heard of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross, that person would call it foolish. Why would anyone and especially God do such a thing when none of us deserved it. According to all earthly perspectives, the cross is a foolish thing to have happen to you. But we are not talking about what we might do because it\u2019s never been about us\u2014it has always been about God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the foolishness of the cross that led the Baptist missionaries in the first place to believe that Christianity can be rooted with the Chinese in Chinatown 125 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the foolishness of the cross that unites our CCU brothers and sisters from our different denominational backgrounds to join as an ecumenical organization for ministry and to share around the dinner table tonight at Meriwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the foolishness of the cross that unites our multigenerational, bilingual bicultural church that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be a people so transformed by God\u2019s gracious love in Jesus Christ that we are still together in ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the foolishness of the cross that we receive the power of God to be united as one church family comprising of Hard Faith people and Soft Faith people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may think that you are more a Hard Faith person or you might think that you are more a Soft Faith person. Both are required if we are going to follow a Hard-Soft Savior as his witness in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracious God, join our hearts together when we profess our faith in Christ who on the cross died for our sins so that we may have eternal life. Teach us that the divisions and differences that we may see are pale to the unity and oneness that we have in you. We pray that the rich diversity expressed by us is a display of your glorious creation. In the name of Jesus Christ who is our both Hard and Soft Savior, we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 January 23, 2005 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. A man was driving up a steep, narrow mountainContinue readingIs Christ Divided?<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,11],"class_list":["post-799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-corinthians","tag-fcbc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2466,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}