Sometimes, reading that Bible can seem perplexing with its different cultural traditions and practices. But, at other times, it’s as if it could have been written today with a few names changed and it would align perfectly for what is happening right now.
If the apostle Paul were writing to us today, I suspect his letter to the Corinthians might sound uncomfortably familiar. I’m currently spending time in 1 Corinthians 1:1-17. The church in Corinth was surrounded by loud voices. These voices insisted this way was right, that group was wrong, and those people were the problem. People who claimed to be followers of Christ were being pulled into camps, arguments, and loyalties that slowly became more important than Jesus and Jesus’ message of Good News. Paul’s response in verses 10-13 warned them against their infighting and serve to help guide us today.
“Be careful,” he says, in so many words. “You think you’re standing firm? Watch where you’re putting your trust.”
Paul reminds the church of Corinth that placing more attention on human voices than on the teaching of Christ leads to divisions that ultimately harm the strength and unity of their ability to share the message of Jesus’ Good News. That feels painfully current.
We live in a media-saturated world where voices compete constantly for our loyalty. News outlets, social media feeds, commentators, and algorithms all promise clarity—but often thrive on outrage. They want people to “click” more and more people click on things that make them angry. They don’t just inform; they divide. They tell us who to fear, who to blame, and who we should never listen to again.
Paul doesn’t tell us to ignore the world, but he does tell us to be on guard. Just because a voice is loud doesn’t mean it’s faithful. Just because it confirms our opinions doesn’t mean it leads us toward Christ.
To look first to Christ is to ask hard questions of the voices we listen to:
Does this draw me closer to love of neighbor?
Does this harden my heart or soften it? Does this help me see others as members of the same body of Christ — or as enemies to defeat?
We who live in smaller communities know something about this. We can’t easily write people off when we see them at the grocery store, our children’s school programs, or at funerals for people we love. We are reminded, again and again, that the person on the “other side” is still a person. A person that God loves.
Paul’s message is not about being oblivious to the world around us, nor about being naïve or silent. It’s about being rooted in Christ first and knowing how to recognize when your trust has been misplaced in public figures, shifted into values that may be important, but not as important as values found in following Jesus, or swept away by fear and hatred. We seek first to be rooted in Christ, rooted in scripture, rooted in love…and rooted so deeply enough that when the winds of division blow, we are not carried away.
So as we scroll, watch, listen, and talk this week, may we remember Paul’s words, “I follow Christ.” And may we choose, again and again, to look first to Christ — the one who guides us to love God, love others, and holds us together when everything else seems determined to pull us apart.
Grace and peace to you, in a world that could use a little more of both. And by “little”, I mean a lot.
