It’s a serious threat in the midst of Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians. The Corinthian church has a reputation for being messed up, divisive, unholy, disorderly, unconsiderate, and all manner of things we’d like to say is just plain unbiblical. And it is, but Paul never stops addressing them as saints (1 Cor. 1:2), the church of God even, and as brothers and sisters. He even pronounces that God’s presence among them has been confirmed by the Holy Spirit (1:6). It’s unexpected and a little disconcerting, but Paul is far more sure of this “messed up” congregation’s faith than he is of the holier-than-thou Galatians. Shocking.

And yet, there’s one thing that Paul will have no tolerance for in Corinth: their divisions. In fact, the reason he says he can’t address them as people who are living by the Spirit isn’t due to their lack of proper ethics or seeming ignorance in the Scriptures, but because “there is still jealousy and dissension among you” (3:3). Another shock. Paul will eventually call them to lives worthy of the Gospel in regards to holiness and in relating to the rest of the world and in their worship, but his first priority is their dissensions and schismatic behavior.

Schisms most often occur because of strong reactions to human leaders. In some cases, it is a matter of extreme devotion to particular leaders in the church. In others, it is because of extreme opposition to particular leaders in the church. In all of these cases, Paul is downright disapproving and, perhaps, confused. “What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us.” (3:5). In other words, not much. God causes the growth. “[Christian leaders] are coworkers belonging to God. You [Christians] are God’s field, God’s building.” (3:9)

And this is where we begin to see the stupidity of these dissensions: why do we moan about Apollos’ humanity or exalt Paul’s apostolic ministry as if we belong to either of them? We are God’s. He called us. He made us grow. He owns us and is building us His way. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (3:16). Christians these days too often identify so deeply with human leaders that they are sparking an identity crisis: who are we? Who is a good Christian? Who is a bad Christian? Who needs to repent? Who needs to receive the confession? It’s when we are in the midst of those times we need to remember Paul’s challenge to us: “Are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?!” (3:3). It’s despicable when we deny the power of Christ in our lives, and deny the Spirit that lives in us, when we make our dissension about human leaders go this way, and are controlled by their jealousy. If anyone needs to repent, it is us, for behaving so divisively and acting more the like a temple of demons rather than the temple of God.

That doesn’t mean human leaders won’t be held accountable for their work. Neither do they get a free pass on what they do. That’s what Paul interrupts his own rebuke of the Corinthians’ dissension to remind them of: leaders will be held to account. But just like you, as the Church, belong to God, so do the leaders, and God will judge them on the Day of His return (3:9-15). Paul even goes more into detail later on, commanding the Corinthians, “So then, do not judge anything [about leaders] before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.” (4:5). The reason for this is simple: “What do you [Christians] have that you did not receive [from these leaders]? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (4:7).

But he returns to addressing the Corinthians here. and pronounces what is perhaps the most dreadful statement in this epistle: “If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.” (3:17). That isn’t addressed to human leaders. That is addressed to everyone. If we destroy the Church of God through our dissenting and jealousies, there will be consequences, and the evidence of such unregenerate behavior is that we indeed have unregenerate hearts, and will come under wrath.

It’s why we need Paul’s admonition: “Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise.” (3:18). If we think we are wise enough to condemn the leaders of the Church, or one another. If we think we have unlocked some deep secret in Scripture about how repentance works, or how Christians are “supposed to” confess or why one method of judgment and vindication for ourselves is biblical, we better check ourselves. Because we live in an age and culture where knowing how to scandalize, shame, and bring down religious leaders (not only Christian ones)  is the epitome of worldly wisdom. We’ve become too good at it. We need to repent.

But when we become foolish – when we commend ourselves into the hands of God, knowing that He cares for His Church, Paul has a word for us: “So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (3:21-23). And we will come to it, someday, by the grace of God, when all things will be brought to light, and we shall be as He is.