Cricket fans can argue for hours about which captain was greatest, and the arguments can turn surprisingly bitter. Put the same instinct into a church and it becomes 'our pastor' against 'their pastor', one preacher's followers against another's. That is what Paul heard had happened in Corinth, the busy port city where he had spent eighteen months. Some said they belonged to Paul, some to Apollos, some to Peter, and some, perhaps most proudly of all, just to Christ. Paul does not pick a team. He asks a sharper question: was Paul crucified for you? And he points them back to the cross.
Where it sits in the story: Act 5 — the church in the cities of the empire, learning what the gospel means for community life. Corinth was prosperous, competitive and status-conscious, and the young church brought those habits in with it. First Corinthians is Paul's longest pastoral letter, dealing with problem after problem. It begins where all the problems begin: a church ranking its leaders and forgetting that its life comes from a crucified Messiah.
What this chapter is doing: To open the letter by reminding the Corinthians who they are in Christ, to confront the rivalries splitting the church, and to set the cross at the centre as the measure of all wisdom and status.
- 1:1–3 — Paul and Sosthenes greet the church of God in Corinth, called to be holy together with everyone everywhere who calls on Jesus' name.
- 1:4–9 — Paul thanks God for the grace they received: they are rich in speech and knowledge and lack no spiritual gift. God is faithful and will keep them to the end.
- 1:10–17 — Chloe's household has reported quarrels. People claim to follow Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Christ. Paul asks whether Christ is divided, and is glad he baptized only a few, since he was sent to preach, not to gather a following.
- 1:18–25 — The message of the cross looks like foolishness to those perishing but is God's power to those being saved. Some demand signs and others seek wisdom, but Paul preaches Christ crucified, and God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.
- 1:26–31 — Look at yourselves, Paul says: not many were wise, powerful or well-born. God chose the foolish, weak and despised, so no one can boast except in the Lord.
Key verse: 1 Corinthians 1:18 · So what: Loyalty to a favourite leader, preacher or denomination can quietly replace loyalty to Christ, and churches in every country split along these lines. Paul's reminder that most Corinthian believers were not people of status is also a gift to those who feel unimportant: God's choosing did not follow the world's rankings then, and it need not now.