1. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! JERRY D. PORTER Northwest Nazarene University Board of Trustees Nampa, Idaho October 13, 2010

2. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

3. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

4. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor… So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. (1 Cor 3:1-8, 21-23 NIV)

5. WE BELONG TO CHRIST!  The Corinthian Christians were characterized by jealousy and quarreling.  Some Christians today find fault with their brothers and sisters in Christ and quarrel over insignificant issues.  Their quarreling is divisive and even destructive to the body of Christ.

6. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! Some are quick to find fault with Pentecostals or Calvinists. They are proud to be followers of Wesley, Arminius, Bresee, Wiley, Hybels, Warren, or Castellanos. Who are all these men? “Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task.” (1 Cor. 3:5b)

7. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! People become loyal followers of a human leader and they become known as “Lutherans,” “Calvinists,” “Wesleyans,” or “Hybelists.” Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that these heroes are important … but “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Cor. 3:7)

8. WE BELONG TO CHRIST!  “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-- all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. ” (I Cor. 3:21-23)  Some Christians boast about their leader’s superiority to other Christian workers or teachings. The body of Christ is divided as we align ourselves with our preferred spiritual “guru.”

9. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! “ All are yours. ” (1 Cor. 3:23) Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Bresee, Gothard, Hybels, Warren, and Castellanos BELONG TO ME and I BELONG TO CHRIST. I do not “belong” to them. I am not a blindly loyal “Wesleyan” or “Breseean.” I am a CHRISTIAN and I can learn from anyone without “belonging” to them.

10. WE BELONG TO CHRIST!  Some people have a “faith system” like truths written on a balloon. If any of these are not true … then nothing is true!

11. WE BELONG TO CHRIST!  Some people have a “faith system” like truths written on a balloon. If any of these are not true … then nothing is true!  We need a “faith system” of building blocks on the foundation, Jesus Christ! If I discover that one of my “blocks” is not true or not important, I simply streamline my faith on “nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!”

12. WE BELONG TO CHRIST! I DO NOT BELONG to any mentor, teacher, guide, or spiritual hero. All spiritual leaders have feet of clay and the life and the teaching of even the best include inconsistencies and blind spots. I can be taught and enriched by them but I DO NOT BELONG to them. They BELONG TO ME and I BELONG TO CHRIST!

13. WE BELONG TO CHRIST!