El Peligro de La División

Amen, amen, iglesia, esa es una nueva cancion, canta conmigo, tu nombre es jesus, tu nombre es jesus, calma toda tempestad, tu nombre es jesus, vida a lo muerto da, tu nombre es jesus, es el que pueden salvar, y es digno de adorar, clamo a cristo, clamo al nombre que salva, reinando de mi victoria, o algo resucitará, cada vez que clamo a cristo, clamo al nombre que salva, libro de toda la gloria, algo resucitará, o cada vez que clamo a el, tengo un rey, que la muerte conquisto, la llave es el, con sus manos las tomo, y con poder, la serpiente aplasto, resucitado gran, vamos, clamo a cristo, clamo al nombre que salva, reina poder y victoria, algo resucitará, cada vez que clamo a cristo, clamo al nombre que salva, reino de toda la gloria, algo resucitará, cada vez que clamo a el, demonios cruyes, cada vez que clamo a el, demonios cruyes, cada vez que clamo a el, demonios cruyes, cada vez que clamo a el, demonios cruyes, cada vez que clamo a el, oh, cada vez que clamo a el, oh, muerte ya no reinas mas, muerte ya no reinas mas, tumba hoy vacía estas, oh, muerte ya no reinas mas, tumba hoy vacía estas, oh, muerte ya no reinas mas, tumba hoy vacía estas, la muerte vivirá, la muerte vivirá en tu nombre cristo, la muerte vivirá, la muerte vivirá en tu nombre cristo, la muerte vivirá, la muerte vivirá en tu nombre amo a cristo, amo al nombre que salva, reina poder y victoria, la gloria suscitará cada vez que amo a cristo, amo al nombre que salva, vino de toda la gloria Si yo esta mañana te dijera, si yo esta mañana te dijera que te vengo a hablar de la idolatría, ¿Qué es lo primero que se te pasa por la cabeza? Porque es muy fácil dar ese golpe, ¿no?, de idólatras, de prácticas idolátricas a otro sector de la iglesia, a la iglesia que se junta en otra calle. Ellos son los idólatras, son los otros que tienen prácticas abominables. La profunda ironía, y el golpe bajo de toda esta situación, es que nosotros somos muy rápidos para diagnosticar idolatría en otras secciones del cristianismo, pero tenemos un tremendo punto ciego para identificar la idolatría dentro de estas cuatro paredes. Y es una idolatría que yo he llamado, y no sé si alguien más le ha dado este nombre, así que si lo puedes buscar, no creo que alguien más lo haya dicho, y si lo dijo fue por pura coincidencia. Es una idolatría que yo llamo idolatría suave, o soft idolatry. La llamo idolatría suave porque es igual de perniciosa, peligrosa, morbosa, asquerosa y venenosa,

pero es suave en el sentido de que no te das cuenta que vos estás cayendo en esa clase de idolatría. Se te escurre por debajo de las puertas de Cross Church, o de cualquier iglesia cristiana, y no te das cuenta que durante años estás agachando las rodillas, hincando las rodillas, perdón, bajando la cabeza delante del Dios equivocado. Si querés saber a qué me refiero esta mañana con idolatría suave, y ver si vos has sido cómplice de esta clase mórbida de idolatría, vamos a estudiar las Escrituras, que es a lo que venís esta mañana. Si trajiste hoy tu copia de la Palabra de Dios, quiero que la pongas en alto. Si venís, tanto si es de la iglesia católica como de la iglesia cristiana, ponela bien en alto, que decimos, esta es la Palabra de Dios, y alabado sea el Señor. Quiero que vayas a Primera de Corintios, está en el Nuevo Testamento, la primera carta a la iglesia de los Corintios, Primera de Corintios capítulo 1. Y mientras estás yendo allí, una palabra más para las mujeres del retiro, hay un elemento que yo ayer le decía a mi esposa, y también a alguna de las servidoras, y es este. Las mujeres del retiro, ¿dónde están? ¿Están todas de este lado como siempre o no? Bueno, hay algunas por acá también, dispersas. Pero voy a hablarles a este lado, por más que no todas sean mujeres, y no todas hayan ido al retiro, pero bueno, justo te sentaste en el lugar equivocado. El retiro no terminó, termina hoy. Y te quiero decir a qué me refiero. Sé que hay alguna mujer que estuvo escuchando la voz del Espíritu Santo durante todo el retiro, y aún así le pusiste un freno. Vos decime cuál es la palabra, miedo al que dirán, ofensas, temor de dejar ir lo que tenés que dejar ir, temor de reconocer lo que te viene atando hace un montón de tiempo, y entiendo, yo también he estado ahí. Lo único que te quiero decir esta mañana es esto. No te durmas, por más que no hayas dormido nada los últimos dos días, porque bien puede ser que Dios te esté dando una oportunidad más. Así que escúchalo, solamente escúchalo. Hay varias mujeres que se van a bautizar hoy, al terminar el servicio,

y tal vez vos seas una de esas sin que todavía lo sepas. Solamente te pido que estés abierta a la voz de Dios, y después, toallas y ropa tenemos, no te preocupes. Si Dios te llama a vos a bautizarte, a proclamar el nombre de Jesús, esta puede ser tu mañana también. Entonces, habiendo dicho eso, ya tenés en tu Biblia 1 de Corintios, y no lo vas a ver también en tu pantalla, te voy a leer como siempre acostumbro, te voy a leer todo el texto, y después vamos a ir desglosándolo un poquito juntos. Dice así en la Escritura 1 de Corintios, capítulo 1, versículos 10 al 17, dice así la palabra de Dios. Amados hermanos, les ruego por la autoridad de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que vivan en armonía los unos con los otros, y por la autoridad de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que vivan en armonía los unos con los otros. or the others. Let there be no divisions in the Church. On the contrary, let them all be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. Well, some of you from Chloé's house told me about the fights between you, my dear brothers. Some of you say, I am a follower of Paul. Others say, I follow Apollos. Others say, I follow Peter. Others say, I follow only Christ. Is Christ divided into factions? Was I Paul crucified by you? Was any of you baptized in the name of Paul?

Of course not. I thank God that I did not baptize any of you, except for Crispo and Gallo, because now no one can say that my name was baptized. Oh, yes, also baptize those from the house of Stephan. But I don't remember baptizing anyone else. Well, Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news, not with ingenious words, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. That's it for today's text. I'm going to give you the main idea of the paragraph that I just read. If you have received, have you received today the sermon notebook, yes or no, upon entering? Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, so that everyone envies you for the booklet, if you did not receive it. Very well. If you did not receive it when you left, it seems to me that you can look for one in the Next Steps. It is a notebook where you can take notes, if you like to take notes of all the sermons from now until next year. Well, this is the main idea of the text, you will see it on your screen. This is what it says, what we just read. The church is fractured when we build our identity around its leaders, which is what I call idolatry, which is what? Soft.

But it is repaired when we remember that it was Jesus, not the leader, who was crucified, sorry, who died and rose again. I'm going to tell you again. Write it down if you can write it down. The idea is broken, the church is broken, the church is divided, the church is fractured when we build our identity, when the one who gives you value is the guy who is preaching on the stage, which is what I'm calling soft idolatry. But the church is repaired, it is rebuilt, when you remember that the one who was responsible for your sins was not the guy who speaks to you, nor was he your leader. It was Jesus of Nazareth, who died for the sinners. That's what it says, what I just read. And now we're going to break it down a little bit, like we do with the chicken for the tinder, it seems to me. What does the text say, and what do I mean by the main idea? So I divided it into three points, short. The first is this, you're going to see it on your screen. A fracture that needs to be repaired. That's in verse 10, okay? Look at what the text says, and I'm going to use this beautiful technology that I like so much, it seems to me that it brings a lot of dynamics to the preaching. It says, dear brothers, I beg you for the authority... Of whom? Let's see if I'm able to put that. The authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. What it's telling you there, they literally say the name of Jesus.

Name, in the Old and New Testaments, name means authority. That's why when you pray, you end up saying in the... Of whom? What do you mean by the name of Jesus? What you're saying is, Lord, I'm accessing your presence in the authority you give me. Who? Jesus. Name equals authority. That's in the context of the Bible, okay? Good. Paul is telling them that what he's about to emphasize is not an idea of him. It comes by authority of the Lord Jesus himself. It's like an alarm that's telling you, bro, I'm not a pre-K teacher here, that's telling you, come on, play with him, don't steal his toys. He's telling you, he's the Messiah. The one who defeated death and hell and sin is the Messiah who's going to tell you what I'm about to tell you. So pay attention, because this is not my word, says Paul, this comes by authority of the Lord Jesus. And what is he going to ask you? He says that there are no divisions in the church. What that means is that the church already had divisions, otherwise he wouldn't be writing it. Look at me for a second. It's not that the church had stopped meeting. It's not that Paul says, hey, it's been a while

since they've come together to pray, to celebrate the Eucharist, to preach. People were still baptizing in the church. The church was still singing, and according to what I read in the first letter of the Corinthians, the church was still serving, everyone had their spiritual gifts, what a thrill! But inside there was a division, several fractures. You end up getting used to the fracture. I don't know if you've ever been to the doctor or the hospital with something half broken. And the doctor, when he sees you, says, but how long have you had your arm like this? And you say, no, I think it's been like eight years. And he says, eight years, beast! How come you didn't come earlier? And this is what you told him. And I got used to it. Or not. I got used to it. I thought my arm was like this, I thought my foot was like this, I thought my face was like this. You end up getting used to the fracture. You end up normalizing it. It's the same thing that happens to you with your marriage. You're going to look for help when everything is on the floor. The reason why that happened is because you normalized the fracture. And you say, well, I guess we treat each other like this. That's how we are. The Apostle Paul is not going to swallow that, saying, OK.

I know you've gotten used to divisions within the church. I know you've gotten used to different groups saying, well, I'm on one side, I'm on the other. Now I'm going to explain a little bit of that to you. But we can't coexist with the wound. We have to treat it. And that's why he says, let's all seem united. You can't just wait for unity to happen by magic. Bro, and you know it. Unity never happens by magic. Do you know what we do in the church? When we see, or feel, or perceive that there is a little bit of conflict, you run to the other side. Because you don't like to face the conflict. And what you tell me is this. No, you see, I know there is conflict, but I come here for God. I don't come for people. I ask you a question. And what are you? An alien? Jesus created a family, and in that family there are problems, and the Holy Spirit never runs away from conflict. Maybe you've gotten used in your life to running away from conflict because you don't like it. I understand, I do it too. But the spirit of Jesus is not a spirit that runs away from division. It is a spirit that runs towards division to repair it. That's why the apostle Paul says, there is a wound, there is a fracture that we have to repair, and they have to be united. That word, in the original, united,

is the same one that he used to mend the nets. If you come from fishing, or have fished with the nets, when it breaks, what you have to do is fix it. It's the same thing he's saying. Guys, the church's nets broke. And what do we do? We say, I don't know, let the church take care of it. Have you ever heard that? I don't understand why the church, people say, I don't understand why the church doesn't fix this problem. I don't understand why the church allows it. And who is the church? To this day, I keep asking myself, who is the church? I mean, in your mind, what do you expect? That the four walls come down and start fixing the problems between us? The church, as an abstract concept, far from you, doesn't exist. Do you know who the church is? All those who are in here who have proclaimed the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, it's good that you say Amen. But that's what it means that you have to get into the problem to try to fix it too. Here, God, through the apostle Paul, is saying, the ones with the others. You have to identify where those problems are, and you have to get into it, get your hands dirty. You can't come here as if it were a theatrical act of the Walmart Amp, that you come, you pay your entrance, even if you have it free here, and you leave, and you say, what a nice sermon. Bro, it's good if you started there.

But Jesus didn't come to create an auditorium. Jesus came to create a family. In the family, there are divisions, and you have to diagnose them correctly and get into the problem. Then you say, Pastor, if you present it to me like that, I don't know if I want to be part of this church. I understand you, bro, and that's why I'm telling you. There are no small letters here, dad. The church of Jesus has many diseases. Why did Jesus come to die for sinners? Of which I am the first. So the first thing we see in the text is this. There is a fracture that has to be repaired. The worst thing you can do is start thinking about who has to repair it. You are the church. I am the church. And we can't continue diagnosing others and waiting for others or the church to solve it. You have to exchange it. And with what do you have to exchange it? The text says this. Live in harmony and be all alike. In the text, living in harmony means this. Your way of talking about other people in the church. I don't know if you have a filter on how you, when you leave here, I don't know if you have a filter on how and what to say about other people in the church. I don't know if you have it. Maybe you go to your table, you see, when you go to eat, but you destroy all the brothers and sisters. But you let them pass.

You made them into pieces. No, you see this lady, how short that skirt was. Ugh, a sinner. It should be in the dictionary, not in the cross search. You see this man who pretends to be a Christian? The Bible under the arm, do you know where I saw it yesterday? If the pastor knew. What pastor, bro? The church is full of sinners. The way you have to talk about other people in the church is how you start to fix this problem. So I think it would be good for you to start. If you want this to grow, mature in Christ, I think you and I are the first to see how we talk to each other. And it may be that they are all of the same opinion. I'm not going to stop there, but this is what I want to tell you. Here, no, no, no, I'm not giving you an idea that we all have to be best friends. I can't be the best friend of everyone, nor can you be of everyone. And the Bible never assumes that you have to have the same personality, the same tastes, etc., etc. Being of the same opinion means that. Stop being continuously with the suspicion of rivalry. Stop all the time saying, ah, surely he looked at me like that because ... If you bring that burden to the church, if you bring that burden on your shoulders that there is always a rival, that the enemy is always using people from the church to attack you. I'll tell you something, how are we going to score goals if you don't even trust your own team? All of us here have to make the beautiful decision,

those of us who know Christ Jesus as Savior, to stop assuming that everyone is against us. You bring that from the outside. But in the church of Christ it shouldn't take place, because that's what creates divisions. So, the first thing I tell you is that there is a wound, a fracture that needs to be repaired. Maybe your question is, ok, I understood all that, Pastor, what is the wound, according to the text, what needs to be repaired? What caused that fracture? That's point number two. What caused that fracture? Verses 11 and 12 say this, Well, some of the people from Chloé's house told me about the fights between you, my dear brothers and sisters. Chloé's class, we don't know much about that woman, she wasn't a gossip, you know, she was like, Chloé, the Apostle Paul was telling her that everyone was fighting, where is that gossip? She's not a gossip. Do you know why she's not a gossip? Because she's saying, it was the people from her house. If she's a gossip, I can't tell you who, but a little brother told me, look at us Hispanics, how we are, terrible. A brother told me that he heard you say that, and that breaks my heart, if you're going to say that, don't say anything.

Because it breaks a person's heart. Paul says, I don't come with gossips, there's someone from the family or employees of this woman, who was part of the church, who cared enough to come and tell me what was happening. They cared about what was happening. You fight, you didn't want to tell me, at least someone told me. And what was going on in verse 12? Some of you say, I'm a follower of Paul, others say, I follow Paul, I follow Peter, and others got fed up with everyone and said, no, I'm not one of them, I only follow Christ. Although our version says, I'm a follower, the text in the original says, I'm of Paul. Paul was a very important person, he had founded that church. Then he talks about, I'm of Apollos. Apollos had been a teacher who had helped build the church in Corinth. And then they mention Peter, who we don't even know if they knew him personally, but I understand if it caught your attention, Peter, in the first century, because between Paul and Apollos, he was the only one who had known Jesus personally before the death and crucifixion. So these people, what they were saying was, they weren't saying, I thank Paul for what he taught me. They weren't saying, I thank Apollos for how he ministered to me. They were saying, I form my own side.

I have my flag and I'm a follower of him and other people from the same church. They were saying, no, no, I'm more of a follower of Apollos. No, no, no, I'm a follower of Peter, I never knew him, but the brother has stories, bro. And others who were fed up said, look, we are the Anturrians. Only those of us who follow. That sounds good to you, right? You know that probably that was part of the division. Those are not nice people who say, oh, Jesus is my savior. No, what they're saying is, okay, you follow other leaders. I don't need any pastor. I don't come for the pastor, I don't come for anything. I don't follow anyone. I'm a crazy rebel without a cause. The only one I follow is Jesus and Jesus is mine, he's in my corner and the rest of the groups don't have him. In the end, they were all part of the same culture of celebrity that had been created within the church. Look at me, I still have you with me this morning, yes or no? None of these preachers, neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Peter, wanted people to build their identity around them. None. But people took the servants of God and turned them into celebrities.

Soft idolatry. I want you to look at me. Pay attention to me. I don't have a problem if I'm here preaching and God is speaking to you, that you respect me. This is what God has given me and that you love me and that you follow what I teach you. But you never receive a word that I tell you if it didn't come from here. Because if you only receive what you hear here because I told you, you have indeed become an idolater. You turned me into your Messiah because now I connect you with God. And you no longer suspend reasoning when I speak and say, well, why do you believe that? Because the Argentine said it. Nothing I say should matter to you three lemons unless what I tell you is Christ crucified. And this is the problem. If you and the Christian church commit that kind of soft loitering in which you not only admire a leader but also receive everything without filter, in the end you will also turn me into an idolater and I'll tell you why. Because I like it when you treat me like that. And when I start to like it when you treat me like that, I will try to do everything so that you applaud me and so that you like me. Now, indeed, the idolater is me. Because I'm looking for you to give me my identity. My friends, the Apostle Paul says something. It's okay to respect. It's okay to follow. We're going to talk about that in two or three weeks. It's okay to follow leaders. It's biblical.

But never expect a leader to be what Christ can only do for you. Never expect a church leader to give you, neither emotionally nor spiritually, what only the Messiah can give you. Because, indeed, no church leader carried the sins for you. No church leader can make the Holy Spirit for you. No church leader can create life and freedom only through the Spirit of Christ. That's why, and I finish with this, it's the last point. That's why the only thing that can repair it is the following. It is to return to the only source of identity, which is Christ. Look at what the text says. Is Christ, verse 13, is Christ divided into factions? What is the answer? No. Of course not. No one can take Jesus and divide Him. Jesus is mine, but not yours. And then, look at the questions that go to the heart of the problem. It says, Was I, Paul, crucified by you? What is the answer? Tell me. No. Then why do you seek identity in me? Says Paul. Why do you dare to put me, sticking a flag of Paul, saying I am of Paul, when I did not carry any of your sins?

When I am here because the Messiah carried my sins? When my only job was to point to Him, not to point to me? He says, Was any of you baptized in my name? What is the answer? No. And then Paul will end up saying, Look, if I baptized anyone, I don't even remember. I'm not counting. I'm not building my status regarding the other leaders. How many did I baptize? How many did Apollos baptize? How many goals did this one score? How many goals did that one score? I don't even remember, says Apostle Paul, because my job is not to baptize people in my name. My job is to announce the name of the one who saved me when I was a sinner. That is the message. What does it repair? The only thing it repairs is this. That we become like a church, only the one who was crucified by the church, and that you believe, you will see it on your screen, that you believe that the one who was crucified is the only one who can give you identity. Does anyone believe this to this extent or not? That's what Paul says. I cannot carry, look at me, there is no pastor,

there is no priest or father who can carry your sins for a simple reason, and I know you believe it, I know you believe it, because all of us are just as sinners as you are. All of us are just as broken as you are, and I have the same deep, emerging need of Jesus as you do. No one can be saved because they are connected to a leader of the church, only through personal faith in Christ. And I finish with this, the guys in the music can pass now. I finish with this, look at me, look at me. If today I could take you to that place, the Mount of Calvary, as they called it, where Christ died. Look at me, pay attention, where Christ died, ok? And I could show you the empty cross, with the blood marks, that my Messiah poured out for the sinners. And I could take you by the hand to that mountain where the empty cross of Christ is, and I tell you, look a little further, and you could see that tomb whose stone was removed at the third dawn. And you could see the emptiness. And I would ask you, what are you doing here? How did you get here? What would you tell me?

I came from far away, burdened with this guilt. And what happened with your guilt when you finally understood what Christ did on the cross? You would tell me, I fell alone. And it rolled away and I never saw it again, as John Bunyan said in the story of the pilgrim. I fell alone when I believed that the one who died on that cross had already been burdened by me. And I ask you this, okay, now take a step with me and look at all the crowd you have next to you. It's a crowd of people who don't think like you. It's a crowd of people who have made mistakes different from yours and have committed sins transcendentally different from yours. And I tell you, tell me a little bit about who they are, who is that group? And you would tell me, they also came here burdened with their guilt. And what happened to them when they saw, when they grew up, that Christ died? They also fell. Oh, really? Yes. So you're telling me that it's the same Savior who saved you than that group of people who are so different from you? And you would tell me, what? Of course. So there is no reason to continue to be divided because it's a single cross, a single Savior, a single salvation. That's what Paul is saying. What the cross of Jesus and the resurrection does, it levels the ground. It doesn't matter what knowledge you came with to the cross. It doesn't matter how deep you came. If you're someone heterosexual who has lived a promiscuous life, or you're homosexual, or bisexual, or trisexual, or whatever word you want to give them, we all come carried to the cross. There is only one Savior. And that is what constitutes a family.

That is what repairs a fractured church. Not a leader, but Jesus. The only one who died and rose again for the church. Can someone say Amen? I want you to stand up. Stand up. Let's finish praying. The leaders can come in. I want you to close your eyes. The leaders who are going to minister can come in. And those who are going to be baptized, when we start singing, they can come in. In a moment we're going to pray. Everyone with their eyes closed and no one looking. Listen to me carefully. The church is fractured when you build your identity around a leader, or a woman, or a pastor, or a father, or a priest, or a group leader. But it repairs when you remember that it was Jesus, not that leader who died and rose again. And maybe this morning you already know Christ, but you're frustrated because this leader or that leader doesn't fill your tank. She's not like I want her to be. He's not like I would like him to be. And I want to give you something that will set you free. Christ didn't put that leader or that leader to become your functional messiah. Christ put him to take you to the messiah. And maybe today is the time to stop waiting

for the messianic salvation of a man or a woman who is not Christ. If that has been you, in the name of Christ, I ask and beg you to repent of your soft idolatry. The idolatry that we have allowed to flow under the doors of our church. Can you have preferences? Of course you can. Can you have people who like how you preach, how you teach, how you lead? Yes. But never elevate them to a place where only Christ has been elevated. Never. So if that's you, when we start singing, you're going to go to the front because the word is the word of repentance for the people of this church. Pastor, are you telling me to repent of my frustration? I'm telling you to repent of what led you to live frustrated with the church. Yes, of course you did. Because deep down you've been waiting for a person to give you what only the messiah came to give you. I left there in the name of Jesus and came to Christ. And maybe this morning too. You've never believed in Christ. You've never given your life to the messiah. Never, as we heard in the testimonies, you've been listening and listening and listening.

But never, never have you knelt down and said, Christ the King, save me, save me, save me from myself, save me from my sin. Maybe you've never done that. Nunca tuviste tu momento de estar ante la cruz vacía de Jesús, y nunca entendiste como eso solo, si crees, te puede librar de tu carga. Y ahora te mando en el nombre de Jesús a que seas libre de esa carga y que creas en Cristo. Ese es mi mensaje, Cristo. If you've never done that, hoy mismo, habla con Él. Y deciles, Señor, te recibo como mi Rey, como mi Salvador, como mi Señor. Limpiame, deciles, save me, salvame, dame un nuevo corazón. Is that you? ¿Sos vos ese esta mañana? Si Dios está llamando a vos, cuando empecemos a cantar, vas a pasar para que alguien te abrace, ore por vos y te ministre. Y si ya has tomado esa decisión, hoy es la primera vez que tomas esa decisión, ¿por qué no te bautizas? ¿Por qué no proclamas el nombre de Jesús como tu Salvador? Eso es lo que es el bautismo. ¿Por qué no proclamas el nombre de Cristo y te unís a su iglesia bautizándote, no como alguien que inconscientemente lo obligaron a bautizarse hace años atrás, sino como alguien que arrepentida y arrepentido dice, ahora entiendo y me entrego. ¿Por qué no lo haces vos esta mañana? Join the others. Unite al resto del movimiento que está haciendo eso también. Señor, en el nombre de Jesús, I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna sing. Señor, en el nombre de Jesús, te pido que hoy llames, llames a los que no te tienen en su vida. O llames a aquellos que han sido culpables de idolatría suave y te han reemplazado a tu hijo por un líder o por un predicador. Llama, Señor, a los que no han sido bautizados para que tomen esa decisión esta mañana. En el nombre de Jesús. Amen. Let's sing.