I Corinthians 1

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

(My thoughts: My leader, my captain, is Christ, I follow and serve no other. Our loyalty should be to Him, and Him alone. I am in the Lord’s army, in His service. I serve no other. To follow and give our loyalty to others or other things is treason, desertion. When I became a Christian, I took an oath, a pledge, to remain loyal to Christ. Oh, how I have failed that calling. It is well that our leader is a forgiving one, lest we should be punished or destroyed without chance of repentance. Jesus is the example, the romodel, the light, the bulwark, for which we should strive, and model our lives after. So that we may, lead our own group of followers, yet always remember, that we follow and must maintain a chain of command, under, through, and for God.)

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.