How are you doing? It’s harvest season! What are you harvesting? Did you plant a garden? Are you bottling and freezing? Are you harvesting the fruits of relationships that you have been weeding and watering over the summer? Are you harvesting peace from working on your testimony? Are you still in the middle of your “caring for” season? Are you waiting for a harvest at some undefined future time? Everything has a season, some more enjoyable than others! If it’s not one of the more enjoyable seasons right now, hang in there. Remember Paul planted, Apollos watered, but in God’s time, He gave the increase. A new season will come. (1 Cor 3:6)

I’ve been thinking about 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul asks that there be no divisions among the people of Corinth. And among the people of Christ. No divisions. None at all. We are to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and same judgement. Is that even possible? Can we have differences that don’t lead to divisions? Can we have varying life experiences and come together in the same judgement?

We have talked before, and studied about the need for differences in the Kingdom of God. The gospel requires and celebrates differences, diversity, and individuality. How then do we fulfill the call of Zion to be of one heart, one mind, to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and judgement? I think we have to follow Paul’s counsel in 2:16 “We have the mind of Christ.”  

I can’t imagine that Paul’s call for us to have no divisions, to be perfectly joined, and of the same mind and judgement meant that we need to agree on everything, or behave like each other- like some divinely set cast. I don’t think it’s rational to expect people from varying backgrounds to come together and not have differing opinions, perspectives, or judgements. Paul goes on to call out those who are claiming to be of Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) and letting their conversion divide them. Perhaps ranking their baptism above another, lifting their conversion above someone else’s. I remember when the Nauvoo Temple was built (rebuilt) and dedicated there was concern (by someone/someones… I don’t remember who) that it would become a golden calf of sorts in the church. That perhaps it would become like Mecca, requiring a pilgrimage of sorts, and members would lift themselves above others for having been to Nauvoo, participated in ordinances in the temple there, and elevate the experience in that temple above other temples.

I think one of the amazing things about any temple you go to is the process is the same, the outcome is the same. The buildings may look differently, the color schemes may vary, the decorating choices differ, but the purpose and the experience is the same: it is focused on the gospel plan and Jesus Christ. I think that’s what Paul would hope for in Corinth and what we can strive toward today. Although our exteriors differ, our perspectives and preferences vary, and our life experiences color our world differently, if we can walk though our lives with our purpose and focus being on the gospel of Christ and on the plan of salvation, perhaps we can join together in one mind and one judgement: that being the mind and judgement of the Savior.

How different would our experience be with neighbors if it were from the mind and judgement of the Savior? What about our experience with relatives, co-workers, our spouse, or children; how would they change if there were no divisions because we were both/all joined together in the perfect mind and judgement of Christ? I think if we can accomplish that kind of mind and heart, then the differences don’t become divisive. We can be of opposing opinions, of differing life experiences, and of varying circumstances yet still stand united and perfectly joined, celebrating or at least seeing those differences and variations as Christ would. We can have had the experience of Apollos baptizing us or Cephas, and still could come together to share and strengthen, not elevate or exclude, focusing on the experience that brought us closer to Christ, the daily walk on covenant path, learning to live the gospel in ordinary and everyday ways. Our differences would then be considered a benefit instead of a hinderance, an advantage instead of drawback, and valuable instead of divisive. Wouldn’t that be extraordinary?