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“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.” 1 Corinthians 1:10


Hello, my friends,


A few years ago, I heard someone describe drift in a way I have never forgotten. If you take a boat out on the water and simply let it sit, you may not notice it moving at first. There is no loud engine, no sudden jolt, no dramatic shift. But over time, slowly and almost imperceptibly, the boat begins to move. Not because something dramatic happened, but because nothing was holding it in place.


That image reminds us of something important: most things in life do not fall apart all at once. They drift. Relationships drift when time together becomes less intentional. Routines drift when consistency becomes occasional. Even something strong, if left unattended, can weaken in ways we do not notice at first.


The same can be true for the church. In 1 Corinthians 1:10–18, Paul writes to a church struggling with division. People in Corinth had begun identifying themselves by different leaders: “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas.” What may have started as preference had grown into sides. And Paul responds with a piercing question: “Is Christ divided?”


Paul’s words were meant to correct a divided church, but they also offer wisdom for every healthy church that wants to stay healthy. Unity is not something we wait to care about until conflict appears. Unity is something we guard before it breaks.


That matters because division rarely begins loudly. It often starts quietly — with small frustrations, personal preferences, or subtle shifts in attitude. We all have preferences. We may prefer certain music, styles of worship, ways of communicating, or ways of doing ministry. Preferences are not the problem. The danger comes when those preferences become central, when they become part of our identity, or when they begin to matter more than Christ.


That is why Paul points us back to the cross. At the cross, no one stands higher than anyone else. No one earns their place. No one has leverage. We all stand together in need of grace. The cross humbles us, softens our pride, loosens our grip on lesser things, and reminds us what truly holds us together.


At BCC, we are blessed to see people listening, serving, caring, and encouraging one another. That is something worth celebrating. But it is also something worth protecting.


Unity is built through small, faithful choices: choosing encouragement over criticism, assuming the best in one another, refusing to form sides, and addressing small tensions with grace.


A boat does not have to drift. It can be anchored. And for the church, our anchor is not a style, a preference, or a personality. Our anchor is Christ. When He remains at the center, unity is not merely something we chase. It becomes something we live.


With much love,

-Pastor Brian