What’s the One Problem Paul Saw in the Church?

Monday August 04, 2025

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth "Ebby" Arnold
Organization: Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Denomination: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold, Scholar in Residence at The Candler Foundry, joined Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime on Day1 Episode #4194 for a compelling conversation about a central challenge Paul identifies in the Corinthian church: disunity of narrative.

Reflecting on 1 Corinthians, Dr. Arnold explains that while many symptoms of division appear in the text—class, leadership, theology—the root issue is singular: “You’re not all telling the same story.” Rather than demanding uniformity of opinion, Paul calls for a unified proclamation of the gospel—a shared telling of Christ crucified, the foolishness that overturns the wisdom of the world.

This episode dives into what it means to live by “the word of the cross,” where God's power shows up in what the world deems weak, shameful, or even imaginary. Dr. Arnold's insight invites both preachers and everyday disciples to ask: What story are we telling with our lives?

Watch the Clip

Transcript

Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold
Because in 1 Corinthians, there's only one problem. There's lots of symptoms, but there's only one problem. And if we as a church can go back and revisit that, how might we be able to transform these other circumstances?

So that was—

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
Okay. Say again, what's that one problem? Because that's a great—so there's so many symptoms in Paul's—that the church is presenting, but there's just one problem—

Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold
There's just one!

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
—what would you say it is?

Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold
He says, "you're not all telling the same story."

It's interesting. We often like the translation of this—one of those opening paragraphs is, "Oh, I would desire you all to agree, or to all live in harmony." Well, that's nonsense, because the words that are actually being used there are, "I want you to say the same thing." And he doesn't say "same things."

That doesn't mean you have to all have the same opinion, but what the essence of that really is: "I want you to all tell the same story." And then further down, that word—"I want you to say this"—he says, it's the word of the cross. It's the fact that God has chosen what was foolish in the eyes of the world to shame the wise, what was weak to shame the strong.

And that's the criteria that they need to be making decisions—is: are you valuing what's dishonored by the world, what's shamed by the world, or—this is the even best part—what the world sees as imaginary?

Because it says, God uses the things that aren't and don't exist to shame the things and to reduce to nothing the things that are.

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
So God uses the imaginal to discredit the actual...

Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold
Which means for the church, you're not meant to be living in the way the world works. You're meant to be living in this imagined story of the way it is, in this totally other dimension. Which you can understand then why he says, "It's foolishness to people," and you're meant to live into this foolishness.

And when you evaluate all the different symptoms that are going on in the Corinthian church, Paul brings it back to the story:

Are you valuing the weak? Are the strong serving the weak? Are the rich serving the poor? Are you living according to the paradigm of the story that you claim is your story? And if we just go back to that story and we live into it and investigate its paradigm—what does it prize and value?

That offers us like a key to the map where we're like, "Oh, okay, of course." Like, it really can transform all of those ways of thinking. And as we can see, it transformed the world.

Reflection: The Imagined Story That Transforms

This conversation is especially resonant for preachers and educators who often wrestle with divergent voices in their communities. Paul’s call to “say the same thing” isn’t about sameness in thought—it’s about coherence in mission, in narrative, in faith.

How might your community live more fully into the “imagined” reality of the gospel?

Explore the Full Sermon

Explore Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold’s full sermon from Episode 4194 >>>

Feature Image

Day1 80th Anniversary banner with the text “What’s the One Problem Paul Saw in the Church?” in bold red. Below the text is a blue audio waveform graphic, followed by a circular headshot of Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold, smiling with hoop earrings and short dark hair. The image includes text: “with Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold from Episode #4194.” Colorful arcs frame the left and right edges.