Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:10-12

"Now I beseech you, brethren, through 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 perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them [that are of the household] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos: and I of Cephas; and I of Christ." — 1 Corinthians 1:10-12 (ASV)

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. 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. 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.

So, at least, there were four parties in that one little church which ought to have been knit together in unbroken harmony; this is only one instance of what has happened hundreds of times since. These Corinthians had a great many speaking brothers among them, and they held services in which it was open to anyone to speak as they felt inclined. There was no reason why they should not do so; but what was the result?

This Christian liberty of theirs eventually led to trouble. They became divided into factions, they did not practice discipline as they ought to have done, and therefore this community at Corinth is a beacon to all other churches, warning them not to carry on their worship in a similar style.

It is a very curious thing that some people have taken these Corinthians as an example instead of a warning; and, having copied their methods, the very same result has followed, until there is no section of the Church of Christ that has become such a scandal, through its divisions and internal quarrels, as that which has imitated the Corinthians in their mode of worship.

I suppose that, while human nature is what it is, the same causes will produce the same results to the very end of the chapter. Paul does not tell them that their mode of worship was wrong—perhaps it was not, for great liberty is allowable to Christians—but he does lay the axe at the root of their divisions.