Divisions often come from the unwarranted emphasis on a revealed truth from God’s Word..
This truth can become a catalyst for the formation of a group, members of which are deeply convinced that certain truth requires a greater emphasis than others. From this eventually comes divisiveness, cleavage, and finally separation from those not as convinced of the same need for the same emphasis on that truth.
Cliques, fragmentation, disagreements, and finally a more or less complete separation, forming another group emphasizing a different order of importance for various truths, eventually occurs.
In time, there is another division, or “offshoot”, or “denomination”.
The church at Corinth is a notable example of something similar to this, as well as other related problems. They had a propensity for elementary issues, that were true and right in themselves, but with too much or not enough emphasis in some cases. This was especially true of those gifts and abilities that seemed to seemed to add to the importance of individual personalities. Thus, Paul’s observations about same saying they were of Paul, or Apollo, or Christ, etc (1 Corinthians 1 - 3).
In Corinth, we can see emphasis religion in action.
There is much of Corinth evident today, as there has been down through history. It is in our fallen nature that causes us to tend to identify with some truth (we are speaking of what really is a truth), and to over emphasize it, and to eventually cause other more important truths to revolve around the less important. In other words, the less important becomes the most important - at least as it is practiced.
This tendency is not something new to our times. Notice a warning about this tendency from Christ Himself:
““Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!”- Matthew 23:23 (NET)
So there were the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc…They either ignored, or had forgotten the revealed order of priorities set by God.
Priorities and order is important to God. The modern saying “put first things first” was just as valid in the New Testament church as it is today. The admonition to those at Corinth is good for all of us, in all times and seasons: “I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other.”
May we all strive to emphasize in Christ’s order of importance. Not those of someone else. And not our own.
“Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this is what we intend to do, if God permits“ - Hebrews 6:1-3 (NET).