MY world is cluttered with things. My coffeemaker ensures a brisk cup of coffee will greet me each morning. My computer simplifies the task of typing and publishing these very words. The problem with things, however, is that when I use them, they stake their claim on me. I have to have them.

But what happens when my things conflict with the things of others, especially the things that shape my sisters and brothers in Christ? Unfortunately, it often results in conflicts, much like those pictured in the church at Corinth.

However, Paul declares the cross of Jesus Christ is nothing. Yes, we see it depicted on keychains, necklaces, rings, paintings, and the like, but the cross cannot be captured by the paintbrush or formed in metal. The cross of Christ is a happening. As a happening, it cannot be reduced to a thing. The cross is a no-thing that embodies the powerful mystery of God's love for us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ crucified is the no-thing that prioritizes all other "things" in God's world that shape who we are. Therefore, the cross of Christ is not a thing over which Christians can divide. Rather, the cross is the happening that draws Christians together in the mystery of God's redeeming love.