1 Corinthians 13:1-3(NKJV) 1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
(This week’s message at Living Word Christian Center turned out to be a review message in many ways. Since this blog follows the message, this will be a review time as well. Sometimes the reviews are even better than the originals.)
The words in today’s scripture are some of the most beloved in the Bible. Even people who may not realize these words are in the Word of God know them. They are eloquent and poetic in their description of the centrality of love in the human condition. However, their poetic nature often obscures what Paul really wanted the church to see.
These words were not written to the world. They are not talking about natural love or about humanity in general. These words were written to the church in the Greek city of Corinth. God thought so much of them that he included them in his Word to the whole church.
These words do not describe natural love at all. Natural love is not strong enough to be represented by what Paul wrote. Paul is talking about the love of God. He is revealing to us how that love affects us and how it can flow through us to touch the world.
If we put 1 Corinthians chapter 13 in context we find that it is placed between two chapters, 12 and 14, that teach us about the mighty gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are nine manifestations of the power God that he wants to flow through believers in order to meet the needs of the world. God wants us to move in these gifts. They are ways in which God applies his power through us to touch people.
Why is a chapter about love placed between these two chapters about the gifts? If you read them, the flow would hardly be hindered if you removed chapter 13 altogether. As a teacher by nature, I would be inclined to finish my teaching on the gifts and then insert a chapter on love. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit does not do that. He places this wonderful right in the middle of his teaching on how to walk in manifestations of the power of God. It is not really hard to understand why.
As the pastor of a local church, I know we need to see God’s power in our community. I do not subscribe to the “seeker friendly” theory of church growth. A wise pastor once said, “Whatever you do to get people you must do to keep them.” If you compromise to draw people into the church, you will not get them to stay by teaching them to be holy and live righteous in the world. You will have to continue to compromise or they will leave. I do not believe that is our commission to the world. I want them to come for the same reasons Paul did.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5(NKJV) 4And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
I have no plan B for our church. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Ps. 127:1) I believe we must see the power of God in our nation to build the true church of Jesus Christ. I believe only the true church of Jesus Christ can produce the solutions our world needs today. We must have his power.
Since this is the case, it is easy to be too caught up in wanting that power. I hear many messages about the need for God’s power. I have been inspired by messages that tell us how God is going to do many great things in our day. I believe that. I want to see that. However, all the preaching is not yet producing the manifestation we long for. Why not?
I think the problem might be that we have forgotten the main issue of the Christian life. The main issue is not power. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul puts this reminder in the middle of his teaching on power because that is exactly where the love of God belongs. It must be at the center of everything we pray about and everything we do. Paul reminds us that we can speak in tongues, prophesy, have revelation knowledge, miraculous faith and even great sacrifice, but if we do not have love at the heart of it all, we have nothing of eternal value.
Love is the main issue of Christianity. In the Presidential election of 1992, George H.W. Bush seemed to be assured of a second term as president. He had won a great victory in putting together a coalition that drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in the first Gulf war. This victory was so spectacular that his approval ratings were some of the highest ever recorded. However, that was in 1991.
As 1992 wore on the economy in the United States took a turn for the worse. Bill Clinton is a master politician and a gifted campaigner. He knew there was no way to win the election attacking President Bush’s war record. In one statement, he defined that campaign and took the White House. That statement was, “It’s the economy, stupid.” George Bush thought he would coast into a second term on the strength of his performance in 1991. He failed to recognize the main issue that concerned Americans in 1992. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
If we want to see the greatest move of God that has ever blessed humanity, we must recognize the main issue of Christianity itself. This issue is not whether our message is relevant to our day. This issue is not whether we provide the kinds of programs that meet people’s physical needs. The main producer of growth in the kingdom of God is not advertising or technology. We may look to all or none of these areas as we follow God in our ministry. They can all be tools, but none are the main thing we need to cultivate if we want to see God move.
The main issue is not even the demonstration of the power of God. The main issue is how effectively we walk in love toward God and toward our neighbor. That is what made the Christian message so different to every other religion in the world. John 3:16 is one of the first statements of the centrality of this issue.
John 3:16(NKJV) 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Throughout Jesus ministry, we see his emphasis on love. He calls love our only commandment. A commandment is something about which there is no choice. We can do many good things, but if we do not cultivate and express to the world the love that God showed when he sent Jesus, we will never be successful.
Let me close with Paul’s last words in this wonderful chapter.
1 Corinthians 13:13(NKJV) 13And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I have been a faith teacher all my ministry life. If we do not have hope, we cannot have faith because faith is the substance of things we hope for. However, God says in his word that there are three great forces in the Christian faith. The greatest is neither faith nor hope. The greatest of these three powerful forces is love.
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