The Core of Christianity
1 Corinthians 13
One of the disadvantages of going through the
Scripture is that you must take each passage in turn. Some are
sufficiently dull that it takes some scratching (I, too, avoid
genealogies). But others, like this one, are so high and golden
that one fears to bring a lesson. It is a small shadow in a land
of giants. So with apologies to practically every great
Christian writer, we begin the golden love chapter of First
Corinthians.
(1 Cor 13 NIV) If I speak in the tongues of
men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding
gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of prophecy
and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a
faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
{3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to
the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does
not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8}
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will
cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where
there is knowledge, it will pass away. {9} For we know in part
and we prophesy in part, {10} but when perfection comes, the
imperfect disappears. {11} When I was a child, I talked like a
child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I
became a man, I put childish ways behind me. {12} Now we see but
a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to
face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am
fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love.
Context
While often quoted at weddings – it is a
superbly beautiful writing – the context of the message is quite
clear. Paul is still speaking about the unity of the church. One
of the causes of jealousy in the church has been the
distribution of spiritual gifts. Why should you get divine
healing when I speak in tongues? Which is the greater gift?
(And, therefore, which of us is greater in the church?)
Such division is contrary to the very nature
of God, who is One. His image in us must be likewise – one
essence in many persons. But what essence is this? Is it not
expressed in the thought, “God is love?” Therefore Jesus tells
us that this is the method by which all will know we are his
disciples – that we love one another.
This love – the word is one which applies to
the will, not to the emotions – is the core of Christianity, as
Paul shows us here.
Supremacy of love
Paul brings this thought to us with a series
of superlative comparisons which bring up echoes of our Lord’s
own words. It’s interesting to see these comparisons, for in
each there is a subtlety which is at once hyperbole – and
delicacy:
Tongues
First, note that it’s not just the “tongues
of men” (the languages of earth) but also the tongues of angels!
Even if I spoke like an angel of God, it would mean nothing
without love. But – in contrast to the others – here he does not
use the phrase “I am nothing.” He rather uses a word picture –
the clanging symbol, the gong.
You want to drive parents of a small child
absolutely crazy? Give the kid a drum for Christmas (works with
teenagers, too). My mother tells me that when I was young
someone gave me a metal drum – practically unbreakable – and
that she was soon forced to hide it. I was the original
Energizer bunny, evidently. That’s the kind of speaking Paul is
talking about; eloquence without love at its heart is brazen
annoyance.
Prophecy
Here again we get a magnificent hyperbole:
not only could I understand all knowledge (things that man is
allowed to discover) but also all mysteries (things deliberately
hidden by God). Suppose I knew all that; what would the benefit
be? Take even a small example: suppose I have the cure for
cancer. If I will not act on it, it will sit in my file cabinet,
benefiting neither me nor anyone else.
Faith
It’s our Lord’s own illustration, turned on
its head. Christ told us that if we had a little faith, even
like a mustard seed, we could move mountains. Paul takes that
for the hyperbole it is, and says – even if you did, what good
is it? If you don’t have love, it does no good.
Giving
Remember the rich young ruler? In his case,
his possessions stood between him and God. So, suppose I give
away all my possessions. I benefit the poor who receive them; I
remove all worldly barriers between me and God – but if I do not
have love, the Spirit of my Master, I cannot be one with him.
It’s worse than that. “No greater love has
any man – “ remember that? If you give your life for someone,
that’s the greatest sign of love. But if you don’t have that
love, and give your life out of misguided legalism (for example)
it does you no good.
The spiritual gifts are great gifts. But
remember that Saul prophesied; Balaam spoke the oracle of God;
Judas worked miracles with the other disciples. All these were
evil men who had an evil end. What did their spiritual gifts
produce? The Christians at Corinth had spiritual gifts too; but
they produced jealousy and faction. Without love, it is always
so.
The character of love
Here it is: the checklist of Christian love.
Compare this: the character of love shown here, and the
character of that church. Paul is pointing them to the “more
excellent way.”
Positive
Paul gives us two positive aspects to love:
·
Patience – this is
the root of all self-denial. Do you not remember that
our Lord told us we must “take up the Cross” and follow
him? That’s self-denial, and this is its root. Patience
with all others is our starting point.
·
Kindness – some of us
are patient, but only so that we can provoke others with
our often-expressed longsuffering. “You’re lucky to have
me, Harold. No other woman would put up with so much.”
That’s patience – but it’s not kindness. The two must be
alloyed in love.
Defects in love
So that there will be no misunderstanding,
Paul now lists what love must not be – that is to say, the
defects in love which we must strive to eliminate.
·
Envy – you can be
patient but envious, and it is not loving. For if you
envy someone, how can you rejoice at their success? Is
that not a characteristic of true love?
·
Boasting – If envy is
a blemish in your love, surely it is a sin to provoke
others to envy you. Isn’t that the objective of
boasting?
·
Pride – even if you
don’t boast about it, pride is hard to conceal. Does it
not provoke others to envy and pride as well? How could
this be a loving thing to do? Surely love cares first
for others.
·
Rudeness – see how
the small things count! Even when others around us are
rude, the Christian must, in love, be polite. For in
politeness we encourage others to love; in rudeness, we
encourage them to hate. (I didn’t say this was easy.)
·
Self-seeking – have
you ever noticed how much you despise this in others?
People who are obviously self-seeking really annoy those
who are team players. Love is the ultimate source of
team play.
·
Easily angered – this
can mean two things: one is those whose temper is always
at the flash point. But it can also mean those who are
“easily hurt.” Be neither.
·
Recording wrongs –
some of us bury the hatchet – handle up for convenient
future use. Here’s some advice I’d like to give to many
a wife: keep no record of your husband’s wrongs. He’ll
last longer and be much easier to live with.
Relationship of love and righteousness
Paul ends with his statement on love and
righteousness. Here he shows us the solution to the fundamental
dilemma which led Christ to the Cross:
·
God is righteous, perfectly
righteous. Therefore he can tolerate no sin.
·
But we are sinners and He is
love – therefore he loves us. What then is He to do?
The answer is found at the Cross, where love
makes the sacrifice which brings us to righteousness. It is a
model for us. We are not to strike at evil with evil; rather, we
are to reach out to those who are evil, in love.
The good news here is this: love is so much
the attribute of God that when we become his children he enables
us – if we are willing – to act as he would act, in the
imitation of his love.
Endurance of love
The good stuff tends to stick around. Many
books were written in the 19th century; how many are read
today? Only two kinds: the good ones and the ones on some
English teacher’s list. Sherlock Holmes is still in print; not
on the list, but good reading. How much more, then, shall the
supreme and best thing, love, endure?
Why do the others cease?
After all, many of us today would love to
have the gift of healing. Some of us would be happy with just
the gift of tongues (assuming the eldership voted to allow it).
But Paul tells us these will cease. Why?
·
One reason is that there is
no further need for them. These gifts were not ends in
themselves; rather, they were used for spreading the
Gospel. They are for God’s purposes only, not ours.
·
These gifts were the cause
of dissension in the church. They may have been
necessary to credential the Apostles, but as they cause
disunity in the church, they are eliminated. We are to
be one, as Christ and the Father are one.
·
These gifts lead up to the
supreme gift, the gift of love. When you have the best
thing, do you need a good thing?
What about knowledge?
It’s interesting to see Paul tell us that
knowledge will disappear. But read the whole passage and it’s a
little more clear. The problem is that we have partial
knowledge. That partial knowledge will be replaced by complete
knowledge. When the perfect comes, we put aside the imperfect.
(How many of your teenage kids will ride a bike after they get a
driver’s license?)
But – suppose we did know everything. That
would certainly eliminate any need for prophecy (what would be
left to prophesy?) and for speaking in tongues (which served as
a method of convincing all of the Gospel). But we would still
need love.
As long as this world lasts
Paul tells us there are three things that
will endure: faith, hope and love. As long as this world
endures, and our Lord has not yet returned, they will last. But
at his return things will change.
·
Faith? No longer will we
need faith, for our faith will have become sight.
·
Hope? No longer will we hope
– for what we hoped for will have come.
·
Love? That remain, for that
is the character of God, and we, his children, will be
like him on that day.
So I encourage you to hold on to the thing
that lasts forever: love. Practice it now; enjoy it forever.
