Imagine
with me for a moment that the apostle Paul has been told that
several groups
within the church in Corinth have been arguing about which is the
most
important. Therefore, he
calls them
together and offers to judge their competition.
Each group will get a chance to make their case and Paul,
inspired by
God’s Spirit, will pick a winner.
Happily,
the first group steps up and says, “Obviously, we are the most
important
because we are the preachers and the teachers.
We draw huge crowds and people love to listen to us. We are entertaining and funny
and we do more
good than anyone else”.
To
this
group, Paul says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels,
but do not
have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1
Corinthians
13:1). This group made a
lot of noise,
but their effort did not amount to much.
Having
seen the showboating preachers put in their place, the next group
comes forward
and proclaims, “We are best because we are the real teachers. We know the word of God from
cover to
cover. In fact, we like to
think of
ourselves as the defenders of the faith.
If you want to know what to believe, just ask us!”
Paul
turns to them and says, “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
do not have love, I am nothing”. Their
score, just like the first group’s, is zero!
Feeling
emboldened, the last group arrives.
“We
know that you will choose us. We
do not
focus on talk. Rather, we
are
servants. We will do
anything for
anyone. If you need us,
just call! We actually get
out there and get things
done!”
In
response to their argument, Paul says, “If I give all I possess to
the poor and
surrender my body to the flames, but do not have love, I gain
nothing”. They are highly
committed, but, in the end, they
have not gained anything.
Now,
wait a minute! Am I trying
to say that things
like faith, knowledge, teaching and truth are not important? Of course not! Those qualities, and many
more, are
absolutely essential.
The
point, however, is that without love those great gifts are
powerless and
ineffective. Love is
always the first
step when it comes to anything spiritual.
Love will direct our gifts in the proper way. Love will show us where to
begin and how to
go about things. Even when
someone is
completely wrong, the correction will be presented and received in
a better way
when it is motivated by love.
Love is not an
optional
add-on.
Rather, it is the
context in
which all real ministry takes place.
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