1 Corinthians 13
I think one of the worst things to happen to church in recent memory is the rise of internet churches that came with the onset of the pandemic. Churches moving towards online services are missing the human component. What it’s done is to give people a way to think they’ve connected with God and with church, but in truth all they did was watch a TV show. Much like social media, in the right context (such as being stuck in a hospital) online church can be helpful and connective, but in large part it actually disconnects people from church and from Jesus.
This is simply because the church isn’t a building. You can’t visit church in a video. It’s the people. It’s the imperfect, messed up, mistake-making people who wake up each morning and seek to put Christ first in their life who are the church. The church doesn’t contain those people; the church is those people. This is the very thing Paul is trying to help the Corinthian church to understand. The church is Christ’s body on earth, made up of multitudes of people, none of whom have yet to be perfected in their faith, but all of whom are the chosen people of God to carry the message of Christ to the entire world. It is in this context that the most famous chapter in scripture (most likely) is presented.
I am a messed up individual who gets frustrated, exhausted, and sometimes just selfish. So are you. There is a lot about each of us that isn’t loveable, yet are we in the family of God together and are called to be together in this season of the harvest work, so we are to commit to one another in love. It is love that powers our own transformation in Christ.
Love Powers Good Works
First, love is the center of every positive action. You can be the best in the world at something, but if it is not driven by and surrounded by love, then the action is worthless. Regardless of what your political leanings are, one thing that I think Trump would even say about himself is that he is cold and calculating. Love is not a high priority to him. He is all about winning and being right. And those things drive him to accomplish a lot, but I wonder where history will rate him in the line of truly memorable presidents. Maybe in comparison to Lincoln? If it’s one thing that history has made clear is that Lincoln really loved the people he served. Whether it is was unwillingness for the longest time to go to war—he fought hard to use diplomacy before the civil war broke out—or for the obvious action of putting the betterment of people ahead of his own popularity and fighting to end slavery, history has shown that Lincoln really was a leader who deeply loved the people he served. It is love that powered his life, his stature, his place in history. Love is what makes your actions today truly eternal.
Love Overcomes Shortcomings
We can’t learn to love by reading a book or achieving some meditation milestone. Love requires practice. It needs us to bump into people that we don’t want to love – people that rub us the wrong way. One of my most endearing, life-long friendships didn’t start out that way; he initially didn’t like me, but wanted to go to a Nebraska Football game, so came along with me and then saw that I was more than my stubborn and brash exterior supposed. We argued a lot, but our arguments helped us to learn how to deal with conflict healthfully, which is vital for life and has been huge in our marriages as we have learned healthy conflict resolution. Some may prefer to instead move towards isolation – that may be easier, after all, but that’s actually a detriment. The National Library of Medicine has many studies on mental health and say directly that isolation is significantly harmful and leads to “depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.” (National Library of Medicine) True and lasting success is measured by people in your life: family, friends, souls you’ve helped bring to Jesus: all people! Engage your own spiritual transformation by spending time with people in close quarters where you gain practice dealing with real people.
Next Steps
Love is what powers our transformation. It’s what grows us up and helps us to see Christ more clearly! Genuine love, self-sacrificing love, agape love; this is Jesus! This is the key and the heart and the power to life! And not just love in an abstract sense but boots on the ground, practical, giving up of yourself love for each other! It is our investment in those around us that open up deeper understandings of Christ and push us to allow His sanctifying work in our lives. Simply put, we need to practice loving each other if we are going to realize the deeper life in Christ.
- Be at all the church gatherings you can! Missing church hampers your growth, because it keeps you from real experience.
- Get together with another person (or people) from church outside the building
- Do 3 self-less things for others before next Sunday
No coach is going to put somebody in the game that never went to practice. If you want God to use you in the harvest, then be here so that you can learn and grow they way He intends!
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