Love, Gongs and Knowledge

I love weddings. I find every aspect of a wedding fun, and at times entertaining. I enjoy the premarital counseling and planning. It's fun to watch the busyness of the bride's mom and friends as they fret over every minute detail. I find it funny that no one wants anything less than perfection from the flowers to the sound to the music, but they never notice the inevitable slip up or mistake. Then there are the games that the groomsmen play. The things they do that make the bride absolutely nervous. It's all so very enjoyable for me. There is an element to just about every christian wedding, and many secular weddings here in America, that is almost never left out. In a christian wedding it's read or quoted as scripture, and in a secular wedding it's read as a poem. You know the passage. It starts, "Love is patient, love is kind..." and is found in 1 Corinthians 13. Today I'm asking, "Is this passage only meant for weddings? What about the surrounding scripture?"

It is a beautiful passage of scripture, and is definitely very appropriate for a wedding. As a "poem" it is beautiful hanging on the wall of your living room or bedroom. I know many people, mostly men, who have difficulty expressing themselves to their spouses and this passage of scripture can help them say what they are feeling in their heart. I sometimes think if married couples read this aloud to each other as a requirement before starting to argue over something our divorce rate would drop significantly. There is so much more to this passage of scripture than articulating the feelings of people in love, and that's what I really want to point out today.

When Paul was writing to the church in Corinth, he addressed many problems they were having in their local church. He was mentoring them from afar and wanted to make sure they understood what God's plan was for them and for all mankind. Paul does such a good job articulating and getting God's message put down on paper for all of us. I wish we would keep scripture more in context. This passage of scripture is prefaced with an idea that can really warp your thinking if you are not in tune with God. Verses one through three talk about doing and being things. It talks about having all knowledge possible and helping mankind with that knowledge. It talks about having all the right answers and sharing them freely. It talks about giving everything of yourself, all you own and all you are, to help the needy. Wow! Those are amazing things! Wouldn't we all like to be able to identify with even one of those things?

Here's the catch. Paul writes, if we have or do all of these things, all of this good, all of this altruistic stuff, without having love in our heart, we are wasting our time. It is worthless. There is no gain. Ouch! "You mean if I give 20 percent of my gross income to the church and volunteer for every work party and do a short term mission trip to Mexico every other year, it doesn't count for anything?" Yep, if you do it without love. "You mean if I mow my neighbor's lawn because they haven't gotten to it, it doesn't count for anything?" Yes, if you did it so it wouldn't look bad next to your lawn. No, if you did it simply out of an act of service and love to that neighbor even though they don't go to church anywhere or keep your kids' toys that go over the fence.

Friends, it doesn't matter what we do or how we do it. Scripture is clear, if we don't have love, it falls woefully short. If we don't have compassion, we do not reflect the image we were made in, God's image. As you look at people and catch yourself making snap judgments, remember every one of us was designed and created by God. God doesn't make mistakes. Each time you are frustrated with someone, or feel like you are on the short end of a situation, remember the "wedding passage". Recite it to yourself. The love Paul writes about is for all of our interactions with all people, not just our spouse or family.

One of the pillars, or core values, of the church my wife and I and others have started is "being" the church, not "doing" church. We take being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ very seriously. The key is the motivation. Have you ever seen volunteers work side by side, when one wants to be there and the other is doing community service? Have you ever noticed the passion a volunteer can have doing something somewhere when they have a heartfelt connection versus someone who is doing time? There is more to being the church than carrying out benevolent actions toward less fortunate people. Being the church means actually having compassion and empathy. It means giving of yourself, not for recognition or a good feeling, but to bring some love, compassion, and hope to another individual that had none.

Love is endless. God has an endless supply of it and He freely gives it to us. We need to give as we have received. We need to give that love away to those around us. That is being the church. The more love you give away, the more the Lord will give you, to give away. It's an endless circle. I dare you to try and out-love God!

The next time you hear 1 Corinthains 13:4-7, remember that the love Paul speaks of is more than between a man and a woman. It's for more than weddings and poems on walls. Remember it is prefaced with no matter what we know, do, or say, if it's without love we are nothing accomplishing nothing.

Friends, go love somebody. Give them what God has so graciously granted you and be blessed.