1 Corinthians 12-14
December 10, 2014

1 Corinthians 13 is often recited at weddings and is commonly referred to as the "love chapter".  That's fine, as long as you remember that it is directly tied to chapter 11, which is talking about spiritual gifts.   Paul identifies a long list of gifts that the Holy Spirit gives, but it isn't meant to be complete.   Paul can no more give a complete list of what the Holy Spirit can provide than he can BE the Holy Spirit.  He is simply mentioning some of the gifts.    so then, Chapter 12 tells us that the Holy Spirit gives talents and abilities to people as He sees fit.  Some receive several gifts, others only one, but every Christian receives something, and every Christian is therefore needed and valuable.  No one is left without a spiritual gift.   That makes christian living both wonderful and problematic.   It's wonderful in that no one has to do everything, and yet everything is possible, because the abilities are all there.  Nothing is missing.   We can and should experience the wholeness of the Gospel, both in worship and in service.   It's problematic because it's very difficult to get all those people working together.   That's where chapter 13 comes in.

13 says "it doesn't matter how many gifts you have if you don't love others".  Love isn't a spiritual gift in the strictest sense, because it is meant for everyone.   You could call it a spiritual gift, but you would also have to say that it's the gift that every single christian receives, on top of their other gifts.  The problem with that interpretation is, not every christian operates out of love.  So if it is a gift, they must not be using it.   Paul is urging us to "operate out of love.  be motivated and directed and guided by it."    Love doesn't always let the other person have their own way.   Love takes the keys from a drunk, and puts up with the abuse that follows.   Love stays firm when a teenager creates a dust cloud in the home.   But love also allows a fellow christian to express them-self, without insisting that everything be done MY way.

Without love, the whole of the church comes apart at the seams.   The gifts are given, but they cannot work together.  Without love you have a grating, grinding, clashing mess instead of a symphony.   Love provides just the right amount of pressure, tension, relief and lubricant to make the machine operate smoothly.

After Paul discusses love, he mentions the gifts of prophesy and tongues.  Within the church we have too often taken a polarizing view of these gifts.  We demand them to be either essential or non-existent.   Some churches refuse to recognize the Holy Spirit unless tongues is also given, and other churches deny that the Holy Spirit is present if a person speaks in tongues.   The end result is a split among believers where there shouldn't be one.   At the end of the day, the Church operating in love insists that all gifts be used, as long as the Spirit is the source.  

Love allows the Church to harmonize, instead of being a choir of solo voices.

PR