1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Introduction: As we started a new year, it was tempting to hope that everything might be better with a clean slate and a fresh start. But with the ongoing surge of COVID and the disturbing events in our nations capital to start the year, those hopes are dashed. We start the year as confused, divided and unsettled as we ended. In 1 Corinthians, Paul spoke to a church in a similar situation. The Corinthians were not only divided by who they followed, but also about what they emphasized. What we can learn from Paul is that it is easy to lose sight of what can guide us through our differences. We might have good intentions or concerned theology, but when we don’t have love, we miss out on everything that God intends for us.
1. Looking for a Way
If 2020 was a year known for anything, it was known for unexpected events, tension, and hardship. Everyone questioned their own way, the way of our country, or the way of the future. 2020 brought every Christian to a confusing crossroads of division and difficulty. As the new year begins, we are likely considering where we ought to go from here. How can we find our way among the many voices in media, technology, and even our own minds? Paul speaks directly to a church caught up in division and confusion in 1 Corinthians 13. It is one of the most beautiful passages ever written in the Scriptures. Paul wrote this passage give Christians clarity on the best way forward in any and all circumstances. In confusing and troubling times, sometimes what we most need is a direct and clear word to break through the fog and point us to the way forward. I Corinthians 13 is just this word
2. The Wrong Way
Before we consider the right way, Paul informs us clearly of the wrong way in verses 1-3. Anything minus love is the wrong way. That is to say, if we act without love, it is not just a lesser or more inferior way, it is a “nothing” way. For the Corinthians, this would have been a very shocking message because the practices that Paul compares to a loving way in this passage are all things they would have considered very good in themselves and the things that had the most power to make a difference. Speaking with eloquence, gifts of prophecy, faith that moves mountains, and acts of great self-sacrifice were powerful ways to make a difference or evidence of mature spirituality. Today, that might translate to a concern for sound doctrine, participation in church programs, or generous donations. Yet, Paul indicates that the power of even the greatest spiritual acts is undone without love. This church had surely heard Paul teach them about love but when it came to solving their problems and finding a way out of them – they looked first to all the ways their culture had taught them. Corinthian culture prized all the things Paul said were nothing without love. Paul’s beautiful poem was a sharp rebuke to a divided and compromised church. They were going the wrong way. When they left love out – no matter what else they did – they were leaving the way of Jesus. If they continued to travel on this wrong way, it would only bring further confusion, division and harm to themselves and others.
3. The Most Excellent Way
The most excellent way is the way of love. The New Testament is replete with examples of love, and admonitions to love God, our neighbors, and even our enemies! If we consider our own spiritual growth, we might point to indicators such as the time spent reading our Bible or praying for others. We might think about our moral behavior, or how we serve others. But the main measure and the true power for good in our lives is not knowing everything, not understanding everything, not to achieving something great, not doing miraculous things, or even risking it all. The greatest power for good in this world is the love—the kind of love described here. Our main job on this planet is to love. We must learn more about what it is, prioritize it, and bring it into all that we do.
It is no surprise that if we attempt to read our name into this passage that we would not be able to read it for very long with integrity. The only name that fits is Jesus. This should not discourage us because if we can love like this at all it is only because Christ first loved us. This beautiful love poem is a description of how the love God has for us in Christ. A Christian is someone realizes that the greatest and most powerful word anyone could speak, the greatest miracle, the greatest act of sacrifice is not anything we can say or do but what has already been done and said to us in Christ. We are fully known (v12) in all our failures to love and yet fully loved. Eternity will undeniably reveal to us – the greatest and most powerful thing in the universe is the love of God for sinners. Paul writes elsewhere that “God demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8). Loving like this is not natural for us, it is supernatural. The way of Jesus is to “keep ourselves in the love of God” we have in Christ (Jude 21) and continually practice it toward others. Love is the way, the most excellent way, for the Christian. As a popular character, the Mandalorian, would say: “This is the way.”
REFLECT OR DISCUSS
What part of the message most resonates with you? Why? What questions did it raise?
How did 2020 challenge you or cause you to consider your own way in life? How did the confusion and division of 2020 (and now 2021) affect you?
How do you tend to fill in the blank , “If we really want to make a difference, we need more
_______________________” with something other than love? (OR to put it another way – In a world of confusion and division, where are you most tempted follow our cultural (American) way instead of the way of love in Christ?)
What are some examples of spiritual actions or attitudes that can be done without love? Have you ever fallen into this pattern before?
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. If you were to replace “love” with your own name, would you be able to read the passage faithfully? Which description of love challenges you the most?
If we are convinced that we are fully known and fully loved by God in Christ – even in our sin and brokenness – how might this enable us to have the power to love the way Paul describes in this chapter?
Consider this challenge for 2021 – To resolve to make love your first priority and pursuit. What area of your life or relationship(s) first comes to mind as the place God is calling to renew your commitment to the most excellent way of love?