The Greatest

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 13:1-3

After enumerating the most familiar (and desirable?) gifts of the Holy Spirit in chapter 12, Paul now instructed the Corinthian saints in  “ a still more excellent way” (12:31). The Church members were recognizing their individual spiritual gifts and putting them into practice in the assembly. Being human, they had their opinions about which gifts were better or more desirable. Apparently, the gift of “tongues” was highly esteemed, because it was high-profile and attention-getting. As noted earlier, this was a temporary “special” gift, for the purpose of evangelizing as many Jews as possible in as short a time as it could be done (see Gifts of the Spirit, Chapter 12, 6/19/2012).

So I open my mouth to express the gospel message among a group of people and what comes out is the gospel, of course, but in a language I have not learned. That is the gift of “tongues.” Someone in that gathering speaks that language, and the message I just spoke communicates the gospel to him in the best way he can understand it. The gift is working, but if I don’t have agape (unconditional love) for these lost souls, I’m just making noise, as the pagans do in their worship. There is no reward for such “performance.” This principle applies to all the other spiritual gifts.  I’m prophesying deep and mystical doctrines; demonstrating knowledge of scripture….my faith is such that anything I desire can be accomplished. Without God’s kind of love, I’ve accomplished nothing rewardable. I give away my possessions, sacrifice my own body in a show of martyrdom…without true Godly love, which expects nothing in return, I have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

Those with the more charismatic gifts might be quite smug about it, as if they had done something to deserve such a special honor. They may be teaching others with less spectacular gifts that they just need to pray harder or somehow be more spiritual. NO. The gifts are arbitrarily distributed by God, the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. They are not earned or deserved, and are not grounds for comparison or boasting. The believers who know how to love as God loves have learned patience with our fellow believers (who may not be as “savvy” as we are). We treat them with kindness, whether we think thy deserve it or not. We do not envy the gifts of others or boast about the special gift we have (in our opinion). Arrogance or rudeness is not acceptable in any child of God. Those who love know that and keep their attitude in check. Just because we think we’re special does not make us the one in charge; others have gifts, too, and they must be allowed to function without criticism. Irritation, resentment, “gotcha” mentality are intolerable in the Church. God’s kind of love bears the burdens as well as the shortcomings of other believers, and anticipates with confidence the results of our ministry. Love endures…hardship, inconvenience, misunderstandings, lapses of judgment…for the growth of the whole congregation.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. I Corinthians 13:8-12

Mature Christian love, like that defined in Galatians 5:22-23 is the ultimate goal. Without it, all our service is in vain. Agape is eternal. Extra-Biblical prophecies of that time before the New Testament have ended. With the completion and translations of the New Testament, tongues have ceased to be needed. Systematic Theology now does the job of the gift of knowledge. The early Church had partial knowledge, under development, because  “the perfect” (neuter gender. Refers to the Word. The completed canon of scripture. New Testament) had not yet come. After that was completed, the special, temporary gifts passed away. This can be seen in the progression of the Church through the book of Acts and the early and later epistles of the New Testament. The apostles relied heavily on some of those gifts in the beginning, but they “phased out” toward the end of their lives. The permanent system was kicking in.

God led the baby Christians along gently, giving them what they had capacity for and gifting them with certain abilities which would enable the Church to learn and grow, as well as evangelize, until she was fully established and the New Testament scriptures were in writing. The early Church saw just outlines of the plan and purpose of the Church; reflections of Christ in His people. The Church is still not fully mature, but we’ve come a long, long way from those first days. We won’t know all we need to until our Lord returns for us, but we do have in writing the Mind of Christ, which is our authority for all things.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13

Fruit is the production of a mature plant. The mature Christian will produce love. As evidence of this love he will exhibit joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Such a person will not be competing for the spectacular spiritual gifts, or for attention of any kind, but love for Christ’s body, the Church, will be his priority in life.

Faith in Jesus abode then and abides now. Hope (confident assurance of Jesus’ redemption of His people) abode then and abides now. Agape (God’s kind of unconditional love) abode then and abides now. Without love, nothing else matters.