February 05, 2015
Love Is…
I think most of us are guilty
of feeling a twinge of satisfaction when we see someone get their just
desserts. It’s been interesting to hear the conversations swirling around those
who’ve gone through recent church splits. Neither group wants the other to succeed.
There is a weird sense of vindication when either, or both, experience low attendance,
low offerings and low enthusiasm. One woman gratifyingly said, “They may have
gotten the [new] building, but they also got the mortgage!” I’m thinking
it may be easier to apply Paul’s teaching to individuals than it is to a split
in the body of Christ. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not
self–seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor
13: 6-7 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Love simply seeks what is right. That search is not begun at doing, or even desiring. For “what is right” has to have a definition before it can be desired, sought, or done. If we think this begins to approach the old, 60’s bologna-heads’ pinnacle of wisdom, “Man, who’s to say what’s right?” then certainly think again. If a faulty-thinking being were ever going to know who’s to say what’s right, then it stands by good reason that such knowledge would be revealed to him by who is right. Interestingly, we live in that precise condition.
-----So we are free to set our desires and hopes and efforts on what the Word of God says is right. Our problem then becomes, “Who’s to interpret what the Word of God says is right?” We might realize the Bible pays great respect to the individual identity of everyone, “Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind,” (Rom 14:5b) and “To him who conquers…I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.” (Rev 2:17b) Christ’s being the head of the church makes each relationship direct with Him. There are no stand betweens. So knowing what’s right becomes your responsibility inside His.
-----The Bible is full of information about what is right. We may get a little flustered because the information is so general, but think about the size of the book you would have to lug to church if it were very detailed. In High School, I knew a girl who sought the Lord relentlessly for a week on what color car she should buy. And there probably was a right color. But the Bible hasn’t discussed anywhere the principles of car-color choice. So if there were a right, it had to surface from the Bible’s generalities. Still, it was for her to determine.
-----And where determination has little or no good foundation on which to proceed, “Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account.” (Heb 13:17) This is certainly not Scriptural imperative for consummate leader rule, as it has often been abused. The Scriptures form an outer boundary around acceptable behaviors and ideologies. Inside those boundaries the Lord operates in the hearts of each of His as the head of that particular relationship. The individual freely determines and freely moves. Passing beyond those Scriptural boundaries invokes the leaders’ authority and the individual’s submission. The leaders’ area inside those boundaries is to teach, encourage, and inspire the individual’s submission to the Word of God in practicing the good behaviors and sound thinking it teaches.
-----In this environment love grows richly in the church, if not perfectly. Today is not the day of perfect action for us. This is what leads to a lot of frustration about what is or isn’t right and whether “they” truly do or don’t love. God’s Word supplies forgiveness, forbearance, and perseverance amongst its taught behaviors, so that even when behavior, thinking, and thus love are not exactly true, they can yet proceed towards truth. And in the end, it will be determined what our hearts are rather than what right is, because the latter is defined already, and the former is yet to be revealed.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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