The 13th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is often called the “love
chapter.” It’s frequently quoted during weddings, but the “love chapter” isn’t about
romance. It’s about Christian leadership. Read the 12th and 14th chapters and
you’ll see that the “love chapter” is Paul’s central idea about leadership. That
understanding makes his first three verses very clear.
“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am
a nosy gong or clanging cymbal.” If I speak charismatically and people love to hear
me say, but if my words are not loving and do not inspire others to love, then it
would be better for me to refrain from speaking than to clang cymbals together.
“If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing.” If I am the smartest person in the world—can predict what’s going to
happen, have a PhD-mind in science, literature, and theology—but do not have love,
it’s all for nothing. If I have a mustard seed faith, the kind that Jesus said could move
mountains, but do not have love, Paul says I am nothing.
If I stand up for my principles, he is saying, but do so in a disrespectful way,
my actions have been worthless to God. If I use my knowledge or my faith to make
others feel less worthy of God’s love, then God has wasted such knowledge and
faith on me. If I believe my theology is more important than creating a loving
community that does the hard work of living together in faith, then I have
misunderstood what church is about.
“If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may
boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” If I give more money to FAB than
anybody else several times over, and if I volunteer all my time working more hours
than even Janice Frampton ever could, but do not have love, it has all been wasted.
Unless people love one another in church, treat one another in loving ways,
nothing else they do really matters.
~ Dr. Tim Moore