Love within the church

Two weeks ago I spoke to you about Love Within Marriage. Early on in that talk, I said The biblical concept of love is perhaps best described in a short, concise way, in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, where it tells us what some of the biblical attributes of love are and then I read those verses. Those verses are, as I said, a short, concise way of getting an idea about biblical love is. By saying is was “a short concise” idea about biblical love, I was suggesting that the complete definition would be much longer. Today I want to expand the concept of love as it is used in scripture.

In his writings to the different churches, Paul usually followed the pattern of first presenting things that are mostly doctrine (the basic beliefs that are to govern our lives) and the last portion of his letters were primarily application, or how to apply those doctrines in our lives, IOW Paul is saying here’s the will of God for you. Many times his letters are divided almost evenly between the doctrines and applications. In our study today, the main scripture passage we will be considering is Romans 12:9-13. These verses are definitely in the application section of Romans, because he tells us, this is God’s plan for the members of His family (the church.)

According to the dictionary, “love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. A feeling of warm, personal attachment.” IOW, the dictionary defines love as a noun, that is a feeling. That’s one of the definitions of love the single word in the English language, but because in the Greek there are several words that when they are translated into English, all translate as love, I suggest we start viewing biblical love not so much as a noun (the name of a person, place or thing) but as a verb (a word that shows action, condition or state of being). Actions we are willing to take to demonstrate something. Actually, the first time in the scriptures that we find a word translated as love, is in Genesis, and since the first five books of the Bible were all written in Hebrew, it was originally translated from a Hebrew word. That Hebrew word has for its root a word meaning “to give.” This leads us to the actual biblical definition of love. The idea is that biblical love’s greatest desires is to give rather than to get. In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, the leading man, the patriarch, says to his wife of a quarter of a century, “Do you love me?” It’s obvious he is waiting for her to say something like, “I have this warm, fuzzy feeling for you.” But instead, she says to him,

“For 25 years:

· I’ve washed your clothes,

· I’ve cook your meals,

· I’ve cleaned the house,

· I’ve given you children,

· I’ve milked your cow;

· if that isn’t love, what is?”

That is an excellent example of agape love, someone willing to give what is needed by, or is best for, the person being loved . IOW, agape love is a verb, that goes into action to get, what is needed or is best for the object of the love, regardless of cost to the one doing the loving.

While there are several words in Greek that all translate into English as love; there are four of these words that are the main ones used when talking about people. They are:

· Eros – from which we get our word erotic, which is physical love, primarily for self satisfaction, it’s never used in the New Testament..

· Phileo – which means brotherly love, and from which we get our words philanthropist and Philadelphia.

· Storge – love inside the family unit, parent for child, child for parent, and so forth

· Agape – The type of love that has as its major focus, what is needed or is best for the object of the love, regardless of the cost

In Romans 12:9-21, that’s just 13 verses, Paul gives 30 commands, all dealing with love, which is the heart of, and the motive of the Christian life. We wouldn’t have time today to deal with all 30 of those commands, so we will consider the ones that are given for how we are to love our fellow Christians, and those are found in verses 9-13. The other 8 verses, verses 14-21, deal with Love within a Hostile World and Love for Our Enemies. I plan to cover those verses two weeks from now.

Love within the Church (the Family of God)

Romans 12:9-13 (ESV) 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

In verse 9, when Paul wrote Let love be genuine, what Greek word do you think he used for love? That’s right, agape. Why is that important? Because this is the first time in Romans that Paul has used that agape for love describing our love to one another, previously, he had only used it to talk about how God loves us a few minutes ago, I gave a short definition of agape love as “the type of love that has as its major focus, what is needed by, or is best for, the object of the love, regardless of the cost to the one doing the loving.” A more in depth definition includes:

1. Agape love is unconditional love,

2. Agape love that seeks no gain for itself, and seeks great gain for the object of its affection,

3. Agape love is a matter of the will, not of emotions or feelings,

4. Agape love is a choice one makes, not an emotion that is expressed,

5. Agape love is an act of obedience, stimulated by the Spirit of God, to emulate the Son of God.

‌Paul is saying that, “the way God loves us, is how we are to love each other.” Why? Because it is the type of love God has for us; therefore, it is the type of love we are to have for one another (IOW, we are following God’s example). That’s the reason agape love is the criterion, the bench mark, for love among and between Christians. Agape love is the one thing that Jesus said, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have (agape) love for one another. The ESV translation says love is to be genuine; however, in the Greek it actually says “anupokritos” which means “without hypocrisy”. It is the word from which we get our word hypocrite, and it originally referred to “an actor.” During that time, Greek actors would carry a few different mask on stage with them, maybe one happy face, one sad face, and so forth, then hold them over their own faces depicting the different emotions they were supposed to be having. Over time the word hypocrite came to mean one who wears a mask, or an actor. He is saying don’t show love toward someone to their face, and then when they aren’t around be telling gossip about them. That’s fake love, love wearing a mask, it’s really just playing church. This should never be the situation in a Christian Church. By not wearing a mask, we are being real with each other. That’s how it has to be, if we are going to be able to minister to each other. But that goes both ways, you know how when someone asks us how we’re doing, we usually say “Fine,” even though our world is falling apart. Folks when we do that, we are not letting the church function as God designed it, because members of the body to minister to each other; that means when member is hurting, the rest of the body is to minister to that one who is hurting. How are you doing on that? We especially need to be real with those individuals within the body with whom we have developed a personal relationship.

The second sentence in verse 9 begins with the word “abhor.” Do you know what abhor means? It means hate very strongly, detest, despise, loathe. It almost seems odd that right after talking about genuine love, Paul immediately talks about hate as a command. But part of authentic love is authentic hatred. That’s God’s character, He loves what is good and hates evil and unrighteousness. After Paul writes Abhor what is evil; he then says hold fast to what is good. God especially hates hypocrisy, false religion. In Isaiah 1:12-14 (ESV), the prophet speaking on behalf of God, says 12…who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates.

One of the greatest things God hates in the churches today is notintolerance, but rather it is tolerance for evil. There is so much evil around us, in our movies, in our newspapers and on TV, in our schools, that pretty soon, we begin to say, “well, that’s just the way things are today,” and we stop speaking out against it. We are even tolerant it in our churches, failing to stand for the principles of God. You may remember that Paul rebuked the Church of Corinth because they were tolerant of immorality. He rebuked the Church at Galicia because they tolerated legalism. Jesus rebuked the Church at Thyatira, saying, I have this against you, you tolerate that woman Jezebel. She misleads my servant into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. We are not to tolerate evil, because it stains he fellowship, by bringing something foreign into the love we are to have for one another in the church. If we study history, we’ll see that when a society started preaching tolerance of something, not long after that it had gone from tolerance to acceptance, and the moral values within the society have declined. It happens in churches also. It all starts with not hating evil!

Verse 10 says, 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdoone another in showing honor. Instead of saying Outdo one another in showing honor, the NKJV says In honor giving preference(to lead the way) to one another. During the 15+ years that I’ve been at Genesis, I’ve heard several different visitors say something about the obvious love the members have for each other, as well as being impressed by the loving acceptance they felt the first time they ever came to Genesis. I’ve also heard several of our own people thank God in their prayers for the sweet spirit that prevails here within the church. So the overwhelming testimony is that we at Genesis are doing what verse 10 speaks to. That’s awesome folks. But let’s not forget, if we are doing something that honors the Lord, it won’t be long until Satan attacks us. What to do about this, Paul addresses in verse 12, which we will look at in just a few minutes.

In verse 11 Paul writes, 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent (boiling hot) in spirit, serve the Lord. Paul is saying that as Christians, we should passionate and be aglow as we serve the Lord. Serving is the key, and we do that within the body of Christ, the church. Serving the Lord is the motive for this Love within the Church, the family of God. Our love for the Lord, and our service for Him, will spill over into loving others. But all too often today, Christians are afraid of being accused of being a fanatic about their faith, about their love of Christ, and we choose to be silent.

Paul writes in verse 12, 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. The word translated tribulation, is a term that the Romans used for a procedure they used to get a confession out of someone. The procedure was to have a trained elephant place its front foot on the chest of the accused, and if the accused didn’t confess, the elephant would start putting more and more of it’s weight down on the chest of that individual. That’s the kind of tribulation Paul is telling these Christians to be patient in. When we are in that type situation, Paul is saying to not quit praying.

I’ve heard it said that this is an excellent, short, concise description of the Christian life. A few minutes ago I said that Paul would address what we should do when Satan attacks us, because we are honoring Christ in the life of the church, well, the last phrase of verse 12 is what I had reference to, where it says be constant in prayer. We often pray for those who are having different kinds of troubles, but we must also thank God for the sweet fellowship within the church, and anything else that is being done that honors Christ, and at the same time ask God to guard that love within the church.

And finally, verse 13, 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. If you are a Christian, then the word saint applies to you, as it is used here, and in most of the other places it is used in scripture. If we see a fellow Christian in need, and we have the ability to meet that need, this is saying that we are to step forward and meet that need. However, when we read this verse in context, we must remember what the entire Bible teaches, and consider 2 Thessalonians 3:10 where it saysIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. There are no contradictions in scripture, thus, we have to realize Romans 12:13, in talking about meeting the needs of a saint, is not telling us to provide for those who are not willing to work to support themselves and their family.

In regard to the last of verse 13, seek to show hospitality we need to keep in mind that Christian hospitality differs from social entertaining. Entertainingfocuses on the host: The home must be spotless; the food must be well prepared and abundant; the host must appear relaxed and good-natured. Christian Hospitality, by contrast, focuses on the guests' needs, such as a place to stay, nourishing food, a listening ear, or just acceptance. Hospitality can happen in a messy home. It can happen around a dinner table where the main dish is canned soup. It can even happen while the host and the guest are doing chores together. Don't hesitate to offer hospitality just because you are too tired, too busy, or not wealthy enough to entertain, in a socially acceptable manner. Showing hospitality is putting agape love into action.

Remember, these verse started with Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Jesus pours His love on to, and into us, filling us up to a point of running over. We must share that with others, especially those of the household of faith.

Come back in two weeks form today and we’ll plan to discuss verses 14-21 here in Romans 12. They cover more about how Christians are to approach love, and are divided into two sections, Love within a Hostile World and Love for Our Enemies.

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer: Help us yield to Your design for us as Your children, so that we can know the peace and joy that you intend for us to have.

This morning, if you don’t know Christ as your personal savior, but would like to know how to allow Him into your life, we’re going to have some men down here at the front you can come talk with, and any of them will be happy to answer any of your questions about salvation. Or if you have already accepted Christ, and would like to become a member here at Genesis and join with us in demonstrating this love we’ve talked about this morning, you come and one of us will help you with what needs to be done to accomplish that. Or if you just have a need, that you would like to talk with one of us about, or a need someone to join you in prayer about a concern of yours, you come this morning and one of us will be happy to pray with you, or for you, in regard to that concern. As the music starts, you come as the Lord directs you.

Sunday night questions:

1. Tell us two or three reasons Paul used the word agape in this passage.

2. How can Paul tell us to let love be genuine and in the same verse tell us we should abhor something?

3. When these scriptures tell s to contribute to the needs of the saints, who are the saints and does this mean all their needs and wants?

4. What is Christian Hospitality?