God's Measuring Stick

We are often tempted to make wrong measurements about our local church. We measure by our attendance, by how many groups we have. We measure by the condition of our facilities, the amount of money in our bank account, etc.

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All these things are important. And we need to measure them. But too often we use these measurements to make conclusions about how good a church is or is not.

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We often measure wrongly on an individual level, also.

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I’ve been reading a book recently about men. The writer lists twelve standards by which the Christian man typically measures himself - how to be the perfect husband, father, Christian at church, citizen in the community, star at work, and yet have time for oneself.

Morley, P. (2009). Pastoring men: what works, what doesn’t, and why it matters now more than ever (p. 40). Moody Publishers.

He prefaced this list by saying men are tired. He finished the list, saying, “Now I’m tired!”

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In our scripture today, Paul tells us that for far too long we have been measuring wrongly, and it’s therefore no wonder when our finished product doesn’t look right!

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

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.

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Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth. This was a gifted and prosperous church that struggled with multiple serious issues. Paul addressed them in his greeting as 1 Corinthians 1:2 “… those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints… .”

But only a few verses into this letter, frustrated, Paul said 1 Corinthians 3:1 “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”

Many of the church’s problems reflected the same underlying theme: a seeking for status according to the world's measurement instead of God's.

In particular, the church was exercising spiritual gifts in a way to demonstrate their spiritual superiority instead of edifying one another and ministering to the community. Their fascination with tongues appears to have become part of their competition over spiritual status.

In the previous chapter, Paul explained that every Christian is given spiritual gifts, but our spiritual gift mix is different from one another. What spiritual gifts we have, or do not have, do not make us any more or less spiritual than the next follower of Jesus.

Paul ended 1 Corinthians 12 with the exhortation to seek the higher gifts, saying that he would show them a more excellent way. That excellent way is love.

When we understand the primacy of love, then we begin to realize how often our measurements of ourselves, our church and other Christians are offbase.

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What happens when we live, serve, speak, and act without love?

1. Without love, we are only noise, v. 1.

1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

One commentator explains the cultural background of Paul’s imagery, saying…

In many of the temples there was hanging at the entrance a large cymbal. Often, as the would-be worshipers entered the temple, they struck it causing a loud noise. Some said the noise was for the purpose of rousing the gods. By the time Paul wrote this letter, the loud “gong” which was made from striking the cymbal had become the symbol for superficial oratory. With this picture in the background, Paul is saying that, without love, the finest oratory is nothing more than an empty pagan rite.

Chafin, K. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). 1, 2 Corinthians (Vol. 30, p. 158). Thomas Nelson Inc.

Of all the spiritual gifts, the one most prided by the church in Corinth was that of speaking in tongues. Whatever conclusions we draw about the precise nature of tongues, here’s the more important point.

In this church’s case, the people were exercising this gift out of pride. No one could understand them. The result was confusion.

Their actions, their speech, was not motivated by love; it was motivated by self-seeking.

Even the most extraordinary spiritual speech becomes empty noise when it is separated from love.

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Notice that Paul wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels.” Beyond speaking in tongues, even the preacher or the worship leader who speaks with eloquence… but without love… is simply making noise!

 2. Without love, we are nothing, v. 2.

1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV

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.

Prophecy, as used here, represents a revelation of God given to build up the church. To prophesy in the church meant to declare the word of God.

Chafin, K. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). 1, 2 Corinthians (Vol. 30, p. 158). Thomas Nelson Inc.

Paul promoted prophecy. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14:1 he said…

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

One preacher illustrated the primacy of love by sharing a personal story:

Many years ago at a large meeting of ministers I shared the platform with a most outstanding speaker. He had an excellent education, and it was reflected in his understanding of the Bible and in his grasp of theology and church history.

He had a perceptive understanding of today’s world with its pressures, its values, its goals. He was a skilled communicator who knew how to work an audience, and his insights into human nature were keen. It seemed to me that he had every gift necessary for doing the job.

Later, when I read the evaluations that were done on all the program personalities, I was quite surprised to discover that there were few positive comments about his being on the program.

In the light of that response, I decided to talk to some of the participants to find some clue. It came in the first conversation when a young minister said, “Quite frankly, everything he said was true. He said it well, but he spoke with a kind of anger. I didn’t get the feeling that he loved any of us.”

Chafin, K. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). 1, 2 Corinthians (Vol. 30, pp. 158–159). Thomas Nelson Inc.

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When we speak… even when we speak God’s Word… we must speak in love, or what we do doesn’t really matter.

In fact, Paul went on to say that even if we have great faith, but without love, we are nothing.

When I think of great faith, I remember heroes of the past such as Praying Hyde who near the end of his nineteen years in India was asking for four souls a day to be saved through his ministry and God granted his request.

Or I think of George Muller who cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. He never asked people for money, but trusted in God as his only provider. And God provided, miraculously, for his needs over and over again.

These men and more were truly motivated by love and served in love.

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But we understand Paul’s point. It would not matter how great a faith Hyde or Muller had. If they did not have love, they would have been nothing.

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Then again, we must ask: do we truly understand this? Do we value love in this way?

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While we see the great importance of love, so often we don’t live by this value. We think that if we work hard enough, believe enough, that’s what is necessary.

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We tend to measure ourselves differently:

What do I know about the Bible?

How faithfully do I attend church?

How strongly do I hold to the truth?

How much ministry am I involved in?

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God’s Word reveals that we can score high on all these measurements, but still fail the measurement that matters most.

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God says, “Without love, you are nothing!”

Furthermore, we also find that…

3. Without love, we gain nothing, v. 3.

1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

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Yes, this scripture sounds beautiful. We appreciate the sentiment. But this verse cuts pretty close.

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Some of us can give more than others. You may give $100 for a special offering and not think about it too much. Quite frankly, I would probably give $20; I would be thinking pretty hard about that $100.

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Regardless, Paul wrote that if we give away ALL that we have, yet do so without love, it doesn’t profit us one bit!

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Ouch!

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God doesn’t give me ANY credit even if I give away EVERYTHING I own… if I don’t do so with love?

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Paul went on to say that even if we give up our body to be burned or to die, without love we don’t gain a thing!

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That’s almost too much.

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We like to think we get some credit for the good deeds we do, even if we do them with a bad attitude or with less than noble motives!

Without love, I gain nothing.

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You see, we can stand for something that is right without loving rightly.

We can even defend what is precious while allowing resentment in our hearts.

We can speak the truth, but speak it without love.

God does not allow us to measure faithfulness merely by whether our position is correct. He asks what spirit governs the way we live out our convictions.

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Why is love so essential to the Christian life?

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The Greek word for love in our text is agape.

… it was a love that had been defined by God’s action in sending Jesus Christ into the world.

It was a love that reached out to those who did not deserve it; a love that put the interest of others first; a love that forgave people and started over with them; and a love that sacrificed itself for others.

It means that caring, forgiving, spontaneous, redeeming love which is the essence of God’s nature.

Chafin, K. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). 1, 2 Corinthians (Vol. 30, p. 157). Thomas Nelson Inc.

The heart of Christian living is not something we create ourselves. Rather, it is the expression by God’s people of the love that God demonstrated to us and implanted in us when we were born again spiritually.

Truly, this scripture strips away all the pretenses of our Christian religion. We value good presentations - whether we are listening to a good preacher or we are trying to present ourselves as Christian examples.

We especially focus on knowing and understanding God’s Word. And we are intimidated by those who demonstrate powerful faith in God for answers to prayer.

We are wowed by those who give largely, especially those who make the ultimate sacrifice for Jesus.

But it truly doesn’t matter how good we sound or look, how much we know or believe, how much we do or give, if we do not express God’s love in our attitudes, actions, and speech, it is worth nothing in the sight of our Lord.

Big Idea: Love alone gives meaning to everything we do for Christ.

Later in this letter, Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

Let all that you do be done in love.

Then in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Paul also wrote:

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 ESV

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

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There are many other scriptures that emphasize this point.

Big Idea: Love alone gives meaning to everything we do for Christ.

This is the Good News of Jesus Christ alive in His people!

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All morning we’ve been talking about measurements, but the issue isn’t simply if we measure ourselves. The question is: are we using the right ruler?

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A little boy once told his mother that he was six feet tall. When she doubted the statement, he assured her that he had just measured himself. His calculations were right but his ruler was not; it was only about six inches long.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/preaching/sermon-illustrations/wrong-measuring-stick/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Like that little boy, sometimes the measurement standard we use is wrong. Like Corinth Church, we fixate on certain markers that we think define spirituality. Too often, however, we measure ourselves by the wrong standards.

What is the ultimate standard by which we should measure our lives?

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Agape love - Christlike love in action.

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Jesus did not promote himself for His own glory; He sought to do the will of His Father. Jesus came to serve, rather than to be served. Jesus sacrificed his life on our behalf.

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This, then, is our challenge - to begin measuring ourselves, and even our church, by the right standard.

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Ask yourself these questions;

Before I speak: is this loving?

Before I act: is this seeking the other person’s good?

When I consider my attitude: Does this look like Jesus?

Remember that without agape love, what we say becomes noise. Without agape love, we are nothing. Without love, even our greatest sacrifices gain nothing.

Let’s not confuse secondary measurements with the ultimate standard. Whatever we say, whatever we know, whatever we believe, whatever we give, whatever we do … let all of it be governed by the Christlike love God has poured into our hearts.

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