The More Excellent Way 1 Cor. 13:1-13

Introduction

We have spent the last few weeks looking at the gifts and how we are the Body of Christ.

Chapter twelve tells us of the gifts and how they need to be incorporated into the body. But if one took them and applied that only they may very well fall into just going through the motions.

Or to put it another way, theologian N.T. Wright has written,

They need to understand that they all belong together in the body of the Messiah, and Paul has now set that out at length in chapter 12. But that won’t be any good if they simply try to put the lesson into practice in a grudging or shoulder-shrugging fashion. They need to pause, to move into a different key and rhythm, and deepen their understanding of the highest virtue, the greatest quality, the most Jesus-like characteristic you can imagine: love (Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004, 171.)

Love is the most important aspect of our walk with Christ as His body. If we fail to love we fail to emulate Christ.

Love though, we must remember, is not affirming everything people do. We see in this very letter that Paul condemned the Corinthians for their failings at certain aspects.

Love does punish and correct. That is what true love is. It is not just doing everything everyone wants to do. We must discipline if we are to love correctly.

In my opinion this chapter is probably the most misapplied and abused chapter in Scripture. Too many people will use it at weddings but not apply it correctly. It is good for a wedding but one must apply it correctly. Love is action, as I have said many times, but that action must have the right motivation.

Let me give an example an illustration of what I mean.

Following World War II, C. Oscar Johnson, a Saint Louis pastor, was leading a drive to raise money to feed the war-ravaged people of Europe. Noting the primacy of spiritual ministry he added: “But if we do not feed them now, they will soon not be alive for us to preach the gospel to them.” By ministering to men’s physical needs, Christians can demonstrate their love and God’s love for persons’ bodies and souls. (Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 170–171.)

This is the right motivation for love. This man wanted to feed those people so they could stay alive so he could then share the gospel with them. This is proper love. He was gaining nothing from it but those people were gaining everything.

This is exactly what Paul is saying in the first verses of this chapter.

We see in verses 1-3 the

Importance of Love (1–3)

If we can speak in all kinds of tongues, but do not have love we are nothing more than noise. If we have prophetic powers and know all mysteries and have great knowledge and have great faith but no love we are no good for anything.

If we give everything and even deliver ourselves up for burning for others without love, we have gained nothing.

Paul is destroying the idea that certain gifts are better than the others. He is saying that so what. So you have those great gifts. But if they are not being used for the love of the body they are useless and worthless. They have no advantage for anyone.

We can be all truth but no love and that helps nothing.

Much like those in the scholarly fields today. I have been in several good discussions with people lately about the direction of our scholars. Many have great knowledge and skills in interpretation but they only use it in their fields and write about it in ways that only those like them can gain.

They do not impact the average every day Christian because they cannot read what they write. It is too technical and therefore not of any good to the mutual upbuilding of the body.

They will work for weeks and months to research and write on topics and then send that article off to be reviewed for possible publication in some of the top theological, philosophical, journals.

When it is accepted it will be read by an average of ten people. Most of which are those involved with the journal itself. How has this helped the body?

It has not because that work did nothing but get done. That is it.

Now, I am not saying that scholarly work is not to be done but it must be done with the ever focused point of love as the main objective. If one does that work with no love for the body, then it was for nothing, it has helped no one.

Much like the burning up of the body in verse three.

Paul is saying that if we give our bodies over to be burned or killed in any other way without proper motivations we have been useless again.

Take for example the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Dan. 3. They would not bow before the statue and said that they would not because of God and their love and devotion to Him alone.

They were polite in their talk to Nebuchadnezzar and were respectful to him. But they would not bow. They gave all honor to God for this because they said even if He does not deliver us we will not bow. They had proper motivation in their love.

They were devoted to God and wanted to glorify Him alone. They did not do this for themselves. It was for the Lord and the work He would do through their actions, much like the pastor from St. Louis who worked diligently to feed war-ravaged Europe so he could take the gospel to them.

That is what these three did in their love and actions. They had the right motivations because towards the end of the chapter we read Dan. 3:28 “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.”

That is the purpose of our love and actions in love, to glorify God and cause others to see Him and glorify Him.

Which lead us to the

Pure Motives of Love (4-7)

In verses 4-7 we see what the pure motives of love are.

Love is patient. This is tough because we want action now. We may have to wait for a while for others to come around. We may have to suffer for a spell before people change.

If we stay patient and care and show love, they may very well change. Christ had great patience with the disciples and their never quite grasping what He was telling them. But because of love He continued to teach and reteach them. This is what we must do too. We must show patience and not fly off the handle even when everything is frustrating and irritating.

Love is kind and it does not envy or boast. When we are genuine in love we will not be envious of others nor will we hold our talents and gifts over them. Back to Paul telling them that no gift is better than another but as one body they are all for the good of the whole body.

When we know this and exercise this we will be kind and caring of others. We will serve them in joy and patience and compassion. We will never hold anything over their heads nor will we want what they have. We will not because we will know that what we have is exactly what God wanted us to have. As such we will rest in His sovereignty and wisdom and love for His. We will know God knows best.

Love is not arrogant or rude and it does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful either.

When we realize all the above mentioned we will rest in what we have and love others in peace and joy. We will not get irritated and arrogant over what they have or what we have. We will live together and love together as one body.

When we have our motivations in the correct place we will know that God has blessed others for a reason and has blessed us in His own way. All of which is for the mutual upbuilding of the Body. If we attack or have arrogance we will not build for long.

As Christ said in Mark 3:25 “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” If we are arrogant or jealous, this house, this Body will not stand. It will fall. Our motivations must be for the mutual care and compassion for the Body to stand strong and true.

This is why we do not rejoice at wrongdoing but at truth. We bear each other in all things we believe in all things-not gullible but in doubtful cases he will prefer being too generous in his conclusions to suspecting another unjustly, we hope in all things-never loses hope never loses faith in others, and most importantly: we endure all things we endure through any persecution and attack because “no hardship or rebuff ever makes love cease to be love.”(Curtis Vaughan and Thomas D. Lea, 1 Corinthians, Founders Study Guide Commentary (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2002), 136.)

We can look at these actions in a chart of positive aspects and negative contrasts.

Positive Aspects Negative Contrasts

Love is patient Is not jealous

Is kind Does not brag

Rejoices with the truth Is not arrogant

Bears all things Does not act unbecomingly

Believes all things Does not seek its own

Hopes all things Is not provoked

Endures all things Does not take into account a wrong

Does not rejoice in unrighteousness

This is what it means to love with the right motivations.

The Corinthian church, much like the church of today, has succumbed to much of the negative elements of this list.

In 1 Cor. 3:3 we see that the Corinthians “are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” So they were being jealous of others.

In 1 Cor. 4:7 “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” and 1 Cor. 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” We see that they were bragging.

In 1 Cor. 4:18-19 “Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.” and 1 Cor 5:2 “And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” We see that they had allowed arrogance to flourish.

In 1 Cor. 6:5 “I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers,” 1 Cor. 11:4 “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head,” and in 1 Cor. 11:22 “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.” we see that the church had been acting unbecomingly and tolerated shameful and disgraceful intrusions.

Finally in 1 Cor. 10:23-24 ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”, we see that they had fallen into selfish egotism rather than seeking other’s good and well-being instead.

Paul does not end with this list and reasons for this list. He does give us the

Inspiration of Love (8-13)

In these last verses Paul makes it very clear that 1 Cor. 13:13 “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” and that everything else will end and be gone. Everything but love. He says plainly in verse 8 that “Love never ends.”

This means that into eternity we will still have love and will be loving others. If we cannot do that hear how will we do it in eternity?

If we cannot stand one another here but will be in eternity together wouldn’t that be misery?

What he is saying is that regardless of the gifts you have here, each will pass away but love will remain forever.

We need to seek to love each other more and more because without love, none of the other gifts are any good anyway.

We could spend hours discussing what is meant by all of the gifts that will pass away and how we prophesy in part, but the important thing for us to know about these gifts, even if everyone of those listed are still in effect today, is they are no good and worthless if we do not use them with love.

What is clear from this section on the gifts and their existence is that whatever we are doing is only in part because the perfect has not come yet. I believe this is speaking of Christ’s return. We are in the partial until He comes again. As such, whatever gifts we have are only known partially.

I do believe that tongues have ceased because of this text. Paul is clear that they will cease and then in the next he says we know in part and prophecy in part. He does not mention tongues again as being in part like the others. This is my take but the truth of the matter is we do not know for sure.

But because he does not repeat them with the prophecy and knowledge does seem to indicate that they have ceased. But it could also be because the Corinthian church felt tongues were a superior gift and Paul was trying to show they were not as superior as they thought.

What is clear is that regardless of whether these gifts are still here today is that if love is not bound up in, around, and all over these gifts, they are useless. That is the main point. We must do all we do in love or it is done wrong, period.

Conclusion

The key takeaway from this chapter is that our lives and ministries must be framed in love. We must demonstrate this love through properly motivated actions. Our love must not fade in and out, be fickle, or hot and cold. It must remain steadfast and faithful. Lastly love must come to the surface of our life more than anything else.

What I am trying to say is it does not matter so much what gift you have received. What does matter is your love for the Lord and for others. That is what is most important in what we do for the Lord and the body.

As Paul said 1 Cor. 13:1-3 “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.”

If we do all this but have not love, we have done absolutely nothing but been a loud clanging noise that does nothing but annoy others.