| Passages
by the Senior Minister
Done in Love
In a few days we will celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the church. I tend to idealize the early church as a place where there were no troubles and no divisions. However, a cursory read of the book of Acts and Paul’s letters reveals that there were divisive issues at work then just like today. Some of these issues were theological–was the church an offshoot of Judaism or something new? Some were political–are we Romans or Jews or Christians only? Others were sociological–what do we do with meat that has been blessed by a different religion? These and several other issues threatened to break up many congregations.
There are no easy answers to the problems listed above but there is a way of being and interacting together that can provide a firm place to stand no matter what the issue might be. You can find this place in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. He wraps it up with this simple yet brilliant bit of advice: “Let all that you do be done in love.” No matter what we do or say or discuss or dream about or work on together, we can face any issue and any situation as long as we allow love to be foundational to all that we do.
He wants the Corinthians to understand love from the standpoint of ethics. He hopes that they will see that choosing to live in love means that we are deciding to live within the ethical ideal of love of God and love of neighbor (and by the way, the definition of neighbor is anyone you encounter in this world, near or far).
Love is the base upon which the church must stand or it will crumble in the face of so many competing interests both in and out of the church. Paul is appealing to them to heal their divisions and focus on their shared love of God. Paul is pulling no punches in this letter. He wants this church to understand that their first inclination is to relate to each other in love.
“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” Two thousand years later that is still darn good
advice.
Grace and Peace to you.
Glen
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