On November 6, 1919, silent screen stars Jean Acker (1892-1978) and Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) were married. Those who attended the ceremony said it was beautiful. It was the highlight of their relationship, because their honeymoon was a disaster. Practically speaking, their marriage was over in six hours. She locked him out of their honeymoon suite. They didn’t understand love – love is not just an emotion; love is much more. They are not the only ones. There are many who don’t understand love. Do you understand love? That takes us to our reading, 1 Corinthians 13.
Today, the population of Corinth, Greece is 31,000. When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter in the year 55, the population was 650,000. Within that massive city was a Christian congregation. The problem was this church was not living up to their full potential; it was fractured. They had everything they needed to succeed, except one thing – love. Paul knew what we often forget. A congregation that lacks love, lacks everything. In our time, we spend far too much time talking about programs, budgets and personal expectations. Through the eyes of God, those things don’t matter. The only thing that matters in the life of the church is love. The problem is many don’t understand love.
Part of the problem is that the English-speaking world uses the word “love” so casually. Let me give you a few examples. I love hot peppers and baseball. I love sitting outside on a hot summer night listening to the crickets. I love my wife, daughters and grandchildren. I love shrimp with cocktail sauce. I love America and I love being retired. I love the colorful Ohio autumn leaves. I love being right and saying, “I told you so.” Just think about it for a moment. That means I have equated my feelings for my wife with hot peppers. In the English language we use one word, love, to cover many feelings and relationships. We use the word love so casually.
The Biblical writers were more exact. They had six words to describe the different kinds of love. Here are the six:
- Eros is the Greek word for passionate love.
- Philia is the Greek word for friendship love.
- Ludus is the Greek word for playful love.
- Agape is the Greek word for worldwide love.
- Pragma is the Greek word for long lasting love.
- Philautia is the Greek word for self-love.
To unlock our reading, you must discover which of those words Paul uses in I Corinthians 13. The answer is, agape love, or worldwide love, it is the highest form of love. Agape love is unconditional love. That is the kind of love that should exist in every congregation. Sadly, that is rare. Agape love keeps churches going in the right direction. Churches that lack agape love become self-destructive. That is why so many ugly church stories exist. Churches that possess agape love fulfill their divine purpose. They respond to the physical and spiritual needs of the world. Do you consider your church self-destructive or productive? Let me ask you a practical question, have you spent more time this week complaining about your church or talking about Jesus? Agape love in the life of the church is vital.
In 1984, Steve (born 1951) and Deborah (born 1951) Murrell went to the Philippines and founded Victory Manila Fellowship. Today, Victory Manila has fourteen different locations in that metro area, boasting 80,000 members. The Murrells believe any church can be successful if it has six things:
- Calling – discover what God wants you to do with your life
- Commitment – work hard at your calling
- Concentration – focus on your passion
- Honor God – we are not the stars
- Make Disciples – nothing else matters
- Community – pastors get too much credit and blame for success and failure. Pastors and congregations are in the ministry together.
The Apostle Paul and the Murrells are saying the same thing. No church can reach its full potential if the members don’t get along. That leads us back to our question of the day. How loving are you? The question is not about tolerance. The question is about unconditional love. Do you love your fellow church members and the world unconditionally?
For many years, my wife, Kathryn, led volunteer in mission teams to Dmitrov, Russia, home of the Renewal Orphanage. Each child in the orphanage is severely handicapped. I cherish the memories of those trips. For me one of the highlights was worshipping in a small Russian Orthodox Church outside of the walls of the orphanage grounds. There is nothing impressive about the structure. It is just a tiny neighborhood church. Yet, without knowing the language or traditions, I surprisingly found myself at home. That little church fed my soul.
One year on a Sunday in January the church was crowded. There were no pews in Orthodox Churches in Russia, so everyone stood. I stood in the back trying to unsuccessfully fit in. Every couple of minutes the outside door would open to let people enter or exit. Every time the door opened, cold air rushed in. One time the door opened, and a young couple walked in. They were a classic young Russian couple. She was holding a baby. He was holding a toddler by the hand. The toddler did what toddlers do. Within a few minutes, the toddler grew restless. The child started to cry, and everyone looked at them. I felt bad for the young couple. I felt worse when an old Russian woman came up to the couple, said something stern to them and pointed to the door. She kept pointing at the door until the young couple with their children left. The agape love in that church seemed to have been absent that day. Can I ask you a question?
How many people in your church have been shown the door? I don’t mean with a pointed finger. I mean with a harsh word, an intolerant attitude or an unwelcoming spirit. I would like to say it never happened in my churches, but it did. I experienced it personally in retirement while church shopping. Every church says they want new members, but they don’t. What they really want is potential members’ money. It is a sad situation and explains why so many local churches are struggling. Agape love is rare in the life of the church and needs to be cultivated. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” How loving are you?
