LOVE IS THE ANSWER (I Corinthians 10-13). The church in Corinth had sent Chloe’s people (I Corinthians 1:11) as messengers to Paul, with a list of questions they needed resolved: “concerning the matters about which you wrote” (7:1), “concerning food sacrificed to idols” (8:1), “concerning spiritual gifts” (12:1), and apparently also concerning public worship (11:2-5, 14:26-33), speaking in tongues (14:1-12), and the Lord’s Supper (11:17-33) – plus a couple questions Paul said he would answer later (11:34). All of these responses are specific to the particular questions that they had sent: if they had asked different questions, we would have gotten different answers. If they hadn’t raised some concerns about the Lord’s Supper, Paul would not have needed to respond about it here: and since he never wrote about it in any of his other letters, we might have concluded (a) that he didn’t know anything about any Lord’s Supper, and (b) that it must not have been celebrated in the churches he founded, and therefore (c) that it must have been developed later, probably some time in the second century. (That shows the problem with the argument from silence, which proposes that since we dont see anything about a particular topic in the writings of a person or group, they must not have known about it. Thats a fallacy. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.) In the midst of problems and questions like these, Paul wanted to show them “the best way of all” (12:31) of addressing all such topics. It doesn’t matter if I can speak in tongues, have the power of prophecy, can explain all the mysteries, and have the faith to move mountains: if I do not have love, I am nothing (13:1-3). The love Paul has in mind – ἀγάπη (agape) – focuses on attitude and action much more than how I happen to feel at the moment. Love bears with the other person, acting with patience and kindness, rather than boastfulness or rudeness. It does not insist on its own way (ouch!). It is not irritable or resentful (ouch again). It rejoices in the truth (13:4-7). And while showy gifts like prophecy and tongues and knowledge will come to an end, love goes on forever (13:8). Teach us to love one another, O Lord, with the ἀγάπη with which you love your world: with graciousness and compassion, with kindness and patience. Set us free from the need to get our own way; deliver us from resentment and arrogance. We cannot do this, in our own strength: weve proven that so many times. So we trust in you.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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