Join us the next four weeks as we take a look each Sunday at a “One Another” verse in the Bible. Kicking off week one, we focus on 1 Corinthians 13, taking a look at how we are called to love one another and what that means for our relationships, day to day lives, and interactions within the Body of Christ.
When I was sick for five weeks a few weeks ago, I eventually got so bad that I went to the emergency room. The doctor ran a few quick tests, prescribed some meds, and sent me on my way. When I didn’t improve after two weeks, I made an appointment with my general doctor. She checked me out and prescribed even more potent meds. Thankfully, they did trick.
Before I left her office, she looked at my chart and said, “It has been a few years since we checked your blood. Would you mind if we did a blood panel today to check on your progress since your last test? I agreed, and in a few minutes I was in the blood lab. A few days later, I received the detailed results, and the doctor informed me of a few areas I needed to monitor, along with specific steps I needed to take to maintain my health. For the last two months, I have followed her advice and counsel, as I want to continue enjoying life to the fullest.
A check-up for a physical body is a good thing, right? How about a check-up for a spiritual body? Which spiritual body are we talking about? The local church, or more precisely, our church. Why do we refer to it as a body? Because Paul used this word (soma) and metaphor for the local church some thirty times in his letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, and the Colossians. Here are a few instances where Paul described the church like a body:
5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Rom. 12)
23 For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. (Eph. 5)
18 He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. (Col. 1)
You can’t read through Paul’s letters without encountering how he equates the local church body with a physical body.
Why did he do this? Because it is easy for us to understand how both physical and spiritual bodies operate. They both enjoy cooperation and unity among the various members. They contain essential, highly complex parts, as well as other parts that are not as significant but are vital to the overall functioning of the body. Just compare the human eye to the little toe, and you can see what we are talking about. Likewise, a person gifted with the function of a shepherd possesses greater responsibility for the body’s functioning; however, this does not diminish the person who is truly skilled at helping others. Both are needed, but there is a difference between them.
Furthermore, just as healthy choices lead to healthy living for the physical body, the same applies to the local church. No one would think that eating three large bear claws for breakfast, followed by a hefty bowl of sugary cereal, and three cups of coffee, would be a wise way to head to the office. I don’t even know if that person should get on the expressway either. Similarly, a saint who never reads, studies, or memorizes the Bible becomes spiritually malnourished, and their growth is certainly stunted. The point is well taken: For bodies to remain healthy, they need to exercise and follow wise counsel. Paul’s analysis of the Ephesian church in Asia Minor illustrates this premise:
15 Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. (Eph. 4)
Focus your attention on the phrase “with the proper functioning of each part.” Ostensibly, this means a church must exercise and observe, individually and corporately, disciplines that lead to health. The phrase, of course, leaves open the reality that some believers might not do this, resulting in a spiritually weak and anemic church.
Therefore, based on this reality, I believe a spiritual check-up is warranted. Over the next four Sundays in this short series, called “Body Life Basics,” we will explore how healthy local church bodies should function, guided by God’s counsel. By examining the disciplines that He deems essential for a local church’s health, we can quickly assess our current state and determine the necessary course corrections needed to maintain and maximize spiritual health.
What are the disciplines God, our highly skilled spiritual doctor, deems necessary to create and promote a healthy local church? They are laid out in the 50 “one another” commands in the New Testament. As we begin this series, we will refer to these concepts as the recipe for church health. To dig into it, let’s start by turning it into a question:
What Is The Recipe For Church Health? (Selected Texts)
Speaking about a maturing, healthy local church, Gene Getz, an expert on church growth in bygone days, observes in his book “Sharpening the Focus of the Church,”
“A functioning body, or ‘body life’ as some have designated it, is absolutely essential for growth and maturity to take place in the church. The very nature of the body of Christ makes it important for every member to function and contribute to the process of edification.”[1]
What exactly does “each member” need to be doing to build up and strengthen their church? They need to give time and attention daily to the “one another” commands. God designed us, as saints, to live in close community with each other in a church setting. These commands, which are grammatically reflexive in nature, underscore not just how much we need each other, but how we are to treat each other for health to be the condition of our body.
From this, we gather the first answer to our overarching question:
There Are Rules
In my first church, I had a man who struggled with his weight. He was approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed around 300 pounds. In a year, he dropped dramatically to 190 pounds. Since he was a friend of mine, I just had to know how he did this, so I posed the question: “Steve [not his real name], if you don’t mind me asking, how did you lose all that weight so quickly?” His reply shocked me, “Well, I stopped eating certain things each day I knew were not good for me.” “Like what?” I probed. Since this conversation occurred in the late 1990s, this is what I recall he told me: “Well, each day I had a dozen donuts, five candy bars, at least one Big Gulp (a straight soda drink), and a half-gallon of ice cream,” he replied. I became slack-jawed at that moment. He wasn’t healthy because he was doing all the wrong things, or rather, he broke the rules for good eating. He only became healthy when he started on a regimen of sane eating principles.
Spiritually, the same applies. Health increases within the local church body as individual members exchange unhealthy life choices for healthier ones. Those good life choices, of course, are directly tied to the fifty “one another” commands. Here is a sampling of some of them:
- Stir Up One Another to Love and Good Works. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)
- Do Good to One Another. “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
- Serve One Another. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
- Do Not Provoke One Another. “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another…” (Galatians 5:26a)
- Confess Sins to One Another. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another…” (James 5:16a)
These are just five of the fifty. You can readily see how, if you apply these, they will not only mature you as a disciple of Jesus, but they will breed health in our body relationships, which is precisely what the Lord desires to see.
So, what about it? Do you attend church to fulfill a duty your parents instilled in you, or do you realize you are part of the church, the local and living body of Christ? Here’s another personal question: Are you contributing to the health of this body by practicing the disciplines that lead to health? Are you exhibiting any behavior that detracts from the health of this body? If so, make today a day of confession followed by an appeal for the Spirit of God to help you live differently. If you don’t think you are living in a spiritually unhealthy manner, and that things are good, then you shouldn’t have any issue with uttering the prayer of the courageous psalmist. I like how the NIV translates Psalm 139:24, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Gulp. Are you game to pray like this? I hope so.
While considering the fifty rules the Lord has given us to follow for health and thinking about our level of allegiance to them, I believe we need to drill down a little deeper into a second concept that helps us truly understand the Lord’s recipe for local church health.
There Is Refinement (Select Texts)
By refinement, I mean there is a need to slow down and zero in on one of these “one another” commands. The question is, which one should we study? I think the foundation of all of the other forty-nine “one another” commands is the one to “love one another.” Without mutual love for each other, it is, by definition, impossible to fulfill the different commands and to fulfill them with the correct motivation. Hence, we start where our Lord began.
The command to love each other comes right from the top, from the Lord Himself:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:17)
Why did Jesus command us to love each other? I think the answer is simple: He knows our carnal propensities. Even though His rich, red, royal blood covers our positional sin at the moment of conversion, He knew we, like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7, would be prone to wrestle with the power of the flesh.
- The flesh wants us to serve itself, while the Lord wants us to serve others.
- The flesh wants us to tear others down we don’t like, while the Lord wants us to build up others.
- The flesh wants us never to admit a wrong, while the Lord wants us to lead confessional lives to keep us humble and pliable.
- The flesh wants to create disunity, while the Lord wants unity to be prevalent.
Hence, by giving us commands and not suggestions, the Lord underscores the utter importance of what we need to do to lead healthy spiritual lives so we are part of a healthy church. The commands, therefore, aren’t something akin to a well-laden smorgasbord. You are not free to pass by dishes you don’t like or don’t want, but you must continually try them all if you want to be healthy spiritually and, in turn, cause health to abound in your church.
Christ’s emphasis on believers loving one another was so significant that we find other leaders in the New Testament drive it home to their disciples:
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7)
Are you beginning to see why I said brotherly love is the foundation for all of the “one another” commands? Adherence to this type of selfless love makes the fulfillment of all the other commands possible.
All this talk and emphasis on “loving each other” leads to a logical question: What does brotherly love look like? How do I know if I am exhibiting it or not? How do I determine if I see it as much as I should in this local body of believers? Put differently, what are the key characteristics of this kind of love?
Paul provides a reasonably comprehensive answer in 1 Corinthians 13:4-13. We typically use this passage in weddings, but that was, and is not, the proper context. The correct context is the body of Christ, encompassing both the universal and local church. Corinth represented a church on how not to do church. You might need to hear that again. Corinth was not a model church, but a messed-up, sick, and unhealthy church. Its members thought it was a healthy church, when, in fact, it couldn’t have been more harmful. Thus, when Paul coined these memorable words, they were a list of what biblical love, agape, does and does not do, and they were explicitly aimed at the faults of the Corinthian believers. By studying, therefore, how Paul describes agape love from God, one can easily determine where the Corinthians fell short. This information also informed them of what they needed to do to enhance their ability to love each other as God intended.
Follow closely how Paul describes divine, agape love, for by so doing, you will discover whether you are showing it or not. It is one thing to say, “Yeah, Paul really knew what he was talking about when he said we are to love one another. I couldn’t agree more, especially in the caustic, unloving times in which we live.” It is quite another to actually showcase these nuances of agape love in your life. Here is Paul’s description of the kind of love Jesus calls us to:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13)
Let’s explore these concepts so that we understand them and, in turn, adhere to them in our lives. This will enable our church to remain healthy and achieve even greater well-being. Before we do this, allow me one more observation: these descriptions of agape love are all present-tense verbs. What does this signify? It means that for a saint to properly love according to God’s thinking, that saint must constantly work at evidencing these traits of agape love. Additionally, the verbal descriptions underscore that agape love is an action, not an emotion. It is defined by what we do or don’t do. Full-stop. End of story. With these thoughts in mind, let’s sink our interpretive spades into the rich soil of this text about what constitutes divine agape love.
Verse 4: “Love is patient.” Really, we have to start here? Yes. Who are you impatient with? Are you impatient with someone who talks too much? Are you impatient with someone who doesn’t really talk at all? Are you impatient with saints who say they’ll be there for you, but when you need them, they are nowhere to be found? Are you impatient with people who take too long to exit the parking lot? Are you impatient with someone who always dumps their life story on you so you will know exactly how to pray for them? Are you impatient with someone who keeps making all the same dumb mistakes and unbelievable life choices, despite all your counsel? Obviously, the wealthy, highly educated Corinthians struggled with patience, and this negatively impacted their ability to love others. Paul believed they could improve; otherwise, he wouldn’t have made this positive point. If you are impatient, it is not too late for an old dog to learn a new pattern of behavior. Just ask the Lord for some inside help.
Verse 4: “Love is kind.” A kind believer brings you food when you have just gotten home from the hospital. They don’t tell others personal things they know about you that won’t be flattering. They speak kindly to you. Their words are uplifting, encouraging, and positive. An unkind believer puts you down when they can, they can’t wait to cast you in a negative light, they watch you work and serve so they can coast and enjoy the church, they offer you unsolicited advice on how to raise your children, and they talk to you as if you are not as smart as they are. Read this first letter to the Corinthians and you’ll see just how unkind they were to each other. According to chapter six, they would take each other to court at the drop of the proverbial hat. Sad. Such behavior should not be characteristic of saints. Kindness should be the order of the day.
Verse 4: “[love] It is not jealous.” A non-jealous believer is genuinely excited when you get a promotion and they don’t; they are your friend, even though you might have more gifts and abilities than they do, they don’t care if you have better and nicer things than they can afford, and they celebrate an employment door of significant proportions opening up for you. The Corinthian church was riddled with small-minded, jealous saints. “Oh, I see so and so purchased a designer toga at the local agora. Must be nice.” “Have you seen how much marble so and so built into their new home at the base of the Acropolis?” Is there a jealous bone in your body? Get real. Get honest. Get rid of it with the Spirit’s help so you can be healthy, along with our church.
Verse 4: “[love] is not pompous, it is not inflated.” In Greek, pompous (perpereuomai, περπερεύομαι) denotes a person who loves to brag. The last word, inflated (phusioo, φυσιόω) is used six out of seven times in the entire NT in this Corinthian letter. It denotes a person dripping with arrogance. A pompous, inflated, arrogant saint thinks they are more important than they really are. They are, to use Clint Eastwood’s line from one of his movies, “A legend in their own minds.” They talk way too much about themselves and their accomplishments, or what they own, drive, and so on. They highlight (constantly) this award, that award, this trophy, that degree, this important connection, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes you can spot them because they are the individuals with inflated chests, arrogant, cocky looks, and smug demeanors. Corinth Community Church had its share of pompous and inflated individuals (phusioo occurs in 1 Cor. 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1). We see them in chapter one as they divided themselves. Because Paul loved them, he called them out:
11 For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. 12 I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” (1 Cor. 1)
His reply to all this is powerful: “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13). The answer is, “No.” Then the conclusion must be drawn: why do you divide yourselves around mere men? They divided themselves because those of the intelligentsia school thought it more spiritual to be aligned with the erudite and eloquent Apollos. Others thought it loftier to be aligned with Paul, the gifted founder of the church. Right. Big deal. Saints who really love each other aren’t consumed with pride, but evidence humility, not hubris.
Verse 5. “[Love] is not rude.” What is a rude saint like? They interrupt you because what they have to say is more important. You don’t ever hear them say thank you when you do something for them. They expect you to hold the worship door open for them. They won’t move from their anointed worship seat when they see they need to move over to make room for your large family. They don’t respond to your emails quickly, or at all. They offer child-rearing tips when you never asked them. They hurt your feelings, then expect you to apologize to them. They don’t return your text messages when you ask them for something specific. They constantly look past you when you are talking with them because they have more important people they want to hobnob with. What’s the opposite of rude? It is to be polite, civil, and chivalrous. It is to do the opposite of the things I just mentioned. Can you do it? Will you do it? Many do in our body, so why not join them so our body life is enhanced?
Verse 5: , “[Love] it does not seek its own interests.” This is just another way of saying negatively that agape love is not self-seeking. What is a self-seeking saint like? They view situations at church through the lens of how this situation might benefit or advance them, not you. I’ve seen this one too many times in meetings with large groups of pastors. The ones who want to get ahead, say in the denomination, don’t want to spend any time talking with you. No, they are primarily concerned with aligning themselves with influential pastors who can advance their careers. At the church level, this type of person is always worming their way into the lives of leaders who can help them get what they want out of the church. If they believe they are God’s gift of teaching, they will ensure they know all the people who can provide them with an opportunity to showcase their stellar gift to the body. How nauseating. Are you a self-seeking saint? It is not becoming of you, for it reeks of selfishness and not selflessness. As disciples and followers of Jesus, we must emulate His behavior, especially in this area. Daily, He did not focus on His interests, but on the needs and interests of those around Him. Ask for the strength and will to follow His holy lead, and spiritual health will be yours.
Verse 5: “[Love] it is not quick-tempered.” We derive our word “paroxysm” from this term (paroxynetai, παροξύνεται). It is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a fit, or attack, a sudden violent emotion.” Once more, Corinth Community Church had its share of what we’d call hot-heads. If something occurred or if something was said they didn’t like, then BAM, they exploded verbally all over the place. They yelled at the offender as their eyes bulged, their nose flared, and their mouths showed teeth as they snarled when they spat out their venom. Do you have an explosive temper? Do your family members and friends have to walk on eggshells around you out of fear of triggering you? Do you frequently send emails to someone who has said something you didn’t appreciate, and you make sure it is all caps? If you struggle in this area, give it to the Lord, seeking His forgiveness and empowerment to live with a calm demeanor. And what is a calm person like? They listen to people and think about what they are saying. They keep their emotions in check by the power of God’s Spirit. They are aware of triggers that will set them off, so they take note of this in a conversation or find good reasons to walk away. They carefully use words that won’t demean another person or inflame a complex, touchy conversation. We have a church full of calm people, but I’m sure there are exceptions, given the number of people. May we be the kind of people who don’t act like the world, but who act like Christ. When He was wronged, He blessed. He didn’t go ballistic. Sometimes He chose to be silent altogether, like when His trial didn’t go well with the religious leaders. Learn from Him, and health will come to you and our body.
Verse 5: “[Love] it does not brood over injury.” “Brood” is not the best translation of the Greek word logizetai (λογίζομαι). According to the leading Greek Lexicon, BDAG, this is an accounting term (BDAG, 597). As such, the picture here is of a person who, like an accountant, keeps a little black book complete with the wrongs people have committed against them. Do you have a book like this, or perhaps a file on your computer? Maybe you just have a good memory, so the infraction(s) are locked away in your mind, awaiting the time when you need to retrieve them to exact your pound of flesh from the perpetrator. This is not how agape love is supposed to behave. Agape love absorbs evil or wrongs that people do, doesn’t wait to become vengeful based on detailed and verified past infractions. It looks for an opportunity to offer real, lasting forgiveness. If your agape love is currently overshadowed by your tendency to hold grudges against those who have wronged you, it is time to move on. It’s time to forgive. It’s time to live and act like Jesus. This will help you mature spiritually, and it will undoubtedly breathe new life into our church body.
Verse 6: “[Love] it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” The Greek word for “wrongdoing” here is adikia (ἀδικίᾳ). It speaks of a general disregard for what is right and a love for what is wrong. Sins like sexual perversion and lawsuits plagued the Corinthian church. They were allowed to flourish, likely because many in the church approved of what was happening. You see this same propensity in our world. Take someone like Luigi Mangione, who fatally murdered United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, and now certain sick people are celebrating his courageous action, and shallow single women are even lining up to be his girlfriends. Sick. That type of mindset is nothing new, and it existed in the Corinthian church. To celebrate evil is opposed to agape love. Agape love doesn’t celebrate the advancement of evil. It celebrates the advance of truth. It celebrates the advance of God’s love for sinners. If this sinful streak is running through our veins right now, and you call yourself a saint, realize it runs counter to real divine love. And as such, it calls for your repentance. Will you call out to God for cleansing so you truly rejoice over what causes Him to rejoice?
Verse 7: [Love] it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Paul closes out his lofty description of divine love with four more powerful statements.
To bear all things means agape love suffers in life, but it stays the course under pressure. The person who has this type of love doesn’t cut and run when things get hot in the kitchen. The person who has this type of love doesn’t rush to hire a divorce attorney when their marriage has slammed into some nasty rocks. The person with this type of love understands the difficulties of having a child with special needs, but they embrace the challenges with grace, knowing that God is with them.
To believe all things doesn’t mean this kind of person is naïve and easily misled—quite the opposite. The statement highlights how this type of person is quick to believe the best about you, rather than the worst. They aren’t pessimistic about you, but optimistic, even when you falter and fall. Since love drives this type of person, they cut you slack, they show you grace (like Jesus did with Peter), and challenge you to do better.
To hope in all things means a love-driven saint is always looking onward and upward to what God can and will do. Drop this kind of saint in a dire hospital situation, and they will put winds of hope in your sails when they leave. Let this saint lose their job with DODGE cuts, and they will have a twinkle in their eye because they are convinced that God is up to something good and wonderful in the long run.
To endure all things merely highlights how this saint will stick around for the thick of a battle, especially where truth is concerned. If Satan is successful in sowing division in a church, like he did in Corinth, this type of love-filled saint will be with leaders and impacted parties until truth is showcased and peace is restored. If a clever false teacher infiltrates the church, as they did in Paul’s day, and creates disruption and division, the love-filled saint will stand their ground and represent truth and sound doctrine, so that others are not misled. If a family faces undue hardship with the current government shutdown, the love-filled saint won’t just express his love for this family; he will emotionally, spiritually, and, if possible, financially stand with them. Why does he stand? He stands because this is what agape love is all about.
This weekend represents my seventeenth year here at BCC. I must say that being your pastor has been the highlight of my spiritual journey and life. My wife, Liz, and I haven’t regretted moving here from California for one moment. God’s mighty movement in this body has been humbling and jaw-dropping to be sure. We have had trying moments, and plenty of triumphant ones, but through it all, we’ve seen and sensed a healthy body of believers that continues to grow and flourish.
Why is this occurring? We could offer many reasons for the growth, numerically and spiritually, but at its core, there is one main attraction to this body, and it’s called agape love. There is divine love here. I see it in how you talk to each other, how you care for each other when there is hardship, how you give sacrificially, how you are thoughtful, how you forgive those who’ve wronged you, how you pray for anyone and everyone, and how you love your pastors, elders, directors, and leaders.
Is there room for improvement when it comes to love? Sure, there is, because we are all only human. However, in the final analysis, I believe our spiritual health in this regard is good; yet, none of us can ever forget to demonstrate the kind of love Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 13. Why? Paul gives us the answer at the close of this great, challenging chapter:
13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13)
There is nothing greater than living a life of agape love. Let it be how you live toward all people, especially those of the household of faith.
[1] Gene A. Getz, Sharpening the Focus of the Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), 116.
