The Cross Before Me by Rankin Wilbourne & Brian Gregor

Author:Rankin Wilbourne & Brian Gregor [Wilbourne, Rankin & Gregor, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012070 Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth
Publisher: David C Cook

BUT DO WE KNOW WHAT LOVE IS?

My grandfather had never heard of Hans Urs von Balthasar or Alain de Botton, but he was saying the same thing. And those three were saying what the apostle Paul was saying to his readers in Corinth two thousand years ago.

The believers in Corinth also thought they knew a little something. Like many in the ancient world, the citizens of Corinth placed a premium on knowledge (1 Cor. 8:1). They thought they were something because of their gifts. But Paul told them that if they hadn’t learned what love is, it didn’t matter how much they thought they knew or how much they’d gained. It all added up to nothing (13:2).

First Corinthians 13 is one of the most beloved chapters in the Bible. That’s not surprising, but it’s usually misunderstood. Taken out of context, it’s one of the most beautiful and evocative treatments of love ever penned. In context, however, it might be one of the most terrifying chapters in Scripture.

Scholars tell us that in the ancient city of Corinth, citizens were very much concerned with their social status. They were obsessed with social climbing and distinguishing themselves. Not surprisingly, just like today, the values of the wider culture were infecting the church, creating all sorts of factions that were threatening to tear the young church apart.

Some had begun to think they were special because of their knowledge or gifts, particularly their “spiritual gifts.” Those gifts had led some of them to believe they understood what it meant to be truly spiritual. It’s no accident that, in the middle of Paul’s most extended treatment on the church and spiritual giftedness (1 Cor. 12, 14), one finds the most extended treatment of love in the New Testament (1 Cor. 13).

On first reading, chapter 13 can seem like a digression. Why is this beautiful poem on love placed here? But it’s not a digression. It’s the high point of the whole letter. It’s as if Paul is saying, “Don’t you see, in all your conflicts and questions (the things you wrote to ask me about), that nothing is more important than love? Don’t you see that this is your fundamental problem? You don’t know what love is!”

The church in Corinth did not see how central, how necessary, love is to those who are in Christ. Without love you have nothing—no matter what else you have. Without love you gain nothing that counts—no matter what else you gain. Without love you are nothing—no matter what you may think you are.

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