The Power of Love in Christian Community

Jeremiah 1:4-10; I Corinthians 13:1-13

          I encountered a new word recently: exvangelical, an obvious play on the word evangelical.  It refers to young Christians who are fleeing evangelical churches. They are leaving, studies show, because these churches have made a hard turn to the right and have embraced a strident political agenda.  This migration away from church has become so large it is being called a movement, the exvangelical movement.  It is contributing to a significant decline in church membership in this country.  Over the past twenty years, sociologists have been measuring the skyrocketing number of people who are disaffiliating from organized religion.  Many of these people consider themselves to be “spiritual but not religious.”  They are referred to as the “nones” because when asked their religious preference, they indicate “none."

          Ruth Braunstein is a sociologist at the University of Connecticut.  She wrote a piece last week calling this exodus from the church a “backlash against rightwing evangelicals.”  She points out that these churches stake their identity on opposition to same sex marriage, abortion and other issues that are viewed by a growing number of Americans as “intolerant and radical.”  She ends her article with these alarming words:

Backlash against the religious right has had ripple effects far more widespread than previously recognized.  These dynamics are effectively reshaping American religion and politics and show no signs of stopping. (The Guardian, “The Backlash Against Rightwing Evangelicals in Reshaping American Politics and Faith”)

          We can contrast this with the early days of the church, when churches grew by leaps and bounds.  People flocked to churches, and Roman society took note.  Tertullian, an early church father in Northern Africa, wrote that the Romans would exclaim, “See how they love each other!”

          Justin Martyr, who was executed as a martyr in 165 A. D., described the early church this way:

We used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else.  Now we bring what we have into the common fund and share it with anyone who needs it.  We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country.  Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.

          Pandemics and plagues were common in the ancient world.  When a particularly devastating plague swept through in the third century, some people threw infected members of their own families into the streets even before they died in order to avoid contracting the plague.  The Christians, it was noted, cared for the sick at the risk of contracting the plague themselves. (History of the Early Church web page, “A Love Without Condition”)

          Is this a fair assessment?  As the church aligns itself with political power and imposes its will on society, people leave the church, believing it has abandoned its core purpose.  And when the church practices love of all, especially the most vulnerable, people flock to the church, believing it is living by the example of its founder.

          Paul seems to be saying in I Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, that love is not only paramount; it is powerful.  One person goes so far as to argue that Paul establishes love as the sine qua non of the church, the one essential quality without which the church is not really the church.  (J. Paul Sampley, The New Interpreter’s Bible, p. 951)

       I agree.

          You’ve probably heard this chapter or parts of it read at weddings, which is fine.  I read it at weddings.  But we need to acknowledge that I Corinthians 13 is really describing the love that ought to characterize the church in general, not just romantic partnerships.  This is how we are to relate to one another and people around us.  I want to lift up three things I find important here.

          First, Paul is establishing here something that Jesus also advocated, that love must be the central driver of the church and without it everything we do is empty.  But what if a preacher is so eloquent that he or she speaks with tongues of mortals and angels?  If that preacher does not have love, those eloquent messages are no more than a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.  But what if one of the deacons has prophetic powers and is able to understand great mysteries?  What if a teacher has such faith that she can move mountains?  And what if all of us give away all our possessions to the needy and even hand over our bodies as a sacrifice?  Surely that must count for something.  If we do those things without love, Paul says, we’ve gained nothing.  It’s not that those things are unimportant.  Eloquent speech is important.  Prophesy is important.  Faith and sacrifice are important.  But here’s the thing: love is more important.  Love is what gives meaning to a sermon.  Love is what gives meaning to faith and sacrifice.  Paul nailed down a stake here.  Love must be the central driver of the church.  Without love, everything we do is empty.

          I think of the work our folks do with immigrants.  Imagine coming to this country and not knowing the customs and the language.  Imagine not being able to converse with people at the driver’s license office.  Or the doctor’s office.  Or your child’s school.  We have some very dedicated people who embrace the immigrants of our community and help them negotiate these things.  They teach them English as a second language.  They teach citizenship classes.  Their purpose is not to make them Baptists.  It’s not so they will give money to our church.  Their purpose is to befriend, to help.  They do it out of love.  That must be what drives everything we do.  Otherwise, everything is empty.

          Here’s something else Paul is saying in this chapter.  Love must play out in concrete ways in the life of the church.  Love is not esoteric; love is patient.  Love is not philosophical; it is kind and not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  Listen to this concrete example: love does not insist on its own way.  It’s not irritable or resentful.  It doesn’t take any joy in wrongdoing.  In one verse Paul says love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  Someone has said that is Paul’s fancy way of saying, “Love does not keep track of wrongs.”  Instead, love is a kind of “running forgiveness” that is necessary when we live in community. (Ibid., p. 953)

Baptists practice a congregational polity.  That means the congregation decides important matters.  We don’t have elders who act on our behalf.  We don’t have bishops to decide for us.  When something important arises, it goes before the congregation, and the congregation decides.  My old church history professor, Dr. Bill Leonard, says that congregational polity can be “messy.”  And it certainly can be.  I’ve seen people get hurt in business meetings.  I’ve seen people so hurt that they left the church.  That is why love is important.  That is why we in particular must be attuned to these concrete ways love plays out in the life of the church.

       This final point I had to think about for a while.  See if you agree.  Paul says love is the only thing we do that lasts.  The deacon who can prophesy…that will all end one day.  Those who speak in tongues…they will cease.  All the things we do collectively…they will end.  Paul says, “Love never ends.”

          This way of living calls us to greater maturity.  Children speak like children.  They think like children.  They reason like children.  A time comes when we must put away the childish and move into greater maturity, a maturity that is characterized by love.  Because in the end that is all that lasts.

          Paul nails it at the end of this chapter.  This is one of the most famous verses from the apostle’s pen: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and…”  You can all finish this verse, right?  “The greatest of these is love.”

          So, what is more important?  Rubbing shoulders with congressmen and senators who can move our agenda forward or loving frightened immigrants who are trying to find their way in a foreign land?  What is more important?  Having power to coerce others into accepting our beliefs or genuinely loving our brothers and sisters?  History has shown us that when the church practices love of all, especially the most vulnerable, people flock to the church, believing it is living out of its founder’s example. History confirms that love is indeed the sine qua non of the church, the one essential quality.  Without it the church is not really the church.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we love because you first loved us.  Help us to be faithful to your example.  Amen.