Love at the heart of ministry | 1 Corinthians 13 | Andy Mason

Well, it's a privilege to be here with you. I've

already been blessed this morning and I hope

we'll come out of this time strengthened by God's

word. Now, all of us in this room have some kind

of spiritual responsibility or at least looking

to have some kind of spiritual leadership responsibility

going forward. But what does it mean to be a

spiritual leader? What does it mean? Well, I

guess you can answer that in a variety of ways.

There are different answers to that. But this

lunchtime, I want us to focus on just one simple,

crucial thing. And it is basically what this

passage talks about. Leadership, spiritual leadership,

is about love. It's about love. See, every leader

is presented with a basic choice. as they go

into ministry. Will I subordinate loving relationships

to power, or will I subordinate power to loving

relationships? There's a whole strain of philosophical

thinking that goes from Nietzsche to Foucault

that basically sees human beings as essentially

driven by power. Nietzsche says we live by will

to power, that all human interactions are about

power. And to be honest, when you look at church

history, you can kind of see. Quite a bit of

that. People living out of power. Believers have

sometimes been a bit more Nietzschean than showing

the new life that Christ gives us. And that was

definitely an issue for the Corinthians in our

passage. Here we've got a bunch of believers

who are rich in spiritual life. Yes, they've

got spiritual power. They're gifted. They're

passionate. They want spiritual power, they have

spiritual power, but they are also divided, competitive,

and full of one -upmanship. And they were swimming

in the ethic of the Roman Empire, which was all

about power. Chapter 1, they're full of factions

and divisions. Chapter 11, they're treating each

other badly as they take the Lord's Supper. And

then 1 Corinthians 13 just comes like a kind

of an exocet missile of love and explodes all

of this. reworking their brains and our brains

too and Paul here teaches them this is the way

this is the excellent way not the way you've

been going let me teach you let me show you how

you should be dealing with one another how you

should be using this power and here we get a

simple vision of love now just to say I know

that you've read 1 Corinthians 13 before okay

This is the least obscure passage of the Bible

I could choose to preach on in this setting.

But brothers and sisters, this is not too ABC

for you. It is not too basic. We need this. Evangelicals

have sometimes spent lots of time in 2 Timothy,

but somehow skipped 1 Corinthians 13. Most books

on leadership contain many wise and helpful things

about leadership, and yet often don't really

talk about love, the centrality of love. It's

kind of assumed. And even in training, now I've

been involved in training leaders, it's very

easy to assume these things. But 1 Corinthians

13 breaks into our world and tells us that love

is essential to ministry in the body of Christ.

And this isn't some kind of one -off message.

It's not that Paul is feeling a bit gooey one

day, so he composes a poem about love. No, this

is the essential house rules for God's children.

It's central to the Christian view of reality,

isn't it? If the universe is basically matter

plus energy, then of course everything is about

power and the collision of forces. But if the

universe is the creation of an absolute personal

God of love, well, things are very different.

If the world is the overflow of the love between

the Father, Son and Spirit, then everything is

different. It means that love is the ultimate

reality and everything else is basically just

footnotes. to that. The Bible tells us the universe

is not ruled by a will to power, but by a will

to love. And so at the heart of everything is

other -centeredness. When we love, it's not just

that we're doing a good thing. It's actually

what we're doing, what we are designed to be

and to do. So it's a basic choice for you and

me. Will we subordinate love to power or power

to love? The fruit of that decision is massive.

So let's dive into 1 Corinthians 13 and get a

vision, its vision for ministry. Firstly, we

see the priority of love, verses 1 to 2. If I

speak in the tongues of men or of angels but

do not have love, I'm only a resounding gong

or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy

and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,

and if I have a faith that can move mountains

but do not have love, I am nothing. The point

is simple, isn't it? We grasp it straight away.

Without love, our gifts and our spiritual capacities

are worthless they are useless and they're useless

not because they're bad things they're great

things the gifts of the spirit should not be

despised 1 corinthians 14 1 tells us we should

eagerly desire the gift of prophecy but the point

is that spirit those spiritual capacities those

gifts that power should be subordinated to the

priority of love now the reality is that every

leader knows that their ability to lead is really

all about an ability to speak. Your speaking

is kind of how you influence, how you shape.

But the thing is, it's much easier to get a handle

on someone's speaking gifts than it is on their

love, isn't it? I mean, think about the leaders

you know. Their fame and their position, their

influence is often driven by their giftedness,

isn't it? In speaking, knowing things, envisioning.

But these verses warn us. We may be eloquent

preachers, great communicators, but in God's

ear, without love, we're just spiritual noise

pollution, just a gong. And actually, the same

goes for essays and dissertations and PhDs. Without

love, it's not worth anything. Does that sound

a bit extreme? I blame Paul, not me. in verse

3 Paul says something even more startling if

I give all I possess to the poor and give over

my body to hardship that I may boast but do not

have love I gain nothing he said that sacrifice

without love means nothing but you know we're

called to make sacrifices Jesus calls us to sacrifice

doesn't he of course but what Paul is saying

is we might engage in an outward form of sacrifice

that really has nothing to do with love there

can be An engagement for the poor, commitment

to ministry, a willingness to suffer that is

actually, at its heart, devoid of love. And there's

a reminder here that in Christianity, the noblest

behavior is not martyrdom. It is love for your

neighbor. So what we see here in these opening

verses is that ministry is to be shaped around

the priority of love. Because that is God's priority.

And what a tragedy to give my whole life to something,

to use the gifts that God has given me, to think,

yes, I've given up so much. And yet, to find

out at the end, when I stand before God, it was

worthless. It was empty. That is pretty alarming,

isn't it? But actually, it's something very positive

and encouraging in this as well, because what

this implies is that to... Have love is to have

something greater than the gifts of Moses and

Elijah. In other words, the love that you have

been showing people is worth everything. It's

worth more than any leadership position. It's

worth more than any teaching gift. It's more

significant than any theological education. Love

is your treasure. And God will not assess you

by whether or not you've moved mountains in ministry.

Whether you've planted churches or preached to

thousands or written great books or people know

who you are, no, he will assess you by how you

have treated people. Your kindness and your selflessness

will be your crown. Now, when I think about my

own ministry and my own lack of progress and

love, it dawns on me that actually one of the

reasons I haven't progressed more in love is

because it simply hasn't been the priority. Other

things have crowded it out, not bad things, but

I've used other yardsticks often on my self -assessments.

But that's why these verses are so good. They

just recalibrate, don't they? Yes, spiritual

gifts matter. Yes, of course, knowledge matters.

Yes, of course, personal sacrifice matters. But

the point in these verses is not that love is

the only thing, but it is that love is number

one on the list. It's top of the list. And so

what this means is that love cannot be something

where you opt in or out of. It cannot be a specialization.

You can specialize in your theology, but you

can't say, I'm sorry, I just don't do love. You

can't delegate it to someone else. You can't

say, look, I'm just not gifted in that area.

You can't employ someone else on your ministry

team to do the love while you do the other stuff.

No, brothers and sisters, you've got to do this

one yourself. and so if love has reached a low

ebb in our life we need to sit up and take notice

we need to put it back on the top of the list

yes let's study the doctrine of god but even

better is to study to be like the god you are

studying this is crucial isn't it because as

leaders we shape the communities and the congregations

and the groups that we lead inevitably they do

start to take on something of the priorities

and the character that we live out as leaders

loving leaders tend to develop loving communities.

Not absolutely, but they tend to. Love is our

priority. Secondly, the practice of love. Okay,

I've done the theory, done the priority. We need

some action, don't we? And the rubber needs to

hit the road. Well, 1 Corinthians 13 is action

-packed. Because all these words in verse 47

are verbs and not adjectives. As my kids are

learning in primary school, a verb is a doing

word. Okay, so love does stuff and it doesn't

do some other stuff. Love, in other words, is

not just something inside of us, a kind of feeling,

an attitude, but it can be seen. And here, these

verses describe for us what love does do and

what it doesn't do. In other words, if you have

love, You will do things you never imagined doing.

And you will not do some things you could easily

imagine doing. And what Paul's doing is he's

holding up a mirror to the Corinthians and actually

maybe to you and me as well. And he's rather

uncomfortably exposing their faults and their

behavior. He is actually twisting the knife a

little bit here. So when he says love is patient,

he's kind of saying, because you're not. When

he says to the Corinthians, love doesn't boast,

he's actually saying to them, actually, that's

exactly what you guys do. How about you and me?

We need help, don't we? Don't we need help? Goodness

me, we're all a bit of a mess. We've all fallen

short. Even now, there are things on our consciences.

Let's go through this. Firstly, love is patient.

If nothing else, ministry involves bearing with

people. You can start with vision and pizzazz,

the flush of energy that comes from starting

something new, but you will only ever finish

if you do it with patience. Love is kind. Love

is kind. I've learned in my own ministry, people

look at me and listen to me essentially through

my kindness. It's partly... being a pastor of

a small church. And a lot of my ministry has

been amongst the disturbed and the slightly dangerous.

And what I have realized over the years is that

when I fail to love that, it rings like an alarm

bell. But when I do love, it opens up doors.

I almost need people to kind of get sick and

go to hospital so I can visit them so they feel

loved, and then they will listen to the preaching.

No one's interested in my gifts or how well I

speak or my preaching or my leadership. They're

interested in how I love them. Love is kind.

Love does not envy. Love does not envy. There's

a terrible chronic disease amongst people in

ministry. It's called comparisonitis. It's the

compulsive comparing of myself with other people.

It is very debilitating and very, very destructive,

very corrosive. But love does not envy. Love

doesn't boast. There are lots of very obvious

ways of doing this and subtle ways of doing this.

But it is strange when you're at the foot of

the cross to boast about yourself, isn't it?

Love doesn't boast. Love isn't proud. Literally,

it isn't puffed up. It is very easy to secretly

nourish the belief that I am remarkable, unique,

superior, and different from all the other leaders

around me. And I would not be surprised if that

is going on in our hearts. But not be surprised.

But love is not proud. Love is not proud, is

it? Time helps us with that as we fail and mess

up and get things wrong. It kind of chips away

that kind of narcissism that easily grows within

us. Love does not dishonor us, does not dishonor

others. We need to be careful that parent position

don't lead us into the mistreatment of other

people. There is the old adage that so you know,

Someone, not by the way they talk to the king,

but by the way they talk to their servants. How

do we talk to those who don't have power around

us? Love does not dishonor others. Love isn't

selfish. Selfishness qualifies everything that

we do. People sniff it out in us. Last week,

I had to repent because basically we had a member

of our congregation who's quite frail, elderly,

and we're having a weekend away, and we just

said, I don't think we can take you. It's too

difficult. And he was quite hurt. And I reflected

on that. I thought, actually, you're absolutely

right. We have not stretched for you. We've not

gone the extra mile for you. And that is not

the community we need to be. So we basically

had to repent. And we've tried to sort that out.

But love is not selfish, is it? It's not self

-centered. It's not going the easy way. Love

doesn't get easily angry. Ministry is permanently

frustrating. I think a lot of pastors really

struggle with anger. either suppressed or overt,

because things constantly get in your way. People

don't do what you're asking them to do. It's

very strange. It's been so sensible, so obvious,

and you don't want to do it. We need to be aware

of that growing anger and impatience within us.

Love doesn't keep a record of sins. It's strange,

isn't it, that we should keep a record of wrongs

when we ourselves confess sins all the time.

It's strange to keep a record of sins when the

Lord has wiped our record clean. Love doesn't

delight in evil. I think the Corinthians might

have been shocked by some of the stories we've

had in recent years. Been looking down their

spiritual noses at us. Love doesn't delight in

evil. Love perseveres. Verse 7, it always protects,

always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

We're called to persevere in loving people. It's

one thing to care for people for a season. But

to do it for years and through difficult circumstances

is very tough. So here we get to see love in

practice. It's an action. It's a behavior. It's

basically other -centeredness. And that is at

the heart of all ministry. Other -centeredness.

Not thinking about myself, but thinking about

others. In Acts 20, when Paul is doing his farewell

speech to the Ephesian elders, right at the end,

he says, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

That's the last thing he says to them. And you

kind of think, oh, that wasn't what I was expecting

you to say. Other -centeredness is at the heart

of what it means to be an elder, of what it means

to be a leader. Of course, in leadership abuse,

people reverse that. It's more blessed to receive

than to give. Other -centeredness. I think actually

people will put up with a lot in us if they...

basically experience that we love them. They

might go, oh, his preaching could be better,

but he is actually very loving. There are better

evangelists around, but she does welcome in the

needy into our home. There's others with better

leadership skills than him, but he does actually

remember what's going on in my life. Yeah, she

may not be top flight academically, but you know

what? She is really kind. Love is a doing word.

Why not do a little love audit on your life today?

What does our love look like? How are we treating

one another? Thirdly, the permanence of love.

Now, as I've just said, the Corinthians prioritised

spiritual gifts. They love spiritual gifts. And

Paul marvels actually in the letter how gifted

they are. So back in chapter 1, verse 5, he says,

in every way you were enriched in him in all

speech and all knowledge. And chapters 12 and

14 show us the extent of the Corinthian gifting.

And we would love a bit more gifting, wouldn't

we? I mean, in our churches, wouldn't we love

a bit more gifting? There just aren't enough

gifted people around to do the ministries. There's

no lack of gifting for the Corinthians. No, there

was an abundance of giftedness amongst them.

They were overflowing with gifts. We wouldn't

mind a bit of that, would we? But Paul... kind

of turns that on its head in verses 8 to 12.

Because here their giftedness is relativized.

And what he basically tells them is that their

spiritual gifting is a temporary thing that is

coming to an end and is passing away. Gifts are

like stabilizers. You know, stabilizers on little

bikes with kids. You know, you see someone kind

of riding around when they're 18 with stabilizers

on. It's a bit weird, isn't it? But when you're

three, that's fine. Stabilizers aren't meant

to be permanent. They are a temporary stage.

And Paul's basic point is that these spiritual

gifts are stabilizers for God's people. The prophecies,

the tongues, the spiritual knowledge, he says,

they will go silent and they will disappear.

Now, in church history, there's been some debate

about when this moment is. I don't want to get

into that with a bunch of theological students,

but I think most modern commentators say this

is really about the return of Christ. The point

is the spiritual gifts are temporary blessings

looking forward to the end of time and judgment

day. And that's clear from the way that they

are described in verses 11 to 12. Can you see

that? When I was a child, I talked like a child,

I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood

behind me. For now we see only a reflection,

as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part, then I shall know fully,

even as I am fully known. These spiritual gifts

were imperfect, childish things, a mere dim reflection

of what is coming. They communicate something

of Christ, but the reality is Christ, but they

belong to this age. which is passing away. Perfection

comes in the future. And when we have that perfection,

we won't need those spiritual gifts. Now, when

people walk into a church, almost the first thing

they notice about the church is the gifts, how

good the music is, how good the leader is at

leading, how good the praying is, how good the

preaching is. But the funny thing about that,

is that it means that the first impression people

get is largely based on the things that are most

temporary and childlike about the church. The

things about the church that won't be in heaven.

See, Paul's getting us to look at our giftedness

in a new way. He's showing us that the giftedness

is not a sign that we have arrived, but a preparation

for the arrival of Jesus. They're not a sign

of spiritual maturity. but a preparation for

spiritual maturity. So let's not overestimate

ourselves by our gifts, and let's not be discouraged

by our lack of gifts. To do that is to assess

ourselves by what is most temporary and what

is most passing. Paul's big point is verse 8.

What lasts is love. Literally, love won't collapse

or fall over. Now, knowing that something lasts,

Changes the whole way you relate to it, doesn't

it? You know, whether it's a cooker or a car

or a mobile phone, you choose something that

lasts and you invest in it because it lasts.

In other words, Paul is saying, invest in that

which truly lasts. Invest in love. Because love

is part of the perfect grown -up age that is

coming. And as Jonathan Edwards said, heaven

is going to be a world of love. We're going to

live in that world in the future. And so Paul

ends in verse 13 with this very striking verse.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three,

but the greatest of these is love. Now that triad

is mentioned a few other places in the New Testament,

but the point here is that love surpasses all

of those things. Love is more important. In the

new creation, faith and hope will merge into

sight, but love will continue and become even

bigger. It will not pass away. It won't be replaced

by something bigger and better. It will be the

oxygen and the fuel of our world. This is what

we're designed for. This is what the Father,

Son and Spirit have been doing. And this is what

they have been preparing for us, a world of love.

And so in the new creation, we will be busy loving

and being loved. So let's invest in that. That's

a very wise investment. Let's throw ourselves

into acts of love and promote compassion and

mutual care. There are lots of things we can

waste our time doing, but you will never waste

your time becoming more loving. It will be what

you have been destined to be forever and ever.

So here we have 1 Corinthians 13, and we are

called here to subordinate. our relationships

not to power but to love, to live under the priority

of love, to practice love, to get a big view

of the permanence of love. And as you do that,

you can know that 1 Corinthians 13 has been lived

out for you. Forget the Corinthians, the Lord

Jesus was the ultimately gifted one, wasn't he?

The one who possessed all power, who had infinite

resources and gifts at his disposal. But he emptied

himself. He became nothing. for you and me. He

endured subordination to the power schemes of

men. He was envied. He was dishonoured. He fell

into the hands of evil men. But he did it for

you and me. He did not seek his own good. He

did not keep a record of our wrongs, but rather

took the record of our wrongs. And so 1 Corinthians

13 is the very means of our salvation. How can

we live for power when we've got a saviour like

this? How can we subordinate people to our power

when Jesus was subordinated for my salvation?

How can I thirst for control when I have a king

who's given up control? You are much loved and

you are destined for a world of love. And much

loved people love other people. This is the heart

of all ministry and all leadership. Shall we

pray? Lord Jesus. We are astounded at your infinite

love. It is incomprehensible. You who are adored

by a hundred million angels and the seraphim

bowing down before you. You made yourself not

just a man, but you went to the cross. You have

endured shame and hatred. You have borne the

record of our wrongs. You were envied. You were

boasted over. And yet you did that out of love

for us. And we praise you. Oh, Lord Jesus, help

us. Help us with all the pettiness in our lives

and the self -centeredness and the self -promotion

and the sore little egos. Help us. We need your

fullness. We need your presence. We need your

life. We need the transformation. Of the gospel

in our lives. Please Lord Jesus fill us afresh.

Renew us. And prepare us for this world of love.

Amen.