Software Issues — 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
My car is on the edge of what you would call a “classic.” And, I love it, but the technology is a bit behind. So, I have a module that was added that allows my “classic” to actually have Apple CarPlay, and it’s one of my favorite features in my car. To Andrew’s continued dismay, I’m the kind of guy that loves a good software update. As soon as those red bubbles popup, I’m wiping them out — because I’m not a psychopath that can look at them and lack emotion about it. Well, a few months ago, my Apple CarPlay module offered an update, which I did as soon as I could, and then it never worked right again. It would work, then not work, and then have to be rebooted by pulling the fuse under the hood. Drove me absolutely nuts, and the company had to send me about three different software uploads until we were able to get it working again.
In the technological world we live in, we’ve learned that very often malfunctioning hardware — the parts of the device you touch, see, and interact with — is really the result of corrupted software — the parts of the device that you can’t see but tell it what to do and how to operate. And, honestly, it doesn’t matter how good and attractive your hardware is if your software is corrupt. It’ll never function as it should, and it’ll always drive you nuts.
God’s Word
God’s Word
Corinth was a church more famous for its problems and its divisions that its health. That’s why we have these two long letters from Paul to Corinth. And, this morning in chapter 13, we see really the heartbeat of the first letter. The Corinthian dashboard is lighting up with warning codes, and all of them are pointing to corrupt software. That is, the outer problems that they had were really revealing the inner problems that were at the root. So, this morning I want us to see some of the Warning Codes for Bad Software (headline) so that we can make sure we live in pursuit of health.
“Words” without love are “noise.”
“Words” without love are “noise.”
1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
The issue that Corinth had was that they organized themselves according to various ranks within the church. Some had money, and some were impoverished; so, the wealthy spent their time together in clear opulence and the impoverished spent their time together in resentment. Some preferred Paul, some Apollos, some Peter, and some only Jesus; so, Paul’s posse were together and so were Apollos’ and Peter’s and they would argue with one another. You can imagine how chaotic it would be around her if we had a Tony Snider posse and a Russell Blanton posse and a Jason Chilton posse, and everybody was fighting to prove their guy is THE guy. But, Front and center in our text, however, is the way they would rank and group themselves according to their spiritual gifts. Those who had the gift to speak in tongues were kind of like the popular kids that everyone wanted to be, those who prophesied were like the smart kids that everyone knew they needed, and those who served the widows and the orphans were the lesser-thans who always got picked last.
So, Paul comes out swinging in 1 Corinthians 13 by starting with Corinth’s favorite gift — the gift of tongues, which I take to be the ability to speak the gospel in languages that aren’t native to them or learned by them. He says, even if you know every language of men, even if you can speak in the language of heaven, you’re just noise if your words don’t come from love. That is, it doesn’t matter how shiny and impressive your hardware is; if your software is corrupt, it’s all pointless and useless. And, the divisions in Corinth over tongues proved that their love of the gift wasn’t flowing from their love of one another.
“A noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” wasn’t a random choice either. Corinth was a major manufacturer of brass and so it was a place where gongs and cymbals were made. And, with these instruments being such a central part of the culture, they were integrated into the Pagan worship rituals. You’d hear the “noisy gongs” and “clanging cymbals” all over Corinth, and they drew your attention toward Pagan gods that required all kinds of evils from the people. So, for Paul, if you detach these prized gifts from the source of love, you become just another pagan worshiper living for another wicked idol.
Love is “substance” more than “words.”
You see, what separates Christianity from the other gods isn’t just what we do; it’s the source from which those gifts and acts come. It’s about software — what’s inside of you — before it’s about hardware — what’s on display. The mark of the New Covenant is to have the Spirit who gives you the heart and mind of God, and the mark of the Spirit is that you love who God and you love how God loves. That’s what the prophets told us was coming with the New Covenant, and that’s what Jesus said had come with him. So, if there’s no love, there’s no Spirit. You’re just making noise like the Muslims or the Hindus or the Mormons. There’s the thread of the Big Story. This is the outworking, in Paul’s mind, of the Old Covenant giving way to the New, how the New Covenant is the greater way because it is the way of love, it is inner before its outer.
The point is that love is substance more than words. Though love must be spoken, when its only spoken, those words ring as hollow as a gong or a cymbal to a god that doesn’t listen. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your words are or how spiritual they sound. They’re empty apart from love. The world is filled with loud men and loud women speaking hollow words, and, unfortunately, the church is, too. Our words seem to always know what to do, but too often our hands and feet never seem to catch on. So, we have confessions that don’t lead to repentance, apologies that don’t lead to changes, commitments that don’t lead to follow through, and covenants (marriage, church, and Christ) that don’t lead to endurance in those covenants.
Love is “experienced” more than “expressed.”
You see, All of us know: Love experienced is far greater and far more powerful than love merely expressed. That’s what Jesus showed us, isn’t it? He showed us the difference between love merely expressed and love that flows from the Spirit. He showed us the heart and mind of God so that we could know what it looks like. Jesus’ words on love are the most famous teachings in human history. They were the very core of his message. He wasn’t shy about expressing love. Yet, He is still far better known for his acts of love than his words on love. Think about that. He said it, but He lived it so much more! So, following Jesus isn’t just to say you that love God or to say that you love your neighbor. It’s to go to the cross for them.
(calm down) “Noisy gongs” and “clanging cymbals” aren’t going to fill up any concert halls, are they? And, that’s the point. Everyone wants to hear love, but no one wants to hear noise. No one wants to hear “I love you” from the lips of a person that has no desire or intent to demonstrate it. Too many kids have heard from their dads: “I love you” but their “love” never seems to have any time for them. Too many congregations have heard their pastors say: “I love you” but their pastors are here today and gone tomorrow. And, too many Christians have said to their church families: “I love you” and then they’re gone when the going gets tough without a goodbye. And, after enough noise, after enough times of hearing “I love you” without the follow through, we just start to roll our eyes, don’t we?
Words without love are just noise, Paul would say. And, eventually, noise just gives you a headache. So, the question isn’t: How gifted are you to speak well? You may be able to share the gospel in a dozen languages. You may be winsome and polished. You may be eloquent and poetic. But, the question is: Do you love really love them? Do you love God enough to not just say, “I’m sorry” but to follow through with a change of direction? Do you love your family enough to not just make promises that sound loving but to follow through with promises kept? Do you love your church enough to move beyond lip service to rolling up your sleeves? Do you really love them? The love of the cross has substance.
“Knowledge” without love is “arrogance.”
“Knowledge” without love is “arrogance.”
1 Corinthians 13:2 “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
Paul begins by addressing Corinth's favorite gift in verse one and continues by targeting his own favorite gift in verse two. Throughout the book, he emphasizes that "prophecy" is of greater value because it builds up the body. The gifts Paul describes in verse two emphasize knowledge: "prophetic powers" as Spirit-given knowledge, "understanding and all knowledge" as intellectual knowledge, and "faith to move mountains" as personal knowledge of God. These are real gifts Paul affirms elsewhere, and he practices them as an Apostle. However, in Corinth, these gifts meant to build up the church have been corrupted so that they harm it instead.
Knowledge “can puff” up.
And, such is often the case with knowledge. Knowledge, and the ability to obtain it, is a gift given by God so that those with it can build up the body through sound teaching and discipleship. But that which is meant to build up can actually puff up. Paul wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians 8:1 “This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.” That’s what’s in view here. It’s not that knowledge is wrong. It’s very, very right. It’s that when the software is corrupted, the hardware goes haywire. That which is meant to build up can become a tool for tearing down instead.
Nothing quite breeds an air of superiority like knowledge and intellect, does it? Learning and understanding can make one feel so superior to others that they begin to feel sorry for the ignorant and unlearned who don’t know any better. They think to themselves, “Bless her heart for never seeing past small town Alabama,” or, “Bless his heart for not knowing the Bible doesn’t mean what he thinks it does.” “If only they knew what I know, if only they could learn like I’ve learned, if only they could be as cultured as I am, if only they were as smart as me, then they would be better off.” And so, the gift that was given to them so that they could build up the body and strengthen the body actually becomes an obstacle to them for loving the body well.
Learning detached from love inevitably devolves into arrogance, and arrogance inevitably drives away the very people learning is meant to help. You see, the pursuit of knowledge can easily degrade into a pursuit of intellectual superiority that makes you feel big and others feel small. Our desire can become, even unintentionally, to win every argument, to have our opinions carry the most weight, and to be thought of as the smartest guy in the room. But, when you make yourself feel big and others feel small, you’ve forfeited the opportunity to help them. Because no one is drawn to a person like that. It brings division and tears down.
Knowledge “must build” up.
But, brothers and sisters, knowledge must build up. I praise God that He has created a hunger among the young men and the young women in our church family to go deeper in doctrine and deeper in study. That is a God-given gift, and I want you to pursue it with all of your heart. But, as you pursue it with all of your heart, guard your heart. There is an insidious threat to which I believe our church could especially become susceptible. We’re a thinking church, and I love that. I suspect that will increase. But, we have to make sure that our depth in thinking is leading us more and more toward a depth in love. My concern is that the temptation might become for us to think that we’re superior in some way or to dishonor our brothers and sisters in other churches, or it might be to become so caught up in theological and philosophical discussions that we never actually make it across the street to help our neighbors. So, Paul is here, and he’s asking: But, do you love them? Do you study because you love God, or do you study because you love being right? Do you study because you love to build up your neighbor, or do you study because you love to build up your ego?
I know too many, and have been this person myself too often, who are waiting to pounce on every sweet grandmother who has a Jeremiah 29:11 magnet on her fridge. That grandmother believes with all of her heart that it means that God has a plan for her and her family, a plan to prosper her and her family into the future. As often as she sees it, she prays and she intercedes on behalf of her family. But, when her theobro grandson comes over, all he wants to do is tell her how out of context she’s taken it and how that was written to Israel in the OT and how she’s completely twisting the Bible. “Bless her heart!” Yet, she is the one with the right posture toward God. She’s the one reading the Bible to hear something from him. She’s the one that’s been inspired by the Bible to pray to him. So, of course, we want to teach and instruct so that the Bible is read and understood rightly. But, we’d do well to make sure our doctrine leads to visiting hospitals and cooking meals and praying for our families like our grandmothers. As we lovingly seek to build up their doctrine, it’s even more important that their humility before God build up our love. That’s the point. That’s how the body of Christ functions. We learn because we love, and we learn so that we can love even more and even better.
“Works” without love are “dead.”
“Works” without love are “dead.”
1 Corinthians 13:3 “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
John Mayer has a song where he says: “Love is a verb; It ain't a thing. It's not something you own; It's not something you scream.” And, that’s half right. As we discussed earlier, love without action, love that can’t be experienced is hollow. But, “love” isn’t just verb. It’s a noun, too. Love isn’t just something you do in your outer person; it’s something you possess in your inner person. Love is the software that animates your display. It’s the operating system meant to motivate and direct the programs and applications of your life.
So, there’s a sense in which Paul is giving us the balance of James. Whenever I’ve had the honor to teach and train young men to teach and preach the Bible, they inevitably choose James to teach first. Many of you, especially men, would probably say that James is your favorite book. And, my goodness, it’s a great book, no doubt about it. But, it’s often misunderstood. Usually when I ask people why they love James or want to teach James, they say some form of: “James is simple. He tells it like it is. He tells me what I need to do.” And, I usually respond with: “So, explain to me why how the resurrection of Jesus is necessary to understand James.”
And, most of the time there’s silence. Because we realize that James is deeper and more complex than we think at first. James isn’t just about doing things. It’s about the outworking of our knowing, thinking, loving faith, not merely a book about what we should do. You see, we love good moralism that tells us what we should do. Many of us have grown up in traditions where shame and guilt equated to conviction and godliness, and James seems to help when he writes: “Faith without works is dead.” If someone tells me what to do, that feels good to me because I have some control over it. But, when you tell me who to be, that’s scary because that requires the work of the soul. That requires grace and the Spirit. The flesh is impotent to change the heart and transform the person.
So, Paul helps us to have the right balance. Moralism isn’t enough. It isn’t enough to just do all of the right things. Yes, “faith without works is dead.” That’s absolutely true. But, Paul is here asking a follow up question. Yes, “faith without works is dead, but do you love them?” Yes, you go on mission trips, but do you love them? Yes, you preach and teach, but do you love them? Yes, you go on the youth trips and work with the preschoolers and support the kids’ ministry, but do you love them? You minister in the detention centers and jails, but do you love them?
Just as true as faith without works being dead is that works without love are dead. Jesus said “many will have prophesy in my name and cast out demons in my name and do many mighty works in nt name, but on the Day of Judgement they will hear: “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” Why? Because their hearts were filled with self, not love. That’s Paul’s point. In verse three, Paul lands in the wheelhouse of Christianity. We see the teachings from Jesus’ very own mouth accumulating. After all, it was Jesus that told us that faith could enable us to remove mountains and it was Jesus that told the Rich Young Ruler to give away all that he had, and it was Jesus that told his disciples to be prepared to lay down their lives as his disciples. But, Paul’s shocking point is that the Rich Young Ruler could’ve sold all that he had and still not had eternal life. We can follow Jesus all the way to the cross and still not experience the resurrection.
“Pharisees” sacrifice “apart” from love.
That is, if you separate the teachings of Christ and the example of Christ from the Great Commandments of Christ to love God and to love neighbor, then you’ve really just become a baptized Pharisee. There is a type of sacrificial religion that is driven more by a devotion to self than a love for Jesus or for others. Acts of sacrifice can become an opportunity to show yourself as the MOST sacrificial or the MOST committed or the MOST resolute. It’s primary motive isn’t to glorify Jesus or to help others. It’s to prove yourself and ultimately exalt yourself.
Sacrifice separated from love is the heart of the Pharisee. It’s Sacrifice for self-promotion, and it can infect every aspect of our lives. It’s a mom who does everything for their families and then uses it as leverage every chance she gets. It’s men who are unmotivated grumps when their at home with their families but then spring into action to give the shirts off their backs to a neighbor. It’s a Christian who keeps an accounting of how much more they sacrifice for their church than others they see. And, it’s exactly what Jesus confronts and rebukes over and over throughout the gospels.
“Jesus” sacrificed “because” of love.
Do you know what the difference was between Jesus and the Pharisees? The Pharisees fasted in public while Jesus wept in private. The Pharisees had a desire to be seen, but Jesus had a passion to save. The Pharisees wanted to sacrifice so they’d be admired. Jesus sacrificed because He wanted his people to be forgiven of their sins. So, the Pharisees wailed in public and drew attention to themselves, and Jesus wept as he came into Jerusalem because He was heartbroken over the condition of his people.
On paper, their theology would look only degrees apart, but in reality, they were an eternity apart. The Pharisees were driven by a desire to impress, and all of their incredible works only added to their death, while Jesus’ sacrifice was driven by a desire to love, and His sacrifice was received by his Father who was deeply pleased with him and rescued those who were hopeless without him. So, works without love are death, and works from love bring life. That’s the point
The trick to a miserable life is to sacrifice in hopes of recognition. When recognition does come, it feels cheap. When it doesn’t come, we feel cheated. It’s lose-lose. The secret of a joyful life, on the other hand, is to give what you have for a God that you love to people that you love. If others recognized your sacrifice, Jesus is glorified and that’s what you want. If no one notices, Jesus is glorified, and that’s what you want. It’s win-win. Your purpose is fulfilled, and your joy is full either way. That’s the course of the cross. So, this morning, I ask you one more time: Do you love them? Do you really love them?
