At the end of 1 Corinthians 12, having talked about many of the problems and troubles in Corinth and having given some time to talking about things like gifts and unity, Paul says:
“And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”
Excellence is something we all crave. Schools covert the “outstanding” status whilst businesses have long been captivated by quality models offering steps to excellence. Even in Christian circles there are books and seminars on the topic with some churches even making “pursuing excellence in everything” one of their key values.
It’s easy to to respond by reacting against such a worldly concept, yet here we find Paul talking about excellence. So, what does the excellent church do well? Is it about the quality of our sermons, the efficiency of the coffee queue or the wow factor of our music? No. Have a look at what Paul says.
It’s all about love (v1-3)
We’ve just been talking about gifts including prophecy, knowledge and wisdom. These are clearly important but if I have an use these gifts without love, then my words are empty and meaningless. In fact, we might insist that the loveless prophet is no prophet at all. He is not speaking God’s Word.
This means that we can even do good works. Older translations use the word “charity” to describe a form of love. It’s ironic therefore that we can practice uncharitable charity. If we are giving to the poor but it comes from the wrong heart motive, then our works are worthless.
What love is like (v4-7).
Paul describes what love is like. Notice the parallels here with his description of the fruit of the Spirit. A fruitful Christian is someone who has love. A loveless Christian and church is an unfruitful one. Love is reflected in patient kindness, a willingness to be generous with others, to persevere and to be gentle. It’s outward looking not introspective; hence it is not associated with pride whether that pride is about my arrogant boasting about my own success or my jealousy and envy towards others.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” In other words, when we love others, we seek to protect them, to stand up for them and with them, to think the best of them and encourage them. Love has no time for destructive gossip and slander. As in other places, we see that this patient perseverance grows hope.
Unfailing love (v8-13)
Love perseveres both in that it causes a Christian to persist patiently in loving others and because this along with faith and hope is one of the qualities that stay when everything else has gone. In fact, it is the greatest quality. This includes when our material riches have faded away and even when our spiritual gifts are no longer needed. In other words, it is something that lasts into eternity.
We have those gifts, including prophecy now because we live in the now and not yet and so do not know and see fully. However, a day is coming when we will see Jesus face to face and not need the props and aids of the church. Yet, love will continue.
The Church Excellence Model
One of those quality models I mentioned earlier was BEM, The Business Excellence Model. It involved a series of survey questions along with data gathering to see if your business was hitting its performance targets in terms of finances, product quality, customer satisfaction and employee wellbeing. A church excellence model would ask one question “How are you doing at loving one another?”
Faithroots 