1 Corinthians 13:1 – 3 If I speak in the
tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am 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. 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.
I may be liberal – I can live with that –
my theology can be considered soft.
After all, I lean towards homosexuality, as practiced by those I know
and love, not being a sin.
(Heterosexuality as practiced by some I know and love is a sin). I tend to overemphasize God’s love and grace
for us. Much of my theological leanings come from my rejection of what I see as
works based theology which I see as just another form of legalism.
When I read the words of Jesus it seems to
be that there is a huge emphasis on love.
So when Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21) I don’t think he was referring to the
list of rules that we can come up with.
Nor do I think that he was referring to believing correctly. I do think he was referring to whether we love
each other, and our neighbours and our enemies.
And loving God.
This is not an easier softer way. Love is neither convenient or simple. We busy ourselves doing what we believe God
wants us to do. But we have this
ego-centric – self centred – idea of what that is and it usually comes out as
being good; but are we really doing the will of God? I include myself in this struggle – it would
so much easier if a life of faith was a life of behaving – even for one so
challenged as I. But the challenge is so
much more – to love.
And I am not suggesting that we don’t need
to behave. We do.
But at a certain point we are called –
compelled to stop working on our personal righteousness – and to begin loving
others. And that is the hard part. It calls for us to be conscientious – how
would we want to be loved? It calls for
us to be compassionate. The idea that I
can love my neighbour, my enemy and myself by pointing out my flaws is, well,
wrong.
Am I working out the will of God? That calls for a personal relationship with
him. And that relationship does not come
without costs. There will be times that
loving our neighbour and our enemy will call for us to go against many things;
doctrine, other’s opinions and our own personal morality.
How many did times did Jesus set his
follower apart from the morality of the teachers of the law? Do you think that he will be more respectful
of the teachings of your church? Of your
own morality? I totally understand Steve
Chalke’s stance on monogamous same sex marriages as he stating that it was
because of what is written in the bible.
Just a side note – if you are relying on
someone else telling you what is right or wrong – what is ethical and moral – then
you don’t need religion, you need therapy.
There is no safe quarter with the love of
God. There is no having made it. My greatest deceptions with my wife have been
the acts of compassion and charity (love) that I have done while ensuring they
remain undiscovered.
We are called to live in a context of
power, influence, with others. We are
not called to stand form a distance and point the way. We are called to join others in their
struggles, in their lives, and care for them.
Jesus tells us - For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. He does mention correcting
them, or telling them that they are wrong, or converting them.
Love is many things, but it is not
convenient.
And yes, I have been writing about power
within and with others.
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