THE CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE OF LOVE
#757 THE CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE OF LOVE
Scripture I Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV Orig. 12-10-61
Rewr. 10-17-65, 10-3-79
Passage: If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 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. 12 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.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Purpose: To speak to my people on the most worthy of subjects and call them to the goal of evidencing a likeness to Jesus in love for others.
INTRODUCTION
Perhaps one of the finest examples of love in action in our time was that which was lived out in the life of Elisabeth Elliot. Even after the primitive Auca Indians had slain her husband and other missionaries, she still was able to infiltrate those people and their culture and represent Christ in their midst. It should not be surprising then, that many of them came to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
A marvelous straightforwardness assails us in Mrs. Elliot’s book The Liberty of Obedience. She tells of the difficulties of her early months in this beginning work with the Aucas. When it became apparent that these people were responding to them, and that they could begin a larger work without fear, they had to decide how much of their own cultural deprivations that they would lay upon these people. She knew that Satan used certain human intemperances. Should she tell them what she had learned in her own walk in the faith? She wanted to tell them: “You must not tango. You must despise Cinerama. You must not wear make-up. You must not smoke.” But it became clear to her that these satanic influences as she had known them, did not exist here. The nearest movie was hundreds of miles away in Quito. They knew nothing of betting parlors and dance halls. Not wearing make-up could hardly be considered a problem in a culture where the people wore little or nothing at all. Mrs. Elliot declares that she came to the startling discovery for herself, and then for the Aucas, that Christianity is Christ. It is only indirectly related to one’s culture and its negative values. It certainly does not depend upon those negative values for its existence. What they must be taught is that Christianity is the inner presence of Christ . . . . The joy of obedience in liberty.
Perhaps no better definition of love will be brought forward. It is the joy of obedience in liberty. The enterprise that should occupy the time and the meditation of every Christian is how to love. It is learning freely to obey, not the Christ of a self-limiting culture, but the Christ within.
I. The New Testament Greek Has a Marvelous Facility: To Define Love.. We stumble with one four letter word with which we are to express the most important feeling in our language. If you want people to know how fond you are of ice cream, you love it. If you are of the mind to jockey for position with thousands of other drivers, park 10 blocks from the stadium, sit on hard seats in a smoke-filled arena for three hours, and often don’t even have the satisfaction of being on the winning side, then you love football. It has somewhat cheapened the word to use it thus when we contemplate its meaning when related to another person.
The Greek language has four magnificent words with which LOVE is defined.
The noun ερος (eros) and its verb form are used principally for love between the sexes, or perhaps even ambition or even intense patriotism. But even by the time of the writing of the New Testament the meaning of these words had degenerated to the place that they are not one time found in the New Testament. They had come to stand for a lower form of love. Our contemporary word “erotic” is a case in point. As a Christian, I may still be free to participate in an “erotic” film, or book, or TV program. I am not free to enjoy what is clearly not in my best interests. Joy, which comes from the Holy Spirit, will be absent in every such occasion.
The noun στοργε and its verb have to do with family affection. I can find no derivative in our language, although we pronounce the Greek word as “storgé.” Paul helps us here by using the word at least once. Romans 12:10: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” Not “brotherly love” as you might suspect, but “kindly affectioned.” Here the word is φιλοστοργοι, or philostorgos.
The most used word in Classical Greek is the noun φιλος “filos” and its companion verb φιλια “filίa.” It defines a close, affectionate relationship: husband and wife, parent and child, friendship.
By far the most common New Testament word is αγαπα “agapa” and the companion αγαπαν “agapan.” It appears 250 times. In classical usage it was more as a benefactor. The word became the epitome of Christian love.
II. This Word of Limited Use and Meaning Would Become the Vehicle for the Fullest Expression of Love.
I Corinthians 13:1f: Though I have the silver tongue of an orator and the voice of an angel; even if I had the gift of prophecy, understanding all knowledge; though I had all possible faith; though I give liberally to the poor; even if I were to give all of my vital organs to be used by others: and do these things for reasons other than love, it does me no good at all.
These prior words were self-limiting in their meaning. Erotic love would ever be that and nothing more—sensual pleasure. Biblically, sex is not a dirty word or an evil concept. It was an integral part of the marital relationship. Outside of marriage, it is more the biological function of the brute beast, than it is expression of human love.
The second word was limited to the feeling of warmth and affection between family members. While that is very close to Christian love, it may be that because this word was often used as an expression of devotion for the household gods.
Philia-love was undoubtedly a lovely word with deep meaning, but could properly be used only with that which was near and dear.
Christian love must reach a higher dimension. It must include the nearest and dearest, our friends and all who love us. 1 John 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling. It extends to all who are of the Christian fellowship. John 13:35: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another. The expression “one another” is found often. Hallelujah in Hebrew means “praise to God.” Hallelujah in Greek means “one another.” Luke 10:27 Thou shalt love the Lord with God with all thy heart. . , soul . . , strength. . , mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
Agapa, then, takes us beyond the family of faith to our neighbor, to our enemy, to the world. James 2:8: If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. Which must always raise the question “Who is my neighbor?” To which we have but one answer, which is that of Christ. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us clearly who is our neighbor.
CONCLUSION
Dr. James Sullivan, former Executive Secretary of the Baptist Sunday School Board, tells of a proofreader’s consternation that came about as a result of one of the many manuscripts that passed through the editing office. The author had used a phrase which is very familiar to all of us, “tabasco sauce,” but which was totally unfamiliar to the proofreader. She paused over this word, but finally decided that the author meant “tobacco” and changed the manuscript. Shortly after, a second proofreader was going over this paper, and came upon the expression, “tobacco sauce.” This proofreader decided that this had to be wrong, and changed it accordingly. You can imagine the consternation on the part of the author and publisher when the publication appeared using instead of “tabasco sauce,” “tobacco juice.”
It is just as easy to confuse people around us about “love.” Live the life so that friends, loved ones, even strangers will know the kind of person you really are.
***Daniel Hutto, of Wake Forest, NC, was of immense help in reproducing the Greek here***