1 Corinthians, Love

All congregations have issues. They are, after all, made up of people who sin and don't always look like Jesus. In fact pretty much every church mentioned in the New Testament had issues. The church in Jerusalem had a race problem (they didn't like those pesky Gentiles following Jesus). The Roman church had some power struggles. We see in the church at Ephesus a steady progression throughout the New Testament towards Jesus's charge against them in Revelation that they have "forgotten their first love."

They all might have issues, but none of them have the reputation as the church in Corinth.

Background

The letter of 1 Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul during his three year stay in Ephesus, around AD 52 - 54. The way the letter is written it is quite evident that Paul was responding to some very specific questions. 1 Corinthians seemingly jumps between topics without warning, so these were probably all issues the Christians there asked Paul about.

Just by reading the letter Paul wrote we get a glimpse into the issues the Corinthians were dealing with. They had factions forming around various teachers. They had a major problem with sexual immorality. Some were lording their "superior" spiritual gifts over those who had "inferior" gifts. The rich excluded the poor from the Lord's Supper. People were getting drunk on the Lord's Supper. 

The list could go on, but you are getting the picture. The Christians of Corinth, like so many of us today, had issues. So what unifying message could there possibly be throughout Paul's responses to these issues?

Themes

The book has one major theme; love. The primary problem the Corinthian church is facing isn't a moral problem. On the surface it may seem that way, but in truth their lack of morality was a symptom of a much greater issue; they lacked love for one another.

This theme of love comes to a head in chapter 13 where Paul, seemingly out of nowhere, starts talking about love in what is one of the most famous Bible passages. If you look at the surrounding passages, this chapter seems out of place. Before it he had been talking about the Lord's Supper and spiritual gifts, and afterwards he starts talking about speaking in tongues. Did Paul just randomly insert a passage about love in the middle of his answers?

No. That chapter is the crux of the book. From the beginning the issue has been love. There are factions forming around teachers because the Christians aren't loving one another. They are allowing sexual immorality to run rampant because they aren't loving one another. There are marriage problems, leadership issues, and drunkenness at Communion because they don't love one another.

Theological Point

We love God, in part, by loving each other. As Jesus said in John 13, the world will know we are his by our love for one another. It is the center of what it means to be a Christian. Everything else we have should stem from our love for God and our love for each other.

I wonder how many of the issues we face in our churches actually stem from a lack of love. We fight so much over so little that it's no wonder that our culture finds Christianity to be off putting. They will know who we are by our love, not our worship style or carpet color.

Conclusion

Let us all strive to love one another with the love of Christ. That means laying down our lives for one another. That could mean our literal lives in some cases, but in most cases that means our preferences, comforts, and desires for the sake of another. Next week we will tackle 2 Corinthians.