The better part

At the end of 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes about the greater gifts, which we would probably now call ministries, but then says, "But I can show you an even better way" (1 Cor. 12.13). This he does in the following chapter, which if you do not know it is the treatise on love (1 Cor 13). So, if we are to be ministers to the body of Christ what should our goal be: the gifts of the greater part or love? Perhaps too often we generally focus on the gifts of the greater part and neglect the better way that is the way of love. Yet, the whole of the gospel is the way of love not the way of the gifts. So, why the big focus on gifts?

Our understanding of what love is may be at the root of our ability to successfully deal with this vexed question. I think that often we think of love as a romantic notion that is filled with soft, cuddly feelings that enhance our well being. Or else it is the romanticised understanding of Mills & Boon or the cinematographic portrayals of romantic love. These are the cultural portrayals of love that are fed to us through screen and the written word. An escapism, if you will, from the drear normality of the world that we inhabit. In our emphasis on this aspect of love we cannot see how love can be effective in the building of community or in bringing the Gospel into the hearts of those around us. Rather it is the prosaic and sometimes spectacular gifts of the greater part that can be seen as showing God's presence through the effects of an evangeliser, teacher, prophet (Jer 1.4-10) or speaker of tongues. These will bring in more people to the heart of worship and all the implicit gains that this means for the faith community. Yes, these are required, yes these are gifts that need to be nurtured in an appropriate manner not to bring fame but to show God's love and mercy. Each gift is there to encourage or enhance the community not the individual, something that I feel we are inclined to forget. It is a gift of a moment and once that moment is past such gifts may become boorish and un-motivational. Just think of Jeremiah's life at the end.

Are we only part of the community as a result of our greater gift or because we are loved?

At the end of the day the issue is a simple one. The greater gifts we can acknowledge and respond to with ease knowing that someone else is fulfilling the necessary work. They can be assessed as to their effectiveness and if not fulfilling the criteria set, forgotten about or let out to pasture. The better way is actually hard work. It is not easy and simple, it is not something that we can handover to someone else but rather requires our personal involvement and effort. Just looking at the criteria that Paul sets reminds us of the difficulty that is faced: "Love never boastful, conceited, rude, selfish, quick to take offence"; "Love is patient, kind, envies no one, delights in truth, etc"; "Love can face anything, has no limit on its faith, hope and endurance". Can we honestly say that these criteria are not hard work? More importantly can we measure these in a simplistic and rational manner to say that you are good because we can see these effects of love?  All of us, at sometime or another, fall on our faces in terms of these demands and are quite often condemned for the fact (displaying once more our failings). Once we start that route we begin to turn our backs on God and the community that we have been asked to form (Luke 4.28-30).

Love is the long term commitment asked of us by God. The same commitment that is placed before the Israelites at Mt Sinai. Indeed, if we are truly to be honest with ourselves the gifts of the greater part, if they are of any worth to the community, have to be cultivated on the base of love and not the other way around. So when we extol the greater gifts we need to be very careful that they are gifts given by God, for the benefit of the good news that is the Gospel, which is based in and on God's manifest love. The metanoia or turning back to God in repentance is the requirement of love as we acknowledge our own failings towards our selves and our community. It is hard work and it is made even harder when we turn our backs on each other.