The Most Excellent Way - I Corinthians 12:31

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick

Much too often, the preaching in the church is characterized by what we're against. Actually, it's a very normal human tendency, to define ourselves by the opposition; revolutionary groups do it, political parties do it, terrorist groups do it, cultists do it, and I'm afraid that even churches do it. Some churches have historically been defined as being against war, or against oppression, or against liberalism, or worldliness, ritual, materialism, or emotionalism. The very fact that we allow ourselves to be called "Protestants" suggests that we are defined by what we "protest." Recently I received a letter from Nancy, a mother of a former associate pastor who resigned from the church he was ministering in because he had taken a stand against the "Seeker-sensitive Church Growth Doctrine and Rick Warren Purpose Driven Doctrine that was brought into the church by the Senior Pastor." According to his mother's letter, her son also was evidently against the "Pentecostal churches which have now gone over to the Word of Faith false doctrine." Now understand, concerning "Seeker Sensitive," I'm no fan of a soft-sell Gospel that avoids preaching the cross and neglects holiness or a call to discipleship. As for the latest craze, "Purpose Driven", whatever purpose we claim for the church must never be self-serving. It seems to me that too often the purpose for growing large churches is either to feed the ego of the leaders or to please members with the feeling of energy and excitement that comes with belonging to a group characterized by hyper-activity, big noise and great programs. As one Pastor of a large church admitted, "We can't make them good, so we try to keep them busy." You already know what I think about "Prosperity Preaching" - most of it is nothing but redressed humanism, a thinly veiled New Age doctrine that says we are all gods. However, today I want to insist that rather than defining ourselves by what we're against, I think it's much more important that we understand what it is we are for. What is that? In a word, let me tell you, it is love. Earlier this year, while in Africa, we were traveling along the road from the Kenya border to the Uganda city of Mokuno. In addition to our team, in the car were two Ugandan Pastors and Missionary Grover Willcox, father of my daughter's husband Peter. Sitting in the front with Pastor Titus and Pastor Godfry, I began to enquire about the nature of the Seminar we would begin teaching the following morning. They told me that Pastors from two distinct groups had been invited to attend this conference, on the one side would be Pastors from the Anglican (Episcopal) churches, and on the other, from the Pentecostal churches. These groups had never before met together - this occasion was looked upon as an historic break-through. I asked the two Pastors in the car, one from each side, to explain what it was that they had in common and what it was that divided them. They were quick to acknowledge that the basic doctrines were the same. Both groups believed in the Trinity - God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They also agreed that salvation is by faith, and both sides held to a high view of Scripture. However, their worship practices were very dissimilar. The Anglicans saw the Pentecostals as being driven by emotion, and only interested in the "gifts" of the Spirit, while they themselves were interested in the "fruit" of the Spirit. On the other side, the Pentecostals had doubts that their counterparts could even be Christian because there appeared to be no enthusiasm in their worship. Today, remembering this conversation brings into focus a very ancient conflict between two very important aspects of Christian thought and living - the Gifts of the Spirit in opposition to the Fruit of the Spirit. Come to think of it, this was one of the basic reasons Paul wrote the New Testament book of I Corinthians - members of the church were boasting in their superiority because of the "gifts," rather than seeing them as tools to assist them in fulfilling the greatest command of all - to love. Too easily we forget that the "gifts" were never intended to be the basis for pride, i.e., drawing attention to oneself, but useful in bringing edification, unity, healing, and encouragement - the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are always in the service of love. Who knows, perhaps this is one of Satan's most subtle and successful tactics. Of course we know that until the end of this age, there will always be external spiritual warfare, the conflict between good and evil (Ephesians 6:12) played out ever since Lucifer was dispelled from Heaven. We also experientially know about internal spiritual warfare, as "the flesh wars against the spirit." (Galatians 5:17) But never was it intended, nor can it ever be good when the "fruit" of the Spirit is pitted against the "gifts" of the Spirit. Certainly that is a house divided against itself. Earlier in I Corinthians 12, Paul had catalogued a few of the gifts available to the church through the Holy Spirit. There are nine in this particular list, and can be organized into three groups of three: knowledge (knowledge, wisdom, discernment), power (faith, miracles, healings), and utterance (tongues, interpretation, prophecy) . Now, at the end of the chapter, Paul counseled members to covet the stronger, more effective gifts. The word Paul used for "desire" is very strong, from the Greek word we derive our word "zeal" - it even sounds like it, "zeloo," pronounced, "dzay-lo'-o". It means "to have warmth of feeling for or against, i.e., covet earnestly, be jealous over." So it sounds like Paul is urging the Christians of his day to review the list, and desire for themselves the one gift they believe to be the best, or strongest. But what would be the criteria for this choice? Should we desire the gift that will bring the most attention to God's power, such as miraculous healings, or knocking people down by blowing on them, or walking on water? Or should we seek knowledge or wisdom so we can defeat the arguments of infidels and skeptics, and consequently look down our noses at the "fool that says in his heart there is no God"? Or should we jump to chapter 14 and agree with what we assume Paul is saying there, that we should seek to be prophets? Again remembering Africa, I recall how many preachers there have become "self-proclaimed" prophets; they even have begun using it as a title - "this is Prophet Chadwick speaking to you today." I told them that if someone comes claiming to be a prophet, you can simply say, "So what? So am I!" After all, Moses said "I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29), a prayer that, according to Peter, was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17). However, if this is what we do, we have missed the point. It is not the spectacular nature of the "gift," or even the results that make it desirable. What makes a gift better, and more to be desired is the motive of the gift. And that must be love - the best gift is the one that proceeds from love. In the English language, when someone says something that is obviously an exaggeration, we call it "hyperbole." One day when my daughter was a young child, she and her mother were finishing up a meal, and my wife, realizing she had put on her plate a portion bigger than she could eat, said, "I guess my eyes are bigger than my stomach." That was hyperbole. Immediately, my daughter shot back, "No they aren't!" Well our word "hyperbole" is a transliteration of the word Paul uses here when he calls love "the most excellent way." The word literally means "a throwing beyond others," and figuratively, "supereminence." Love is by far the best way. By now you know that one of my favorite stories is about an Argentine pastor who, during the days of the so called shepherding movement, became a very popular leader and speaker. During a convention speech, he told about the Sunday he got up to preach and simply said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another,'" and then sat down. Everyone in the congregation just sat there waiting for what would happen next - I guess they weren't accustomed to such a short sermon! So the Pastor got up again and said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another,'" and then again sat down. The third time he went to the pulpit he said, "The message for today is, 'Love One Another', and until we begin doing that, there won't be any more messages." Slowly, a rather strange thing happened. People began turning to one another, talking with each other, praying for each other, and even opening their wallets and giving money to those near them who were going through difficult times financially. The reason I told you this story before was simply to point out that sometimes we need to have a message repeated over and over before we seem to get it. Today I repeat the story to point out the message itself - no other message is as important, no other so deserving of repetition as the exhortation to love. This is the overriding message of Christ and Christianity - referred to over 200 times in the New Testament. Allow me to give you a quick review of these teachings. Many of these sayings could be mounted on plaques and displayed all around the walls of our homes and churches. Jesus said: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31) "Love your enemies . . .that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:44,45) "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34,35) The Pauline Epistles are full of such exhortations: "Love must be sincere . . . be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:9,10) "Let no debt remain outstanding, except . . . to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (I Corinthians 8:1) "These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:13) "Do everything in love." (I Corinthians 16:14) "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6) "Serve one another in love." (Galatians 5:13) "Be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:2) "The whole body . . . grows and builds itself up in love." (Ephesians 4:16) "Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us." (Ephesians 5:2) "This is my prayer: that your love may abound." (Philippians 1:9) "Make my joy complete by . . . having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." (Philippians 2:2) "Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience . . . forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:12-14) "We continually remember before our God . . . your labor prompted by love." (I Thessalonians 1:3) "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else." (I Thessalonians 3:12) "You yourselves have been taught by God to love each other." (I Thessalonians 4:9) "The goal of [the] command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (I Timothy 1:5) "Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." (I Timothy 4:12) "I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about . . . your love for all the saints." (Philemon 1:4,5) The General Epistles also emphasize the importance of love: "Spur one another on toward love." (Hebrews 10:24) "Keep on loving each other as brothers." (Hebrews 13:1) "Love one another deeply, from the heart." (I Peter 1:22) "Love the brotherhood of believers." (I Peter 2:17) "Live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." (I Peter 3:8) "Love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (I Peter 4:8) "Greet one another with a kiss of love." (I Peter 5:14) "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death." (I John 3:14) "Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (I John 3:16) "Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:7, 8) "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." (I John 4:18,19) Is there any doubt that this is a primary, all important tenant of Christianity? But let's go back to what some might feel is a conflict between the "gifts" of the Spirit and the "fruit" of the Spirit. Certainly, there should be no conflict between these, but rather a direct connection, one leading to the other. Even as "L" - the first letter of "love" - joins together a vertical and horizontal line, so the Spirit and love are also joined. The vertical dimension is that of the Spirit coming down from the Father, and the horizontal is the expression of our love for one another. Several Scriptures make clear this relationship which we call "The Right Angle of the Spirit": "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:3-5) "I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." (Romans 15:30) "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints -- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit." (Colossians 1:3-8) And of course the best known verse of all, Galatians 5:22, 23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." No, there's no competition between "gifts" and "fruit." Love is always the driving force, the motivating factor - all of the gifts are always exercised for the benefit of others. Some time ago we had a message called "Hurdles to Love" in which we asked the question, "Why is it so hard to love?" Three answers were given to this question: anxiety, anger and selfishness. Today we're asking a different, but more important question, "What enables love?" The simple answer is the Holy Spirit. It's not mere coincidence that right after Jesus commanded His disciples to "Love one another" in John 13, He immediately followed up with a prolonged teaching concerning the Holy Spirit (John 14,15,16). And in Galatians 5, soon after the Apostle Paul wrote , "Live a life of love," he followed with "Be filled with the Spirit." (verses 2 and18) So here's a simple answer to give when some one asks you about the church you belong to. When they ask, "What does your church believe?" you can simply give this one four- letter word answer, "LOVE." Discussion Questions The Most Excellent Way - I Corinthians 12:31 1. What are some benefits that groups enjoy when they have a defined enemy? Can you give historical examples? 2. What are some ways churches define themselves by what they oppose? 3. In which ways are these teachings both good and not so good: "Seeker Sensitive," "Purpose Driven," and "Prosperity Preaching"? 4. If members of "high" churches (Episcopal) and "low" churches (Pentecostal) look down on the other, what are their criticisms? 5. What major correction did Paul attempt to bring about in his first letter to the church of Corinth? 6. Spiritual Gifts properly exercised bring about blessing and benefit to whom? 7. Spiritual warfare is correctly or incorrectly understood in what ways? 8. In the list of nine Spiritual Gifts, what three groups of three can be identified, and how are we to decide which one(s) to desire? 9. How is love being "the more excellent way" not an hyperbole? 10. What are some of the Biblical quotes concerning love which could (perhaps should) become slogans for banners, plaques and wall posters? 11. How does the initial for "love" represent the connection between the Holy Spirit and love? What do the two dimensions represent? 12. If anxiety, anger and selfishness hinder love, what enables it? 13. What is probably the best known Bible verse connecting the Spirit and love? 14. What does your church believe in? - - Return to Top of this Page - Email a link to this page - Go To Next Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick - Back To Sermons Page or to the Sermons Alphabetical List - - Download This Sermon - - Download a Power Point Presentation for This Sermon This Page's Title Is: Your Name Is: Your Email Address Is: Your State and Country: Please identify your vocation: Senior Pastor. Associate Pastor. Youth Pastor. Lay Minister. Church Member. Which section of this site would you most likely return to? Sermons Articles Stories Poems Hymns Articles for Leaders Marriage Articles A Bit of Humor Would you like to receive the free weekly E-mail Circular? YES If you have a web page, would you like to establish a reciprocal link? YES Feel free to add a comment or prayer request: