“So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3 NLT
“a noisy gong or
a clanging cymbal“
In the Corinthian church, it is believed that the believers there regarded highly all the tongue-speakers and those who could interpret the messages that came through the speaking in tongues. But Paul, at the start of 1 Corinthians 13, pointed out that such a gift was worthless unless it was used in a way that showed love for others. He was saying that no matter how good and accurate the message was, if delivered in a hurtful way that showed a lack of love, then it would not have any useful impact on the life of the church, or for the intended recipient, come to that. In fact, he was saying, it might have the opposite effect to that intended. Paul went further to describe how anyone, even with a perfect understanding of “God’s secret plans” or with a faith so deep that mountains could be physically moved, if they had no love for those around them, then their knowledge and faith were worthless. And he continued to labour his point with a reference to those who did wonderful philanthropic acts or even sacrificed themselves; this was also worthless without love.
In our churches and fellowships today, there is not the same prevalence of the use of spiritual gifts. For example, it has been some years since I have heard a public message in tongues followed by an interpretation, even though I currently attend a Pentecostal church. However, in the days of the Corinthians, this was apparently commonplace to the extent that messages were coming one after another. There are those, of course, who deny that speaking in tongues today is valid, and a friend of mine who attends a Baptist church told me that should anyone bring such a message in tongues, then they would be closed down straight away. But the gift of tongues did not end in the first century, as some believe. In a place called Azusa Street, in Los Angeles, the Pentecostal movement was birthed, and tongue speaking was a feature of the revival there in the early part of the 20th Century. Since then, tongues in a public setting have been present from time to time, such as more recently in the Charismatic Renewal of the 70’s and 80’s, and should not be discounted. God is sovereign, and He will grant gifts as He sees fit to individuals who are open and willing to obey the move of the Holy Spirit within them.
Love and the spiritual gifts
go hand in hand
However, the point Paul was making concerned love, agape love, which must essentially infuse our churches and fellowships. Anything else that happened, no matter how spiritual and wonderful it was, was of no good without love. I suppose, though, we could turn this around and equally say that a church with only love and no manifestations of the spiritual gifts was equally impoverished. Before believers can show love to one another, there needs to be a pastor and teacher showing them the why and the how. Biblical teaching is a necessary part of growing in love. Similarly, a prophetic message, whether from the pulpit or through the gift of prophecy, may highlight a situation where a manifestation of love is required. An evangelist is another gift of the Holy Spirit to the church, motivating the congregation to show Jesus’ love to the world beyond the church walls. And of course, we must not forget that the person in a wheelchair or in pain with an illness of some kind needs the love expressed through the Holy Spirit’s gift of healing and miracles. Love and the spiritual gifts go hand in hand and will work together to build up the church, making it more like Jesus intended.
So if we pilgrims were to gauge our prowess in love and the spiritual gifts on a scale of 1 to 10, where would we be? Good question, I’m sure you agree, but perhaps a difficult and painful one to answer. It’s much easier not to ask at all. We pray for God to continue to work in our lives. Yes, we will fall down from time to time. Yes, we will occasionally bottle it when a prophetic word comes to mind. Yes, we will fail to love someone as we should. But God will never give up on us, and He cheers us on when we fall. As we keep close to Jesus, we will find help in our hour of need.
Dear Father God. It is hard sometimes to love the unlovely, but that is what You have asked us to do. Please help us, we pray. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 