"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but have not love,
I AM NOTHING.
If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver up my body to be burned,
but have not love,
I GAIN NOTHING."
- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
I've been to this temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is called Wat Rong Khun and the most elaborate temple in all of Thailand. This is a picture of hell and the Thai people must pay to pass through the bridge (the hands are all around the outside to represent that the spiritually pure may enter the Buddhist temple.
but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but have not love,
I AM NOTHING.
If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver up my body to be burned,
but have not love,
I GAIN NOTHING."
- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
What truth to be hit over the head with. Yesterday morning I went to Buns by the Lake, a local sort of "mom and pop" bakery. I was just setting up my computer to begin my long day of work since I had procrastinated long enough that I had the majority of my charts to do for the book of Matthew. I was the only other customer in the store since it was still fairly early in the morning when a man (possibly in his late 30's or early 40's) came in and ordered. He looked at me with an interesting glance as he walked in, but considering I was looking at him as well, I didn't think much of it. He came over and asked if it was my Colorado license out there to which I responded 'Yes.'
This got us to talking about many different things, among which was his second question of how I ended up in Somers, MT. I told him I was attending Bible college in Lakeside just down the road. A smile crept up on his face and this started my hour long conversation with this man. I was very concerned about my time, but God has been speaking to me a lot about getting out into the community and I believe that this includes the remainder of my time here in Montana. This man was very interesting to talk to since many of his thoughts had to do with quantum physics - something I know next to nothing about! However, he did believe in God - though he himself is not a church-goer. Through the course of our discussion I came to realize that he must have been deeply wounded by the church since even at my mention of Jesus commanding us to love one another he cringed. He didn't like the idea of God "commanding" us to do anything, he simply thought it was a "suggestion." He and I continued our conversation for awhile and then we parted ways.
This morning I was reading and, though I was not looking for this specific passage, I came to 1 Corinthians 13. I was convicted within the first three verses of the chapter in relation to my conversation I had with the man yesterday. I never caught his name, but I prayed for him after our discussion. Yet, one of his biggest arguments against the word "command" was that he thought it painted a picture of condemnation by God. What have we done as a church to give the lost this impression of the commandments of God? Do we look at his commandments as a chore, or as a joy? God's heart for us is that we love one another because HE FIRST LOVED US! I was convicted in the little things like laughing at some of the things he was saying - not to say they weren't funny, but am I really loving that person if I'm not loving them through my words both in front of him and behind his back? I guess this commandment is not always something we take seriously as Christians. This is the greatest commandment of all - to love both God and people. It has been a long time since I thought about how I love those who seem unloveable. Jesus is the one who touched the lepers when no one else would and he did it without laughing about their situation later. We, as the body of Christ, are called to live as he lived. Yet the impression that we give people of the love of God is wrong. We have made it seem "too hard" or like a joke and I believe it breaks the heart of God. I want to learn how to love people as he did - I want to be the one to touch the lepers when no one else will. I want to be the one who, rather than laughing at something as silly as a man trying to explain that everything (inlcuding inanimate objects) goes to heaven, I pray for his salvation and total truth to be revealed to him. I pray that as the body of Christ we would really do that by doing what he did through loving the unloveable. They are desperate for his love!
This got us to talking about many different things, among which was his second question of how I ended up in Somers, MT. I told him I was attending Bible college in Lakeside just down the road. A smile crept up on his face and this started my hour long conversation with this man. I was very concerned about my time, but God has been speaking to me a lot about getting out into the community and I believe that this includes the remainder of my time here in Montana. This man was very interesting to talk to since many of his thoughts had to do with quantum physics - something I know next to nothing about! However, he did believe in God - though he himself is not a church-goer. Through the course of our discussion I came to realize that he must have been deeply wounded by the church since even at my mention of Jesus commanding us to love one another he cringed. He didn't like the idea of God "commanding" us to do anything, he simply thought it was a "suggestion." He and I continued our conversation for awhile and then we parted ways.
This morning I was reading and, though I was not looking for this specific passage, I came to 1 Corinthians 13. I was convicted within the first three verses of the chapter in relation to my conversation I had with the man yesterday. I never caught his name, but I prayed for him after our discussion. Yet, one of his biggest arguments against the word "command" was that he thought it painted a picture of condemnation by God. What have we done as a church to give the lost this impression of the commandments of God? Do we look at his commandments as a chore, or as a joy? God's heart for us is that we love one another because HE FIRST LOVED US! I was convicted in the little things like laughing at some of the things he was saying - not to say they weren't funny, but am I really loving that person if I'm not loving them through my words both in front of him and behind his back? I guess this commandment is not always something we take seriously as Christians. This is the greatest commandment of all - to love both God and people. It has been a long time since I thought about how I love those who seem unloveable. Jesus is the one who touched the lepers when no one else would and he did it without laughing about their situation later. We, as the body of Christ, are called to live as he lived. Yet the impression that we give people of the love of God is wrong. We have made it seem "too hard" or like a joke and I believe it breaks the heart of God. I want to learn how to love people as he did - I want to be the one to touch the lepers when no one else will. I want to be the one who, rather than laughing at something as silly as a man trying to explain that everything (inlcuding inanimate objects) goes to heaven, I pray for his salvation and total truth to be revealed to him. I pray that as the body of Christ we would really do that by doing what he did through loving the unloveable. They are desperate for his love!
I've been to this temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is called Wat Rong Khun and the most elaborate temple in all of Thailand. This is a picture of hell and the Thai people must pay to pass through the bridge (the hands are all around the outside to represent that the spiritually pure may enter the Buddhist temple.
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