A Church with Problems

A long time ago there was a church community with big problems. They disagreed about how the church should be run, what were the “right” beliefs, and what was the “right” way of living. They came from different paths of life. Some had money and were from the educated upper class. Others worked with their hands, had few privileges, and perhaps didn’t always have enough to eat. They admired different leaders and argued loudly about whose ideas to follow. Sometimes, it was reported, they even fought at church dinners! Simply stated, they were in trouble.

In case you’re wondering: No, this is not a metaphor for the state of my country. It was a real church community with big conflicts about who they were and how to live. Fortunately they had a good advisor – Apostle Paul – who wrote them two letters that we still have today.

The divided, quarreling church in Corinth, Greece really needed Paul’s advice. I hope they listened and learned and that their community grew closer as they worshipped and ate together. Most of all, I hope they were stretched into loving.

Sometimes we forget that Paul’s famous chapter on love, 1st Corinthians 13, was written to real people with real disputes, each convinced of their own rightness. Paul told them that it didn’t matter if they spoke in tongues or prophesied, if they gave generously to others or were wise and learned, or even if they performed miracles. None of it mattered unless they also loved. Then he went on and defined love:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. (NIV)

To be loving is incredibly challenging! There are always religious communities struggling to love each other somewhere in the world. We are human beings, and we (mostly) haven’t reached sainthood. We’re in the process of growing. We should all wear signs that say “Improvements coming” or “New and better version under construction.”

The more diverse and varied the community is, the more challenging it can be to follow love’s way. Some of us may find the challenges in a church community, but it could also be within our families or neighborhoods. The country where most of us live contains an enormous diversity. Sometimes it is easier to close ourselves off from those whose background, way of living, or opinions differ from ours. Like the people of the Corinthian church, we are sure our group is the right one.

Recently a friend told me about being verbally attacked while waiting in a check-out line at the store. The focus was on her shirt that carried the name of a political candidate. The vicious threats and rage really frightened her, but, as she quietly turned and left, she thought to herself, “That poor man! What pain was in his life filling him with such anger and hate that he’d attack a stranger like that?” From somewhere deep inside her, she had found love and compassion. She saw him, not as someone from “the other side,” but as a real person in pain from her community.

Love, Paul says, always hopes and perseveres; love never fails. May we take up the challenge of loving in a time of outspoken hate; may we take up the challenge of seeing beneath the surface of someone whose ideas or actions we disagree with. May we persevere in love.

If this reflection speaks to you, please share it with others.