First Corinthians 13 for Church Leaders

Back after hiatus, looking forward to sharing what's been on my heart.
In my last post I explained that the New Testament teaches that the best way to love God is to love other people. In Matthew 22:39 Jesus explains that the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is like the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind.”  To clarify this principle, Paul teaches us that all God’s commands are “summed up” in the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Rom 13:8–10). So if loving God is our top priority in life, then our first order of business must be the work of loving others.
Of course, “love your neighbor as yourself” is much easier said than done! What exactly is the action required? What exactly does God want us to do in obedience to this command?  
Fortunately, the Bible gives us some great foundational ideas. One of the best passages that explains God’s view of love is the famous “love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Ironically, many Christians tend not to talk about this chapter in a church context; it’s so popular at weddings that we tend to apply it most to marriages and other personal relationships. I’m not against wives and husbands using these teachings to deepen the marriage.  But the context of the chapter is not marriage, but church relationships.
As most of us know, 1 Corinthians focuses on church practice – more than any other book in the Bible. Throughout this book Paul addresses church disputes, to help Corinthian Christians work together for the glory of God.  First Corinthians 13 was written primarily for church folks whose strong disagreements threaten their unity. The situation in Corinth looks a lot like the church’s predicament in Hampton Roads today! So we do well to accept that 1 Corinthians 13 is written not just for our church members, but for us.
The chapter begins with a comment that should grab the attention of everyone whom God has called to proclaim the Gospel: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1). Our preaching and teaching can be meaningful only when it comes from a place of love.  It’s hard to imagine how the New Testament could be any clearer on this point! Yet far, far too many preachers who claim to be faithful to God’s Word nevertheless promote hatred. I understand why: in 21st century America hate gets attention and motivates listeners to action. But if Paul is correct, then God calls us to resist hate-filled preaching.
Some preachers justify hate by defining “love” in a way that allows hatred, perhaps emphasizing terms like “tough love” and sayings like, “love the sinner, hate the sin.”  To an extent (limited!), these ideas might be helpful. But extra-biblical ideas like “tough love” cannot be our starting point. To “love our neighbor as ourselves,” we must begin with and prioritize biblical love – for example, 1 Cor. 13:4–7:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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."
These verses are simple and direct; nothing like the complex theology of Romans or Ephesians. There are three distinct ways that preachers and other Christian leaders must apply these verses.
First, our preaching must feature patience and kindness, and should never dishonor others. We should be careful not to be easily angered; we are not allowed to keep record of wrongs. We must strive to consistently protect, trust, hope, and persevere – not just regarding our friends and to those who agree with us, but regarding those with whom we disagree on serious points of theology and ethics.
Second, our preaching must help our audiences to model this definition of love in their lives. We must encourage our listeners to be kind to everyone, not just family and friends.  We must help our congregants to avoid delighting when our opponents suffer, and to rejoice whenever truth comes to light – even when truth makes our political opponents or folks with bad theology look good.  How do we avoid dishonoring those who have different values?  When Jesus commands us to love our enemies he is talking about 1 Corinthains 13-style love.  Our job is to help our friends to live out this kind of love. 
Third, in this age of deep division and polarization, love must be the criteria that we use when we evaluate others who claim to speak for God. How can we judge who among modern speakers, writers, and media personalities really is speaking for God, and who is not?  If 1 Corinthians 13:1 is correct, then we should evaluate those who speak and write publicly by the extent to which they are helping us to be loving.  Does so-and-so encourage me to be kinder and more patient?  Am I learning how to be less easily offended; am I motivated to forget past wrongs?  Am I becoming more protective, trusting of my opponents, believing that we will be able to work together for good?  No matter how much a message may resonate with me personally, if it does not meet the New Testament definition of love, then it cannot be from God.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).  So even when people on the radio or cable news have a point of view that resonates with my theology, if they are not promoting love, we must recognize that their message cannot be from God.  
In my next column, we take this idea further by examining the rest of 1 Cor 13, verses 8–13.