DNA: God Is Holy
Love does 
not take delight in evil. Sunday pastor Bart defined evil as, “anything that breaks down a relationship.” It isn’t just the murderer, the big nasty things that are evil. It can be little things, anything that breaks down a relationship, even to the point of looking for ways not to do the simple good. It is yet another thing to take delight in evil. What is that?
It is rejecting the truth. It is believing a lie. When we begin to believe in the lies that are around us, we begin to delight in the evil that is around us as well… Ok, let me stop here…. Pastor Bart preached well and it is an important message we all need to hear. Go to Flatland Church’s website and listen to it if you haven’t heard it (and if you have heard it, listen to it again).
I am rather side tracked by my own thoughts regarding 1 Corinthians 13. I kept waiting for our pastors to hit the main point of the chapter but that really wasn’t their focus and truthfully, that is OK. God led them down the path that He wanted us to hear. But I have to get this off my chest.
1 Corinthians 13 is smack in the middle of a dissertation on the gifts of the Spirit and their use in the Body of Christ, especially during times when we gather together in His Name. The church in Corinth was apparently having rather disorderly services, with misuse and even abuse of the gifts of the Spirit. Paul begins teaching the Corinthians and in turn us all about the gifts of the Spirit and the proper use of them during our corporate meetings. And then, as if Paul suddenly smacks himself up along the side of the head and says “Duh!” he switches gears for a second and starts talking about love.
Now you could say, “whaaa?” What does love have to do with the gifts of the Spirt? Well, it has to do with God’s DNA (bringing it back to the sermon series). God’s love should become fully and wholly a part of us. When we take on that love, when we gather together in His Name, our church services will be “right.”
I can’t but think that their were some in the church at Corinth that were belittling others in the church with regards to their “spiritual deficiancies” and boasting about their own “spiritual greatness.” This pride lead to misuse, abuse, and disruptive behaviour in the church. Paul has to correct this.
I imagine Paul sitting there dictating this letter. In the back of his mind he is thinking, “Why in the world do I have to be teaching these guys the same things over and over again?” And suddenly it hits him. Love! They just don’t have the proper love for one another. And so it interrupts his thought, gives them a definition of love (and shows us God’s DNA), tells them if they don’t have love for one another then the gifts of the Spirit are for naught, and finally continues on with his teachings regarding the gifts of the Spir
Something just hit me. If we don’t have the gifts of the Spirit active in our gatherings, we also will have troubles exhibiting love. Pastor Bart said something like that in his sermon. He talked about a protein called ATM that when it encounters some DNA that is breaking down, it fixes it. He likened that to the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts and restores our spiritual DNA.
Maybe Paul didn’t interrupt himself after all. The gifts of the Spirit and our love for one another are intrinsically intermingled. Without love, the gifts of the Spirit are for naught. Without the gifts of the Spirit, we will stuggle in our love for one another. Let us rely on the Spirit to empower us to use those gifts He has given us that we may love one another. Let us take on God’s DNA and love one another fulfilling our calling to exercise the gifts of the Spirit as He would among the Body.