“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.”
In these verses Paul uses wild exaggeration to make a point about the importance of love above all else. Can anyone move mountains with faith? It’s never been literally done, but even if someone did, and the reason for doing it was wrong, it would mean nothing. Has anyone literally given away everything they have?
Also note the repetition of the word “all,” which appears 4 times. Nobody but God has all understanding, knowledge, and faith, and in Jesus He gave up all He had for us. Paul is saying that even if we were Godlike in these things, which we aren’t, without love even it wouldn’t matter.
No matter how “impressive” our actions are, if done for the wrong reason, they are useless.
Even if we move mountains, love is what really matters.
Sometimes things happening in the world grab our attention and make us assign more significance to them than they deserve. Sometimes these are natural phenomena, like earthquakes, comets, or eclipses, and sometimes they are manmade phenomena, like wars.
One reason we do this is that passages in the Bible like Mark 13:5-23 describe what events will happen before Jesus returns again. We want Him to return! While it’s right to anticipate with excitement that Jesus is coming back, it’s important to sort out such passages by what is describing what will happen (descriptive truth) and what God tells us to do when these things happen (prescriptive truth). In all circumstances, the God’s primary commandments for us are to love God and to love our neighbor, even if they are our enemy. No phenomena should pull us off that path, and Mark 13:5-23 recommends that.
In the table below, I paraphrase and categorize Mark’s message into what is descriptive vs. prescriptive truth:
Descriptive
Prescriptive
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’
See that no one leads you astray
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nation
Do not be alarmed
Earthquakes and famines in various locations
Be on your guard
You will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake
Bear witness before them and do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
Brother will deliver brother over to death and you will be hated by all
Endure
False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders
Be on guard
To Jesus, none of the things in the descriptive column are new information. All were included in His plan from eternity past. The actions He recommends are not new information either. The “Prescriptive” column tells us not to panic, but to endure, to keep doing what we should be doing before these bad things happened – Love God, love your neighbor, even if your neighbor is your enemy.
On the other hand, false christs and prophets will tell us current events are unprecedented and a fulfillment of prophecy and they will tell us what we should do. The false prophet takes the descriptive of evil in the world and creates their own false prescriptive. They recommend an incomplete and inaccurate narrative of current events as an ultimate solution. Their own Babel which God must “come down” from heaven to even see (Genesis 11:5). But the true Christ calmly says, “be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand”. (Mark 13:23). The true Christ comes down from heaven and demonstrates how to create a true ladder back to heaven, offering forgiveness to all, even those who refuse to accept it or practice love. He will be thoroughly and eternally glorified by manifesting His kingdom as the only eternal kingdom, ruled by love, not by panic over current events.
No matter what we see happening in the news or in the world, Jesus knew it was coming and He told us that in any circumstance we should obey and glorify Him, through love for Him and neighbor. He doesn’t panic and neither should we.
The Bible is a book for all people, in all times and places, and its lessons hold eternal value. Yet the Bible was also written in particular times and places and knowledge of those contexts is sometimes assumed rather than explained. For instance, in the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, we read the phrase, in parenthesis: “(For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”. We also read that Jesus and His disciples “had to pass through Samaria.” Hate is a difficult thing to measure or quantify, but the story assumes we know something about how intense the Jews’ hate for Samaritans was.
According to Warren Wiersbe, “So intense was [the Jews’] dislike of the Samaritans that some of the Pharisees prayed that no Samaritan would be raised in the resurrection!”[1] This hate was so strong that many Orthodox Jews would travel much longer routes around Samaria to avoid setting foot in it. They thought the dirt itself would contaminate them. Why all this hate?
One reason for this hate was genetic. Anyone who reads the Old Testament knows there are many extensive genealogies. To the Jew, it was very important to know which of the original 12 tribes you descended from and that your ancestors had not intermarried with people of other religions. But Samaritans genealogies were not pure enough for them. Much of Samaria was populated with the descendants of poorer Jews left behind by the Assyrians, many of whom had intermarried with foreigners the Assyrians planted there. So, Jews in Judah looked down on Samaritans because of their mixed genealogy. The Samaritans were considered “half-breeds.”
Another reason was religious. When the Samaritan woman said “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” in John 4:20, she was referring to an alternative Judaism. Among other differences, the Samaritans had a center of worship on Mount Gerizim, with its own temple. They even re-wrote parts of the Pentateuch to justify this.[2] To Israel, Jerusalem was the only center of worship. Sacrifices to Yahweh were only to be offered there, and every male was supposed to make a pilgrimage there three times every year. There was to be no rival temple, and therefore the Samaritans (in the Jewish mind) had cut themselves off from the true worship of Yahweh and should be shunned.
John has to write that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria” because doing that was unusual, especially for a Jewish rabbi like Jesus. But then Jesus went there, simply being in Samaria was a strong statement that Jesus didn’t care for the hateful tribalism. But not only did He go there, He interacted with its people, at a time when “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” Jesus was and would continue to break down these barriers. In the four gospels, Jesus preached to the Jews first, then to the “half-breed” Samaritans, then to full Gentiles, and the apostles followed the same pattern in Acts. This sequence progressively illustrated that the gospel is for all tribes of people.
What does this mean for us today? Hate like what the Jews felt for Samaritans is rampant and if Jesus could overcome that hate, He can overcome any hate. Any reasons we have for hating, or even disliking people just because of what group or tribe they belong to aren’t good enough reasons.
But tribal rivalries are everywhere we look: national and regional, political and economic, cultural and ethnic, musical and athletic, and every other dimension we can imagine. But no tribal loyalty is more important than the obligation to love God and love our neighbor, no matter who they are.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:38-39 –
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Not only does this describe the love God has for us in Jesus, but it also describes the love we should have for others. Nothing should get in the way, including any religious, racial or other differences.
Jesus overcomes tribalism, and so should His people.
[1] Wiersbe, Warren. Be Alive (John 1-12) (1986). P.65. [2] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1886). P. 274-5.
Although highly allergic to cats, I love the two we have, but sometimes wonder if it’s worth the trouble. One past Saturday night, one of the cats, named Misty, was up crying much of the night, waking us up regularly. Eventually, I realized she must have been upset about her litter. The store was out of the “usual,” so I tried to get away with a replacement, even though I know how finicky cats are. Sure enough, once I changed it to what I had left of the usual stuff (kept in reserve in case of finicky cat trouble), she stopped complaining.
Why am I telling you this? Because what happened next reminded me that God is concerned about even the most minor details of our lives, and about every living creature He has made. That Sunday morning my reading schedule began with Psalm 8, which includes this:
“You have given [man] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”- Psalm 8:6-8
Misty, an indoor cat who may feel like she’s trapped in the ark.
Under the mandate given in Genesis, mankind is supposed to take care of whatever God has given us – the earth and everything in it. My study Bible helpfully noted that this includes pets, which reminded me of Misty’s crying! I thought maybe our cats were worth the trouble after all, but God wasn’t finished making the point.
Also on my reading schedule was Genesis 7, which includes: “And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.” – Genesis 7:24
During the flood, Noah and his family were flooded in the ark for 150 days with two of each kind of animal (but seven of each kind of clean animal, because provision was made not only for the survival of Noah’s family, but also provision for continued worship of God). After the 150 days, they had to wait months longer for the waters to recede and the land to dry before coming out of the ark. Noah’s family took care of an ark full of animals for more than 150 days. They probably lost a lot of sleep! As for me, I only have two cats and get to leave the house. I also have allergy medicine to make it more tolerable.
Looking back at Psalm 8, the last verse declares: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
This Lord is the same one who brought Noah, his family, and those animals through the flood. He also cares about my family and even my pets. In seemingly small acts like taking care of pets God has given us, we can declare the majesty of God’s name! In whatever influence we have, big or small, God wants us to participate faithfully in the work started at creation, with the authority He has given us.
In addition to perhaps cats, what else might we be allergic to? Sin is not just a list of things we shouldn’t do, but it is our allergy to God’s dominion over the world and the way we each should have dominion over it and under him. We’re too often allergic to loving this world the way He did on the cross, yet we claim to hope for a world where that sacrificial love governs 100% of all actions.
Our Lord wants nothing more than to greet us in Paradise and say “‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’”[1] He literally died to make such a greeting possible. Therefore, consider what creatures or people our Sovereign God has delegated to each of us. What tasks or roles? Jobs or ministries? Do some of those things irritate and annoy us, as if we were allergic?
In aggregate, the church’s role is to have dominion over His entire creation, but not in the way the world would, exploiting everything for our own benefit and casting aside what doesn’t seem useful, but as a servant would. Like a God who abhors all our sin as if He were allergic but decided to cover our sin with His own precious blood. The same blood that covers us so that, like a compassionate Father, our Lord can gently say on a Sunday morning after a bad night of interrupted sleep:
“Be thankful you aren’t stuck in an ark for 150 days with thousands of animals.”
Anyone who has watched very young kids play soccer, or especially anyone who has coached youth soccer, knows what I mean by “Beehive Soccer”: Two lonely and bored goalkeepers stand by their goals at each end of the field, while both teams of players closely swarm around one ball. Some of the players on each team have an idea which direction to kick the ball, but others just want to kick it. Often a kicked ball ricochets around inside the swarm, unable to escape the vortex of kids. The goalkeepers might as well play with some blades of grass, or bugs if they’re lucky.
At Beehive Soccer games, parents on the sideline cheer at any progress at all, and grimace whenever some kid (perhaps theirs) nearly takes a soccer ball to the face. Coaches yell “spread out!”, then shake their heads, put their hands on their hips, then yell “spread out!” again a moment later. Coaches must let the parents know they are doing something, and it’s all in good fun – they (the kids) will grow out of it.
Often morality is pursued in the same way. In Beehive Morality, masses of people crowd around one problem, kicking aimlessly, organized by vague goals, or even just some anger and some hashtags on social media, but doomed to reach a less-than-ideal solution because their activities are not organized. Maybe they attempt to swarm around multiple goals at the same time.
In Beehive Soccer, young kids have not had time to be coached and learn coordination based on individual positions, nor are many of them mature enough to pay attention to coaching when all of the other kids are playing Beehive Soccer. It’s no fun being the only kid playing by the rules. In society, too many behave the same way, thinking the objective is just to show enthusiasm for whatever game is being played that day, but making no real progress. Many play along and keep “kicking” because it’s no fun being the only person left out of the crowd.
In economics, this is called a Coordination Problem, where multiple people aren’t aligned and cooperating toward a common goal. Unfortunately, Beehive Morality can cause a Coordination Problem in the church, but in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, the apostle Paul encourages the church in Corinth (and every church today than can read Paul’s letter) to focus on a goal, and put every effort toward it: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.” This “beating the air” reminds me of the Beehive Soccer kids, or Beehive Morality adults – there’s a lot of activity, but not a lot of coordinated work toward a real, helpful, objective.
But what are the objectives for God’s people? The two most important commandments – the instructions of our Coach – are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1]
Elsewhere, Paul has advice as the young Timothy’s “coach,” sharing these words of encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:3-6 – “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.”[2] The soldier and athlete look forward to victory, and the farmer looks forward to harvest, but until then must work diligently, enduring sacrifice in patience, knowing the reward is worth the temporary problems, even if sometimes it’s no fun not kicking along with the crowd and playing Beehive Soccer.
Remember, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Swarming around the ball labelled with the current hot hashtag topic – or many topics – is not the objective.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 