MAX ON LIFE

84. Surely Christians, of all people, should be able to get along, but there always seem to be two or three groups in a church who compete with each other and bicker and fight. Is there any hope for this problem?

Remember the church at Corinth? A problem on every pew! Territorially selfish. Morally shameless. Theologically reckless. And corporately thoughtless. How do you help a congregation like that?

You can correct them. Paul did. You can instruct them, which Paul did. You can reason with them; Paul did. But at some point you stop talking to the head and start appealing to the heart. And Paul did that: "Love... bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor 13:4, 7).

He saw only one solution. And that solution was a five-letter Greek word: A-G-A-P-E. Agape.

Paul could have used the Greek word eros. But he wasn't speaking of sexual love. He could have used the term phileo, but he presented far more than friendship. Or he could have used storge, a tender term for the love of family. But Paul had more in mind than domestic peace.

He envisioned an agape love. Agape love cares for others because God has cared for us. Agape love goes beyond sentiment and good wishes. Because God loved first, agape love responds. Because God was gracious, agape love forgives the mistake when the offense is high. Agape offers patience when stress is abundant and extends kindness when kindness is rare. Why? Because God offered both to us.

This is the type of love that Paul prescribed for the church in Corinth. Don't we need the same prescription today? Don't groups still fight with each other? Aren't we sometimes quiet when we should speak? And don't those who have found freedom still have the hardest time with those who haven't? Someday there will be a community where everyone behaves and no one complains. But it won't be this side of heaven.

So until then, what do we do? We reason. We confront. We teach. But most of all, we love.

By: Max Lucado