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The Greatest of These is Love Yet Hope Matters

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)

Hope is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:19). Faith and love “spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:5). Yes, hope is essential but it is not the greatest. Had it not been for love, we would have little on which to rest hope.

In the body, remembering that we were all called to that one same hope is what propels us to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” and to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2-4).

In the busyness and stresses of life, it is so easy to forget or neglect the foundations which means we will not heed to the process of getting from faith to love. — “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (1 Pet. 1:9)

Implications of the Importance of Hope, Along with Love, to Ministry

For Those of You in Ministry:

Don’t think you are above the need to go back to your roots. If you are going to model the greatest characteristic, love, you must remember that it is only because of God’s grace that you are who you are and do what you do. That same hope to which those you serve were called, is that which anchors you and keeps you humble and spurred on to love.

About Those You Serve:

Unity will be threatened if people do not remember that the essence of body life and loving one another is found in that same hope to which they were all called. Provide constant reminders of that hope which comes from the cleansing of their sins to help keep people on the same page. Make sure you seek to build body life on the right foundation. Body life is not about being the same or all agreeing. Body life is not about fighting the same cause. We can be quite diverse and still love one another if body life is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and that one same hope we all share in Him.

The Greatest of These is Love Yet Faith Matters

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). Yet, love, not faith, is the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:37-40). Faith is the starting point with love as the ultimate. Between there we have a lot of growing to do.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. (2 Pet. 1:5-7)

Implications of the Importance of Faith, Along With Love, to Ministry

For Those in Ministry:

Don’t assume you will automatically love people as Christ loves. 2 Peter 1 clearly delineates a growth process in getting there. Have you ever experienced hardships in ministry, times when things didn’t go as expected or people didn’t cooperate as they should? Embrace those experiences as opportunities to learn goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and brotherly kindness. As you do, you will learn more and more to truly love. If you choose instead to grumble, complain, get embittered, or similar negative reactions, don’t expect love to become the greatest characteristic within you.

About Those You Serve:

Don’t expect everyone to automatically love one another as they should just because they have put their faith in Jesus. Be patient as they too must go through the process of growing from faith to love. When conflicts come, as they will, challenge people to work through them so they learn from these experiences and grow together. If you try to “fix” all the problems, how will people learn? Rather, be there with encouragement and counsel as they walk through the process.

The Greatest of These is Love

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 10 Comments ↓

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)

Though Jesus identifies love as the Greatest Commandment, love is also the greatest characteristic as seen in 1 Corinthians 13. Effectiveness in ministry hinges on love, not honed skills, the latest technology, excellence in programming, and the like.

What 1 Corinthians 13 Teaches about Love, the Greatest Characteristic

This chapter is sandwiched between a teaching on body life and the use of spiritual gifts. Consequently, if we keep it in that context we must conclude that love is critical to body life and must govern how we do ministry through the use of spiritual gifts.

Personalization of love (vs. 1-3)

The clanging noise, insignificance, and ineffectiveness described in these verses do not refer to ministry being done without love. Rather, they depict the person doing the ministry.

“I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” – If you want plausibility in ministry, you need to love.

“I am nothing.” – If you want purpose in ministry, you need to love.

“I gain nothing.” If you want a productive ministry, you need to love.

Bottom line: Be the kind of person who makes a difference by being a person motivated and characterized by love.

Potential of love (vs. 4-8a)

No matter how you serve, you will find many situations calling for patience and kindness. You will be tempted to boast about what you are doing right or envy others in their successes. You will tend to think your agenda is the one to follow. Your gut reaction to those who do you wrong or stand in your way could easily be rudeness, anger, or revenge. You might find it hard to forgive. As much as you try not to say “I told you so,” you might not be able to help but think people got what they had coming to them. You will sometimes find it very hard to see the potential in people. And, there will be times you just feel like giving up.

What’s the solution? — Love. Only God’s love will enable you to keep the best interests of others at heart.

Bottom line: Measure your ministry against the right standard, the love of God as described in 1 Corinthians 13.

If you serve as a Bible teacher, the worksheet, “Does your heart beat with the love of God for your students?” will help you do that.

Perspective of love (vs. 8-13)

How quick we can be in ministry to focus on certain doctrines or practices to the neglect of that which can be agreed upon and profit everyone. We can get mixed up on that which is negotiable and that which is not. We can settle for the temporal, imperfect, and incomplete when God wants our attention on that which is lasting, perfect, and complete. In the end only faith, hope, and love will remain with love being the greatest.

How interesting that though this chapter has elevated love, the last verse throws in some “runner ups” — faith and hope — without expounding on them. Even though faith and hope are essential to the Christian life and community, the greatest is love. The next two posts will look at how faith and hope stand next to love. You can subscribe to be notified by e-mail of new posts.

Bottom line: Focus on what really matters.

Process Matters

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 2 Comments ↓

Most of you are familiar with David of the Old Testament. God chose him as king on the basis of what was in his heart, not how he looked.

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7)

What’s in the Heart Matters in Serving, Not Just the End Result

The heart is so significant because it guides how we do what we do. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.” (Lk. 6:45)

David was well aware of this truth and the need to serve out of a heart of integrity. How he served mattered.

“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” (1 Chron. 29:17)

“And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Ps. 78:72)

In God’s economy, the end does not justify the means. The process matters. How interesting that 1 Corinthians 3:13 says that “the fire will test the QUALITY of each man’s work.” Accomplishments, no matter how great they might seem, will be like the “wood, hay, or straw” that will burn up on the day of judgment (1 Cor. 3:11-15) if not accomplished with an integrity-filled process.

Ignoring Process Misses the Big Picture

If we are not concerned with the process, we might just find ourselves trampling on the very people we are called to serve. In an effort to check something off our “to do” list, we might miss the big picture if we do not concern ourselves with the process.

Preachers, Teachers: It isn’t just about saying the right things. Your heart and life must back up what you say.

Parents, Teachers, Leaders: It isn’t just about solving problems. You need to consistently address wrong-doing, training people with the truth of God’s Word, but you must do it out of a heart of love, demonstrating both grace and truth.

Children’s Workers: It isn’t just about methodology. You need to creatively engage students in the learning process in ways that fit their developmental abilities but methodology must never take the place of relationships which stem from a caring heart. Children need to know you love them.

People Helpers: It isn’t just about doing your duty. You should give to the poor and help those in crisis due to natural disasters and other losses but also feel their pain. Are you weeping with those who weep? (Rom. 12:15)

Don’t be fooled. The process does matter! To think otherwise is to follow the ways of the world. Let’s dare to be different. Let’s maintain a heart of integrity and love in all we do so that both the process and the end result glorify God.

Two Kinds of Sensitive: The Unhealthy Kind

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 2 Comments ↓

In a previous post I noted how I’ve observed sensitive people effectively deal with hard situations in ministry and that I’ve also seen sensitive people exacerbate the same kinds of situation. Why? Because there are two kinds of sensitive. In that post we looked at the healthy kind of sensitivity which means this article is devoted to the unhealthy kind.

Characteristics of People Sensitive in an Unhealthy Way

Unhealthy sensitivity will be characterized by one or more of the following:

consumed with what other people think
conscientious of how one looks and appears to others
defensive when someone appears to disagree
hurt when perceive others disapprove or fail to affirm
embarrassed if even slightly negative comment is about them or their idea

What a difference it makes when we approach people in hard situations with the above sensitivity.

People feel like they must walk on egg shells resulting in shallow or dishonest communication.

People are more prone to react to it defensively, causing them to stumble in their own personal integrity.

When people feel this way they tend to be less cooperative and skeptical of the sensitive person’s intent. Hard situations tend to get even more difficult. Unity is broken and a cycle of dysfunction ensues.

God’s Word Instructs Those with Unhealthy Sensitivity

Unhealthy sensitivity has a negative impact because we get more worried about what people think than what God thinks (Eph. 6:7-8). We want to make sure people know what we’ve done. But, God assures us that He knows and that should be enough (Matt. 6:1-7).

Further, rather than get defensive when people disagree or appear to be in opposition to us, we need to follow God’s instructions which is the opposite of defensiveness (2 Tim. 2:23-26). If we’re truly doing what God want from us, we can be at peace knowing that what He thinks is what truly matters. We are personally accountable to God for what we do. And, others are accountable for what they do.

40 Day Challenge to Maintain Perspective to Help with Unhealthy Sensitivity

If you struggle to grab hold of this biblical perspective, consider doing the 40 Day Challenge for Maintaining a Healthy Perspective. If you would like to use it with your small group, there is also a five session discussion guide to go with it.

Two Kinds of Sensitivity: The Healthy Kind

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 4 Comments ↓

I’ve seen sensitive people effectively deal with hard situations in ministry. I’ve seen sensitive people exacerbate the same kinds of situations. Why? Because there are two kinds of sensitive. In this post we will look at the healthy kind of sensitivity. The next post will consider the unhealthy kind.

Characteristics of People Sensitive in the Healthy Way

Healthy sensitivity will be characterized by one or more of the following:

responsiveness to the feelings and needs of others
consideration of other people’s time, health, resources, etc.
empathy in trying to look at the issue from the other person’s perspective
sympathy for how the person is affected by the change or difficulty
awareness of people around you and not so focused on the task or objective that we ignore or walk on people
tactfulness in how we say something, not merely blurting out what we need to communicate
interest in the other person’s thoughts or opinions

What a difference it makes when we approach people in hard situations with the above sensitivity. People feel …

cared about.
understood.
respected.

When people feel this way, they tend to be much more cooperative and respond in kind. Hard situations, though still difficult, go so much better. How we approach people can have a huge effect on the outcome as seen in so many church conflicts. People with the right message communicated without sensitivity can leave a trail of damage.

Why Healthy Sensitivity Makes a Difference

Healthy sensitivity makes such a difference because it lines up with God’s Word wherein we learn that Jesus came “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). If we are going to be Christ-like than we too must “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). — Certainly sensitivity is a part of grace and love.

God provided us with many guidelines of how we are to relate with one another.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3-4)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Col. 3:12-15)

— Certainly sensitivity is wrapped up in these qualities God expects His people to exhibit toward one another.

When our message, methods, and overall ministry efforts are coupled with a sensitivity toward people, we will tend to more effectively reach our goals and also meet the needs of people.