In chapters 12-14, Paul deals with the issue of speaking in tongues. This spiritual gift had gotten out of control in the Corinthian congregation and Paul sets about to restore order. He does this by pointing out that there are many ministry gifts and some of these are more important, more to be sought after, than speaking in tongues. Yet, above the gifts of ministry he sets a far greater quality to be sought after, and this gift is love.

12:31. Paul wants believers to strive for the more edifying gifts of teaching, prophecy.... Yet, apart from gifts of ministry, he shows a "better way". This better way is distinct from the gifts of ministry and can actually test the worth of a gift. It is first among the fruits of the Spirit; it is "love".

v1-3. Paul begins by comparing love with other religious qualities, primarily gifts of ministry. The first is most likely tongues. It is unclear whether Paul sees tongues as the language of angels, or something far less. The next is prophecy, which for Paul, is the greatest of the gifts of ministry. Yet, without love even prophecy is nothing. Then comes faith, obviously of the miracle-working type, not the type which all believers exercise when they reach out to Jesus. Then finally self-sacrifice. There is the alms-giving type of self sacrifice and there is the religious suicide type. Both can be done in love, but also without love. Apart from love, self-sacrifice is nothing.

v4-7. In the second section of the chapter, Paul describes the nature of love, mainly in negative terms. Rather than describing love in philosophical terms, he tells us what it does, and does not do. A person who has love does not easily lose patience with another, is kind, not envious, does not brag, not puffed up, does not treat others unfairly, is not selfish, easily provoked to anger, or plots evil against another. love (particularly the loving one) does not ride up on (celebrate at) another's misfortune, but rather celebrates when things are right, when things work out well, are "true". Love is the support of the world, it never loses faith, never ceases to hope, and endures through hardship and opposition.

v8-12. In the third section Paul returns to the contrast between love and gifts of ministry, and points out that whereas spiritual gifts have a ministry purpose for the present, love endures into eternity. "God is love" and through the Spirit we can possess this divine quality which continues, not just through the rough-and-tumble of life, but beyond life. "It is the pre-eternal thing which man can possess here and now in its true essence", Schweitzer. Unlike love, prophecy (revelation of the mind of God) will vanish in the presence of God. Tongues (ecstatic prophecy) will cease. Knowledge (secret truths) about God will similarly be no more in the presence of God. Our limited understanding of God will be complete in the totality of God, which totality is love. This is something like the difference between childhood and adulthood. When we become an adult we put away the things of our childhood. So, in eternity, we will put away the things which are for this age, eg. spiritual gifts. For the present our knowledge of God is limited; in eternity it will be complete. For the moment, it is obscure, imperfect, partial.

v13. So, the spiritual gifts for ministry are for this age only. What continues ("remain / abide") into the age to come is "faith, hope and love." There is much debate on what actually remains. Calvin argued that only "love" continues into the age to come, but the verb "remain" does seem to imply that faith and hope continue as well. The "faith" Paul here refers to is not the miracle-working kind, but trust in the revealed character of God. Hope, in the sense of patient endurance in the fulfillment of the promises of God, would seem to no longer apply in eternity. Yet, not only is hope a firm expectation that God will do what he has promised, but also that "what God has given, God will maintain", Bultmann. Finally there is "love", which is the greater quality of the three. Love is "a manifestation of God himself, proceeding from God himself", Barrett. Rather than a virtue or a moral ideal, it is the very character of God present in Christ, and through the Spirit of Christ, present in the church (the gathering of believers).

Scratch the surface of mainline Christian denominations these days and you will find division prompted by fear. We have lost confidence in ourselves; we fear our very survival. And what is the answer?

i] There are those who believe the survival of the church lies in relevance. In an attempt to fit with society they set about the dismantling of the inherited shape of their church.

ii] Then there are those who believe the survival of the church lies in purity. They impose holy rigor and narrow theology.

Of course, such responses promote divisions: a right way of doing church and a wrong way. For the Corinthian church, the conflict was over ministry gifts that would supposedly enrich their church. So, how are God's people built under the Lord? Paul's answer was that we seek the gift of love, the very essence of the character of God. He is not saying be nice to each other, rather he is letting us into a secret. Christ's character of love indwelling us, renewing us, has the power to compel us to be as Christ is. So, pray for this gift, seek it, for we can be one in the gift of love.

Consider your own church. In what sense is it divided and how can love unite it? More important, how can love be among us?