If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Here in 1 Corinthians 13 we have the heart of hypocritical faith in which we are all plagued by at some level. There are two distinct ways of being in this world and when we choose contrary to Christ, we choose contrary to love. If following of God is our declaration, then love must be our reality. To seek and lift up those around us needs to be our main purpose if we wish to take this faith thing anywhere. How many of us stop at the front door of faith and settle for a plastic walk with a deeply self-less God?
How many of us are noisy cymbals? It is an easy enough idea, to walk as we preach, but somewhere between our mouth and our heart it gets snuffed out by fear and arrogance. It scares us to be authentic. However, at the core of our teaching and life practice must be an unflinching desire to show us as we truly are. Otherwise, we hinder the Spirit of God from doing soul work in both them and us. Perhaps the Church works best when it’s people show their scars. And this is humility, that we clear the air of self promotion and seek to refine our souls in the public setting of His Church. In many cases we extinguish God’s work by failing to be vulnerable. After all, everyone can see our faults. For however much we believe we are able to hide, our humanity glows past our masks of normality. To follow Christ is anything but normal.
Today, believe in the work God has started in you. Take comfort in the fact you are not perfect and your growth rests in the hands of our more than capable Father. Don’t make noise in this world but seek the lowly road of love. This is where faith thrives.
Matt simon blog 