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 (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV).
Nope. No-siree, Bob. No way. Uh-uh. Ain’t happening.
We don’t believe it. I’m speaking to the professing Church here, sonny boy.
If we believed that wonderful speech and knowledge and faith and sacrifice meant nothing if we do not have love, then things would be so much different.
What we have and are concerned with is the appearance of love, the appearance of spirituality. The fact of the matter is that we are quite taken with words and knowledge and “faith” and service, so much so that we have fashioned it into a business.
We think it more important to shine before people than to shine before God.
No wonder people want to throw up when they see this “appearance” we put together to display to the world. We want to turn the projector on and show the damned, dirty sinners a way to be like us.
And they aren’t buying it. You think???
Because they don’t see through us, the clay pots, the earthen vessels, and see Jesus. They see through our pretense and see our idea of God, our idea of spirituality, and it falls short of the glory of God.
Ain’t no shinin’ of the glory goin’ on brother.
The only thing we are showing them is religious people trying to convert others to be religious people.
And it doesn’t quench their thirst.
