Who Do You Love? – #WreckLessLove – 08.12.18 from Revolution Church on Vimeo.
Who Do You Love?
Wreck-Less Love Week 1
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
August 12, 2018
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NLT)
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
In the fictional movie Wreck It Ralph, the lead character is a “good guy” who always seems to screw things up. His life – and the approach to it – is one big wreck.
In this series, we want to take a close examination of the church and how the church, and its approach to love, has always been the “guy with good intentions” who seems to have the right heart, but always flaws in the execution.
Let be reminded of what love is:
- Agape – Unconditional love, like God
- Storge – Family love like kids and parents and grandmas
- Eros – Erotic and sensual love designed for a romantic spouse (in God’s plan), even though it is the same word used for love in that sense even when sin is present
- Phileo – Brotherly love
To love like God is to understand agape love.
Does the church love unconditionally? Well, back to the movie scene for a minute.
Enter the co-star, an animated fictional character who is loving, happy, full of color and fun – but has one major flaw, a glitch. And her bitterness from the glitch causes bitterness, anger, pain and hurt. The glitch can be the way we see the world.
This is the honest dynamic between the church and what is around us!
THE CHURCH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Love is naturally spiritual Love everybody
Love is rules Live with reckless abandon
Love is judgmental Don’t judge people
Love is legalistic Anything goes
Love is conditional Why can’t we all just get along?
Love is God Love is what you make it
Love is holy Love is healthy
Love is pure Love is personal
Love is wise Love is whatever
Can these two parallels co-exist? Is one side right and one side wrong, or do we have a lot to learn from each other?
The reality – to be a follower of Christ you must live with the Bible as a road map for your moral conduct, your behavior, your spirituality and your walk with God.
How you execute those principles is where the church is flawed!
- Who is the easiest person in your life to love?
The church principle – those that are the most like you.
The Jesus principle – “all” – one another. “By this shall all men know…”
- Who is the toughest person in your life to love?
The church principle – those that are different than you or believe in differing viewpoints.
The Jesus principle – “love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you. Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Who is the impossible person in your life to love?
The church principle – you.
The Jesus principle – you are created in the image of God and must love all his creation.
Let’s take off the church hat for a moment and love like Jesus loved – and in doing so, “WRECK LESS LOVE” and learn to do it right.
