STEP Final Assignment '22 - Elizabeth Tan

As STEP comes to its close and I reflect on everything I’ve gleaned these past three weeks, not disregarding the importance of theology and history that holds its rightful place in our Christian walk, the biggest thing that stood out to me this internship was not just how we came to be Christians, what sound doctrine is or the meaning of Presbyterianism, but instead the only reason why we even have the opportunity to search deeply for meaning in ourselves, our history and stories: it boils down only to God and His love, in whom we find an abundance. For He is love.

And because He is in all things, everything needs to begin and end with Him. For while sacraments, Christian leadership, worship, and missiology is important in themselves and have their place, without God, none of that would have a reason for existing, none of that would even exist. So I want to take this final assignment to hopefully explore what that love looks like, and how we who have been called to walk in His image to be Christ-like ought to lead our lives in reflection of who He is as best we can.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

 

I used to see the above verse on a very surface level. I read it as a verse couples used at their weddings to talk about the beauty of romantic relationships. I also learnt that in order to know if a potential partner was right for you, that we ought to replace ‘love’ with their name and see if it still rang true. If it did, then you were on the right track. And while the verse is rightly used at weddings and is a pretty good litmus test for exploring a new partner, I wondered if it was more than just that, and it is.

I dug deeper to really understand what this ‘love’ was supposed to be. Two things struck me: First, that the best representation of where I could find love wasn’t in human relationships – romantic or not, but instead in God, for God is love. In fact, the descriptions Paul uses in this chapter is the perfect description of the characteristics of God. Second, that since we have been called to imitate Christ, we should use this verse as a yardstick to hold ourselves to and imitate the characteristics Paul listed.

As much as STEP stressed mainly on theology, love was inescapable purely because it is the core of how we ought to lead our Christian lives. Cross referencing 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 " If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.’’ So what does this Godly reflection of love really look like and entail?

Back to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, the verse splits itself into two. What love is and is not. What love is not is pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t delve into that, because what’s important to model is what Christ is, therefore what love is, not what it is not. Verse 7 ESV: ”Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” First, “all things” covers every aspect. We could choose to do those things only some of the time, but God calls us to search ourselves and care to go even deeper and further into what love is, to have it at every moment, even if it is long suffering. That at every juncture of life, no matter how tough it is or as much as we don’t want to, we choose to love. Not as a forced command, but because this is the endurance of the Christian walk. Loving our neighbour is what we were taught really early on – even from Sunday School.

In other versions, instead of ‘perseveres’, ESV states that love ‘endures’ all things. Verse 7 teaches us agape love – the highest form of love in the bible. The best and most selfless form there is. One that is altruistic, expects nothing in return, never changes and loves unconditionally just like how Christ loves the church. It gives simply because it chooses to. It doesn’t tire, it doesn’t give up, it perseveres. It endures all things. Truly the most beautiful and pure depiction of love. How then should we live in accordance with this passage?

Our calling is to love altruistically in long suffering because that’s how God wants us to lead our lives. Having experienced God’s mercy and grace, our rightful response and what we should make our own mission is to glorify Him with how we relate to everyone around us no matter how easy or difficult to love them it is through His good design of what love is meant to be: enduring and persevering in all things. For that is what brings Him glory. Of course it’s easier said than done because men are sinful, and we are of the flesh. It’s not easy to always choose to love because our natural response in adversity is to fight for what we want and live in accordance with what we feel or desire in the moment. But as Jesus walked in humility, we too ought to live humbly, not to confuse that meekness with weakness, but to live as examples of Christ in the way He’s set out for us. 

This is the ultimate summary: Jesus has modelled the way for us to live through love. And the best way to understand this verse is to see it through the life He led on earth. Replacing “love” with His name lets the verse make its perfect sense because that’s precisely who He was on earth, and who He remains today and beyond. Having now been given the blessing of understanding what love ought to be modelled like through Christ, we need to yearn to be like Him and model what He showed.

We can only love because while we were first sinners, Christ died for us. (Cross Ref: Romans 5:8) Without having first been loved by Him in our old self, there would be no way for us to even fathom or practice what He teaches to bring Him glory presently renewed. Yet and by His grace alone, we can now do just that. So, what joy we can then find in bringing God glory by walking in love just as the Messiah did! :’)

 

 

Elizabeth Tan

25.05.22 STEP 2022

Adam Road Presbyterian Church