5 – 1 = 0
At first glance it looks like a mistake but it is not. Divine mathematics turn what seems obvious upside down. The things we think are right don’t always work the way we may think. We all know the basics, that 1 + 1 = 2. But when it comes to God’s economy 5 – 1 = 0, and it is all about the love.
In Alexander Strauch’s book Leading with Love, he makes this most important point in the first chapter by turning our attention to 1 Corinthians 13, which is commonly know as the love chapter.
We see from the outset of this chapter that we can have amazing gifts and talents but if we don’t have love it means nothing, zero, it just does not matter.
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.
Do we lead with love or is love simply an “add on” idea to our list of other Christian priorities? Love should be the primary leadership idea and the foundation of all we do but it is often left out of most leadership books. There are references to caring and encouraging for people, but love is typically never the primary focal point in leadership. The Scriptures turn this idea upside down and promote the exact opposite thought. Love is most important.
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
- We can have the spiritual gift to speak in other languages and even the language of heavenly angels, but if we don’t have love it is simply an annoyance.
- We can be the most prolific prophet in history, but without love we are nothing.
- If we have absolute understanding and knowledge of all there is in the universe and don’t have love, well, again, we are nothing.
- What if my faith is powerful enough to actually move a mountain? Without love it is not even a good magic trick because Scripture tells us that it amounts to nothing.
- Yes, even the act that looks so loving by giving everything away. This too amounts to nothing without love.
5 – 1 = 0
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This does not mean that all of our God given gifts don’t matter because they most certainly do. It just means that the imperative is that they are bathed, covered, demonstrated, and live out in love.
