An Attractive Church

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up." - 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV)

We almost always share 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. While it fits there, it is far more applicable to the local church and to each of us as believers living out our faith in community with each other.

Paul makes it clear in that chapter that without love, no matter what else we bring to the table, we are absolutely nothing. We can know everything there is to know theologically. We can speak prophetically, have the gift of faith, and even give sacrificially of ourselves. However, without love, we are a zero. Nothing. Then he begins to describe what this love actually looks like in the real world. I have always enjoyed reading this out of the Amplified Bible:

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (AMP)
4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]...

Romans 5:5 tells us this love, God's love, has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This love already exists in your heart as a believer. It is not something you have to manufacture. It is something the Spirit has already placed there, and now it needs to be expressed.

Love suffers long and is kind. Love has a long fuse. It can bear up under a load. It has endurance as it moves forward. God's love in our hearts allows us not to be on edge all the time, and not to get offended over everything that is said or done. When difficulties and crises come, God's love allows us to turn the other cheek, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to stay in the fight instead of walking away the first time things get hard.

Is that evident in your life? Is it evident in your church?

Here is why this matters. In Churchless, George Barna and David Kinnaman report that about 33% of American adults are what researchers call 'de-churched'. They once said "yes" to Jesus but are now on the sidelines. A lot of them did not leave over doctrine. They left because they got hurt. Someone may have been unkind to them. Someone may not have shown the love of Christ to them. Barna and Kinnaman total the de-churched believers in America at around 18 million.

Many of them would come back to church if they knew they would be welcomed and loved. A church with members who are loving the way Christ loves is one where people can give each other room to be human, room to fail, and room to grow. That kind of church is attractive to a hurting world.  

We will be that kind of loving church collectively when we, ourselves, are individually loving -  looking more and more like Jesus. God's Word says that love is already there. God put it in you by His Holy Spirit. The question is whether you are going to let it show.

One idea: If you struggle to exhibit the characteristics of God's love, read aloud 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (Amplified) every morning or night. Afterward, thank the Lord that He has placed this love inside of you, according to Romans 5:5. Ask Him to help you express His love in greater ways.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. I know how patient You have had to be with my shortcomings. Help me extend that same love to the people around me. Let the love You have already placed in me flow freely. I want to be someone who gives people room to be human, room to fail, and room to grow. Help me make my church more loving and more attractive for others to come to. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Check out: "What Makes a Great Church" (Ephesians 4:1-3): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/hkkjzjx/13-what-makes-a-great-church-eph-4-1-3