Deborah Kapp

January 16, 2018

Read again these familiar words from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. (I Cor. 13: 4-7 Common English Bible)

The love of which Paul speaks in this text is not a Valentine’s Day kind of love. It is neither romantic nor sentimental. Rather, this is the kind of love that gets an exhausted parent up in the middle of the night because a new baby needs to be fed – again. This is the kind of love that accompanies an adult on yet another trip to the nursing home to attend to whatever new problem her parent is facing. This is the kind of love that is shared when friends support each other through joys and sorrows, and when people go an extra mile or two on behalf of those who need help. This love is intentional and deliberate. This love serves others. This love prioritizes the well-being of other people and the larger communities in which they live.

The love of which Paul speaks recognizes that words as well as actions have power. This kind of love intentionally avoids being rude. It refrains from complaining or whining. It’s a love that filters its Facebook posts, or thinks twice about what it retweets. It is a love that avoids hurting or embarrassing other people.

This is the kind of love that Paul says Christians should embody. Today this sort of love and the behavior it encourages are disparaged as being “politically correct.” Nonsense. Kindness, patience, humility, human decency – these are not politically correct virtues. They are Christian virtues, which we share with people of other faiths, and they matter.

I’m not quite sure how fundamental Christian values got pushed to the side as they have been – I’m sure somebody is writing a book about it – but I am certain that they still matter, because they are the basic building blocks of vibrant community and well-lived lives. “Pursue love,” Paul writes. It’s good advice for us and for our communities.