The Law of Love

I have to tell you what happened within me in that intensive period of reading. It was not very good. I began to feel so good about myself in comparison to all that stuff. And I had to stop and face my own narcissism and the ugliness. Somehow I have a need to capitalize on that mixture of truth and untruth, someone else's failure. I got my momentary fix of self-righteousness. And then the Holy Spirit brought this phrase to my mind, "But for the grace of God, there goes you, John!"

Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of how often I have said to you, "The ground is level at the foot of the Cross." Who am I to climb onto the body of a broken brother in Christ, using him as a pedestal for my own malignant, legalistic self-righteousness?

Fifth, the law of love supports God's leaders.

Paul writes: "Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor" (Galatians 6:6).

Frankly, I was puzzled by these words. What in the world is Paul trying to say here?

Then I read the commentaries and realized that Paul was saying the Christian preacher and teacher should receive remuneration for the work which he or she does. Paul himself was able to say this without being accused of being self-serving because he himself was a tentmaker, to some extent supporting his own ministry by secular employment. At the same time, he knew that not all pastors and teachers could do that, and even he himself was so grateful for the generosity of some of the churches who gave their tithes and offerings to help him in his work of evangelism, church planting and teaching.

Jesus addressed this issue when he appointed the 72 to go out, two by two into the harvest, which was plentiful but where the workers were few. He told them to not take a purse, a bag or sandals but to depend on those to whom you minister to support. " . . . for the worker deserves his wages" (Luke 10:7). There is a dynamic, a reciprocity, here. It is not designed to just meet the needs of pastors, teachers and missionaries, but to underline the fact that the giver who supports those in the full-time service of Jesus Christ also receives a blessing in the very process, bringing the tithes and offerings to support God's enterprise at home and world missions.

Sixth, the law of love understands "God's payday is not always Friday."

Paul writes: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:7-10).

Paul is describing the "agriculture of the soul."

It's another way of saying what he said at the end of chapter five. He contrasted the acts of the sinful nature versus the fruit of the spirit. If you and I sow to please our sinful nature, we may, for a while, enjoy the "pleasures" of sin. But the day will come when we pay the piper.

We may sow to please the Holy Spirit. The germination process may take time, and we will see all those people who seem to be having "one helluva good time." And we wonder what we are missing. Paul is saying, in due time, we will begin to see the harvest. Just don't give up too soon.

The psalmist captures this agriculture of the soul hundreds of years before Paul when, under the Holy Spirit, he wrote:

Those who sow in tears

will reap with songs of joy.

He who goes out weeping,

carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with him.

(Psalms 126:5-6)

My Dad, a venerable servant of the Lord, now locked in by dementia, is reaping the harvest of the good seed that he sowed. The longer I am in ministry, the more I am nurtured by the good seed he and his colleagues sowed. One of his great statements was, "God's payday is not always Friday."

Some of us get so anxious, and we get so impatient. We want everything now. We get so weary in well-doing. Paul says, "Don't give up. Do good to all people, especially to your fellow believers, and, in the process, fulfill the Law of Love!"