Christ’s Restraining Love
12We’re not recommending ourselves to you again, but we’re giving you an excuse to boast about us again, so that you may have a response to those who boast in appearance and not in the heart. 13For if we are out of our minds, it’s for God, if we are wise, it’s for you. 14For the love of Christ keeps us on track, because we judge that one has died for all, therefore all have died. 15And one died for everyone, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but rather for the one who died and was raised. — 2 Corinthians 5:12-15 (TFBV)
Look at the CEV as well: 2 Corinthians 5:12-15 (CEV). (I’m going to make a practice of helping people practice what I preach. Due to copyright concerns on the amount of Bible that I quote online, I generally use my own translations for reference, and I post these in my totally free Bible version project. But it is a project not a translation, and is not even intended to replace any existing translations. What the project does is allow me to have all my working translations, going back more than 20 years, in one place, and to use them as placeholders for commentary. So to help people practice what I preach, I’m going to link to a favored translation on Bible Gateway as I’ve done above.)
Over on my Threads from Henry’s Web blog I’ve been discussing essentials of the Christian faith. In addition, in a discussion sparked for me, at least, by Peter Kirk (latest post and by lingamish (Is charismatic a slur?), we’ve been discussing “charismatics” and the gifts of the Spirit.
In looking at this short passage I’d like to tie these together just a bit. To me the gospel has a simple core, which is God’s presence in the world through Jesus Christ for the purpose of redeeming the world. That core can be expanded and discussed until the universe comes to an end and beyond, but the center remains simple. A good Christianity, then, is Christ centered, and a Christianity that is off-target is one that is no longer Christ-centered.
That’s Paul’s message here. I translated it, “The love of Christ keeps us on track.” The CEV has “We are ruled by Christ’s love for us.” In either case, Christ’s love is defining. Now go back one verse, where I translate “If we are out of our minds, it’s for God.” The CEV adds the word “seem” there, and I think there’s some justification. But the relationship is that anything that we do that might seem crazy is done in relationship to God. Christ’s love, which is God’s love manifested in Jesus the Christ, is what puts the restraint on it. That’s why in the second part of the verse Paul’s says that if we seem (or are) in our right minds, it’s for you.
The controlling factor is the love of Christ, shown to us, that “keeps us on track” or “rules us” and makes us keep our focus on the people we serve or to whom we minister.
Seemingly good theology, or seemingly good spiritual gifts, or anything “seemingly good” can be destructive. What constrains it (ASV), what “keeps it on track,” what “rules it,” is the love of Christ, specifically incarnational love.
I was visiting a United Methodist Church that had a history of being very charismatic. I was soon going to teach there, and I simply wanted to get a feel for the congregation. I was asked to talk about spiritual gifts in a Sunday School class. In that class was a couple who would not identify any spiritual gifts that they believed they had received. With very little encouragement others in the class commented on their service, their hospitality, their helping, and so forth. After the class they came to me in tears and said that they had felt like second class citizens because they did not speak in tongues. Nobody was telling them they had to, but there was an atmosphere that suggested that the really spiritual people spoke in tongues.
Now I don’t want anyone to be less joyful in the gifts that God has given you, but people in that church who were rejoicing in their own gifts were failing in the second half–being wise for the sake of others. The love of Christ keeps our practice of the gifts on track. It’s no accident that we see this command here, and it’s no accident that in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 is placed between 12 & 14. The love of Christ keeps us on track!
There is one more point I’d like to make from this passage. Paul doesn’t just refer to the death of Jesus, but also to his resurrection, the power of life that was in him. We can take the fruit of the Spirit as an ethical mandate, but as such it’s always going to seem a bit limp and ineffective. But when we empower the fruit, especially love, with the presence of the Holy Spirit manifested in the gifts of the Spirit, we will have ministry in power. Fruit alone, as a dry ethical mandate will be insufficient. Gifts alone will be powerfully dangerous. Gifts ruled by fruit are just powerfully good.
