Agape in Action: The Highest Love

     While some churches are focused on spiritual gifts, like healing, speaking in tongues and prophecy, there is one church that understands what Jesus was actually doing here on earth. Jesus tells us that the most important thing is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second most important thing is to love your neighbor as yourself. He explained that all of the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. These two commands are the foundation for all other religious laws and teachings. Jesus emphasized that the two most important commandments are linked, with love for God providing the basis for loving others. This dual focus ensures a life that is not only spiritually centered on God but also practically engaged with the world through love for others. Love is expressed in many ways, but the highest love is that which we give without the expectation of getting something in return.

     Paul established the Christian church in Corinth, Greece, about AD50. In Paul's first letter to that church, he was writing to address their disunity and misuse of spiritual gifts. Paul was trying to tell them that love is the most important quality and that all other actions, gifts, and abilities are meaningless without it. Just to be sure that the church understood what he was saying, he explicitly defines what love is. In chapter 13, he defines biblical love as patient, kind, and selfless, explaining that a community focused on love is more vital than one focused on the most impressive spiritual gifts. Paul defines love by its actions, stating that it is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, and not self-seeking, and that it builds up the community and its members.

     You only have to drop in at the small church located on Highway 32 and Hortontown Rd in Roper, North Carolina, to learn about and experience the love Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians. For over 150 years, Zion's Chapel Church of Christ has stood as a shining beacon of faith, love, and community. The Church of Christ movement emerged in the frontier regions of Kentucky around 1809. The movement was initially led by Presbyterian ministers Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell. The movement was part of a broader effort to unify what was considered the original New Testament church. Pastor Eddie Bowen and his wife, Cathy, came to North Carolina 24 years ago from the great state of Georgia, where he had served as a pastor for the previous 26 years. I was fortunate enough to attend Zion's Chapel Church of Christ's first annual Thanksgiving dinner last year and met many of the fine people in that congregation. The congregation usually numbers about 100 people, among them are Suzy Toy, her husband, Seth, and their six children.

     Suzy wanted to bring people together; she wanted to give anyone who had no place to go or anyone to be with a place to come, sit down with friends, and enjoy a fantastic traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Members of the church, led by Suzy, spent two days preparing the meal. They pitched in, man, woman, and child, to help Suzy realize this selfless act of love. On Thanksgiving Day, many people gathered in the church's dining hall. Members and their families were present, along with first-time visitors, all sharing a fantastic meal. You could see, as you looked around the room, that there was no such thing as a stranger at those tables.

     If you happen to be looking for a good church to bring your family to that is firmly grounded in the New Testament and is chock full of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet. I highly recommend you drop in to Zion's Chapel Church of Christ. One thing stood out as I enjoyed that fine meal on Thanksgiving Day: Zion's Chapel Church of Christ and its members, like Suzy Toy, have a firm grasp on the love that Paul addressed in his first letter to the Church in Corinth.