If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Cor. 13:1
Today is Holy Monday and it is easy to feel an extraordinary pressure to get this week right. Your message has to be on point. Emotionally connecting, but not sloppy emotionalism. Thoughtful, but not dissertation strength. As one individual told me, “For you pastors Easter is the big show so there must be a lot of pressure to get it perfect.”
Yeah, that is kind of true. I want people to hear the message and chose to worship with us at other times of the year. I want a healthier bottom line so that we can continue to minister in the ways that we currently are and expand our reach to help others. Above all else I want people to experience Jesus, the risen Lord. All these things are good, but if I don’t have love then I am a noisy gong.
That is the warning I am hearing in my heart today. My intentions may be good, holy even, but if I don’t love you my neighbor, then I am as noisy as the hail that pelted our windows early this morning. If I don’t have love for you then I am adding noise to a sea of sound that is crashing over us daily.
Therefore, I ask you to please pray for the pastors, priests and teachers in your lives that they may love those they seek to teach. Pray that God will fill us with a kind of love that will shape the message and transform our tune as we seek to praise God this week together.
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 