The Greatest of These – Part 2d: Love Does Not Parade Itself
I Corinthians 13:4
In our previous segment, we noted that St. Paul turns to an apophatic approach to present the qualities of Christian love. You will recall that he utilizes the negative (what it is not) to describe what it is. So, he writes, “(Love) does not parade itself”.
We may find it interesting that the more recent versions of the New Testament employ the above term, “parade itself” while the older versions chose “brag or vaunt itself”. I am not aware of any other occurrence of the word “parade” in the Scriptures. However, some translators must deem this more contemporary word to be more understandable than the traditional “brag” or old English “vaunt”. To be sure, all three serve the same meaning. (I’ll likely use “brag” or “boast” in this article … maybe because they are shorter and I am certainly more traditional than contemporary!)
The general line of thought here is a vain attitude, speech or action which is quite without merit. One brags or boasts, but with little or nothing behind it. He really has no basis for his self-perceived glory. This, then, stirs up ill feelings and strife as others around him recognize the vanity.
St. Paul used the Greek word, “perperuomai” which is derived from a word for “vainglorious, braggart”. The only occurrence of this word in the New Testament is here in I Corinthians 13:4. So, we must resort to similar terms which can be found in the Epistles to enlighten our thinking. As promised in earlier posts, I will not burden you with a load of those Greek terms.
But first, let us be reminded of the example set by our Lord Jesus. Time and again, throughout His three-year earthly ministry, He tried to avoid the accolades of the crowds who followed Him and cherished His teachings. He would often slip away to a waiting boat or disappear to a secluded mountain hideaway. Frequently, when He had performed a miracle or a work of healing, He would exhort those present, “Tell no one”. No, Jesus never paraded Himself nor bragged about His works.
While many examples of bragging/boasting and its effects may be found throughout the Scriptures, our thoughts may be soberly quickened by means of a few in the Old Testament.
Sennacherib was the king of Assyria about 700 B.C. His armies had conquered Israel (Northern Kingdom) and were marching toward a conquest of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and Jerusalem, where Hezekiah was king. He sent messengers to Hezekiah to dissuade him from resisting. Sennacherib boasted, “Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria … who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (II Kings 18:33-35).
Hezekiah was a godly king and turned to the Lord in prayer. Likewise, the prophet Isaiah confirmed that God had heard. So, through the prophecy of Isaiah and the prayers of Hezekiah, “it came to pass on a certain night that the Angel of the Lord went and killed, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred and eighty-five thousand men … so Sennacherib departed and returned to Ninevah” (II Kings 20: 35,36).
In the familiar account of the battle between Goliath and David (I Samuel 17:37-51), Goliath boastfully mocked David for coming to him with sticks and stones. “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field” (vs. 44), bragging of his superior strength and weapons. David, however, fearlessly and boldly came in the name of the Lord saying, “the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (vs.47). We all know how that story ended!
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a golden image of himself (90 ft. high and 9 ft. wide) erected in the public square and commanded that everyone should fall down and worship it at designated times. This monument clearly demonstrated the boasting of his power, authority, and self-esteem. When the three youths from Israel refused to comply with his command, Nebuchadnezzar paraded himself before them saying, “And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” (Daniel 3:15). Most of you will recall that the remainder of that story is a fascinating drama of humiliation, repentance, and restoration. The love for God of those three youths ultimately brought the high-minded braggart to his knees before the loving God.
Turning to the New Testament, the authors of the Epistles confirm that the practice of parading oneself is most certainly improper for a Christian and should be resisted at every turn:
“But he who glories (boasts), let him glory in the Lord. For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends” (II Corinthians 10:17,18).
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
“But God forbid that I should glory (boast, brag) except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ …“ (Galatians 6:14).
“But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:16).
Perhaps one of the most memorable lessons in the peril of bragging comes in our Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the Temple (Luke18:9-14). The Pharisee clearly paraded himself before God, telling Him how he was so superior to “those others”. He left that place, Jesus said, without being justified – essentially being ignored by God. Meanwhile, the tax collector, conscious of his sins and shortcomings, had nothing about which to brag – “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (vs. 13).
Certainly, when we stop to think about it, we all realize that any bragging/ boasting is harmful to our souls and damages any meaningful relationships with relatives and friends. Therefore, with some self-examination and appealing for God’s help, we must take up arms against this enemy of our souls. May we offer a few tactics which could prove useful in the battle:
- Remember to control our thinking – “For I say …. to everyone … not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think …” (Romans 12:3). We all have our faults.
- Remember the accomplishments of others -There are many who have greater talents, virtues, accomplishments, etc. than ourselves.
- Remember how God has given – “What do you have that you did not receive (from God)?” (I Corinthians 4:7). Our very lives and all we can do are gifts from God.
- Remember the results of bragging – “Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain” (Proverbs 24:14). Bragging never produces anything positive.
- Remember that God will respond – “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Because He loves us, He will bring us down from our self-made throne to our right senses in some way or another.
- Remember others around us – Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Being truly caring of others will help us keep our lives in perspective.
Surely, all of us know we have been undeservedly blessed by our gracious God. Let us not show ourselves ungrateful by bragging, boasting, parading ourselves and not allowing the love of God to radiate from us.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).
God be with you all,
Fr. Andrew
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