We are engaged in a series dealing with the issue of how we can succeed as CEO of our lives. God has put us in charge of who we are and what we do. We can either succeed or fail at that responsibility. This series identifies 14 principles that, when applied, will produce success. We have already seen that success requires that we proactively manage every aspect of our life. What is the product that we are managing our life to produce? Scripture tells us that it is agape love. That is not emotional love but rather engaging our mind to identify how we can benefit others and then engaging our will to implement those plans. Today we are considering a third principle, which entails grasping the scope of the ways that we can produce agape.
We have been following Joe, who has just accepted the position as CEO of ABC Widget Company. Having assumed that responsibilities, Joe recognized that to succeed he must manage proactively and focus on the production and sales of widgets. Today we find him contemplating the scope of activities involved in meeting that objective.
As Joe tried to get his arms around the whole field of widget production, he realized that it encompassed more territory than he initially imagined. He thought about the various types of widgets and the prospects of developing new ones in the future. His mind also went to the broad range of equipment available for their production. He realized that he could produce them in-house or outsource part or all of their production. It also dawned on him that though some aspects of the operation, such as accounting, though not engaged directly in producing widgets, nonetheless comprised essential pieces of the process. Likewise, activities such as research and development and training new employees or current employees on new equipment did not directly produce widgets, but they were nonetheless indispensable for their production.
As Joe contemplated all these factors, he realized that producing widgets encompassed a broader scope than he had previously thought.
The Scope of Agape
Perhaps the most comprehensive command in all Scripture, the one encompassing the broadest scope, resides in the apostle Paul’s terse mandate “Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NASB) This command connotes that everything we do can and should be designed to produce agape, i.e. benefit others.
It is difficult to get our minds around the far-reaching implications of this verse. In fact, it is easy just to let it go over our heads, to view it as a great motto for a Hobby Lobby wall plaque, which it would be, without coming to grips with its immense implications for our lives and the overwhelming impact it would have if we applied it.
To enable us to envision the reach of this command, it is helpful to consider the two predominant forms in which we produce agape: 1) being the person God designed us to be; 2) doing the tasks God designed us to do. Those two aspects of our lives encompass virtually everything about us. If we would consistently display agape in both of these areas, we would be maintaining Paul’s mandate to reflect love through every aspect of our existence.
Being the Person God Designed Us to Be
We can provide great benefit to others merely by displaying loving personality traits. The Fruit of the Spirit described by the apostle Paul embodies those traits: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control….” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Since the word “fruit” related to the Fruit of the Spirit is singular, some Bible scholars have speculated that Paul is describing a singular, integrated commodity. Because the first characteristic on this list is love, agape, they have concluded that agape constitutes the singular fruit in view, and that the other eight aspects of this fruit comprise different expressions of agape. In other words, the Fruit of the Spirit is like an orange. Though it is one piece of fruit, as we remove the peel we discover that it is comprised of different segments. This seems to be a valid understanding of the Fruit of the Spirit, especially when we consider that the other eight characteristics comprise expressions of agape. For example, being patient is an expression of agape while impatience is selfish. Other New Testament passages describe additional personality traits that convey agape.
Persons abounding with the Fruit of the Spirit extend agape to virtually every life they touch. In a recent discussion with a friend from Alaska, he mentioned the tremendous difficulty people moving to that part of the world have in adjusting to the lack of sunshine during the dark months. Even those in Seattle tend to get depressed by the many overcast days. Likewise, human beings struggle in an environment devoid of the sunshine of agape. Being around impatient, ungracious people, individuals that fail to radiate the sunshine of the Fruit of the Spirit, can wear on and depress us, but interacting with people exuding a godly personality is encouraging and uplifting.
It may seem strange that joy is listed as an expression of agape. However, much time spent around a grumpy person quickly reveals the blessing of living in an environment abounding in joy. A joyful personality benefits all those coming in contact with it, lifting their spirits and brightening their day. The same might be said of peace. Interaction with an individual whose life is constantly in turmoil can be wearing, while a person who exudes tranquility produces an environment that reduces stress and promotes a sense of well-being.
Perhaps the display of the Fruit of the Spirit makes its greatest impact in the family setting. Within that venue it pours out many wonderful blessings. Living with a person overflowing with the Fruit of the Spirit makes marriage a joy and brings countless blessings to children.
The Fruit of the Spirit also provides a significant benefit through what it filters out. The presence of the Fruit of the Spirit eliminates qualities antithetical to it such as cursing, drunkenness, drugs, anger, infidelity, dishonesty, and selfishness. When people enter homes permeated with the Fruit of the Spirit, they can sense God’s love in the atmosphere.
The same benefits of agape exists everywhere the person projecting the Fruit of Spirit is present. Recently Jessica took a new job. When she entered the office she could feel the darkness. As she began to display the light, life, and love of Christ in that loveless and joyless place, the people working there noticed a difference in the entire atmosphere. Even believers who had allowed the darkness to suppress their light started to come out of the shadows and began to shine. Though the environment in this office continues to be a work in progress, the agape emanating from Jessica is transforming this workplace.
Though current laws and policies in public schools and universities restrict Christian teachers from overt ministry, their display of the Fruit of the Spirit makes all the difference in the classroom, the faculty lounge, and on campus. Likewise, Christian politicians that carry the Fruit of the Spirit into government can exercise a transforming influence on society through honesty, faithfulness to their oath of office, diligence in meeting responsibilities, and kindness—all means of disseminating agape. Likewise, most venues in our society prohibit an overt Christian witness, but believers can make God’s presence known by exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit.
Because of this prohibition of overt ministry in many places, infusing agape into them through the Fruit of the Spirit has become all the more important. Christians manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit throughout our society prevent it from deteriorating into a banana republic, instead promoting an environment characterized by integrity, decency, honesty, fidelity, and other virtues.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, commands us to function as salt, preserving our arena of existence from decay. Integrity, kindness, and genuine concern for others are becoming scarce commodities in contemporary American society, making the contribution of believers in secular settings all the more valuable. Consequently, it is important that we produce significant quantities of agape by radiating the Fruit of the Spirit in our spheres of influence.
Those arenas often comprise venues where others cannot go, thus providing unique opportunities to spread agape. For example, Christians working in ambulances and operating rooms, courtrooms and prisons, large corporations and the news and entertainment industry, are uniquely situated to display agape through disseminating the Fruit of the Spirit, venues where it is desperately needed. Merely being the person God designed us to be represents a potent expression of agape that adds significant profit to our bottom line as CEO of Agape Inc.
Frequently we display the Fruit of the Spirit through what we might label as micro-expressions of agape, even though they can have a macro-sized impact. We can convey agape with our tone of voice, choice of words, attitude, body language, facial expression, and other aspects of our personalities.
Dr. Jerome Motto told the story of a man living in the San Francisco area who left his apartment one evening, walked to the Golden Gate Bridge, climbed over the four-foot guardrail, and plunged to his death in the waters 220 feet below. Dr. Motto reported,
I went to this guy’s apartment afterward with the assistant medical examiner… The guy was in his thirties, lived alone, pretty bare apartment. He’d written a note and left it on his bureau. It said, “I’m going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump.”[i]
We live in a society that is becoming increasingly devoid of these micro-expressions of agape. The good news is that we can have a transforming effect in a world transfixed on microaggressions by flooding it with micro-expressions of agape.
We have been discussing displaying agape by being the person God designed to be. The next article will cover producing agape through accomplishing the things God designed us to achieve.
[i] http://lemonsmile.tumblr.com