The Three Peaks of Evangelicalism
Mountain climbers often spend years dreaming about a summit. They train, prepare, and devote themselves to reaching the top because the peak becomes the goal. The evangelical church has its own mountains.
Different churches or individual christians spend their lives climbing different peaks. We look up at one summit and think, "If we can just get there, we'll become what God wants us to be." Or worse, we don't really care what God wants, we just use him as a cover to justify our own desires.
But in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that there is a mountain higher than all the others.
It is the mountain of love.
Peak One: Power
The first mountain is power.
These churches long to experience the power of God. They emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit, healing, prophecy, miracles, passionate worship, revival, and life-changing encounters with God. Others, like Faith on Hill, come from a heritage that emphasizes the sanctifying work of God’s holiness.
There is something beautiful about wanting God to move. It is a great thing and scripture encourages us to desire the gifts of the Spirit. The early church certainly did; why should we be any different?
But Paul gives a warning.
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
We can reach the summit of spiritual experience and still miss the heart of God.
Power without love is just noise. Holiness without love is the same dead religion that Jesus has set us free from!
Peak Two: Truth
The second mountain is truth.
These churches love theology. They study Scripture verse by verse. They defend sound doctrine. They want to know what God has said and refuse to compromise His Word.
That desire is good. We study the Bible verse by verse for the same reason. We strongly believe that Christians who know the Bible are needed in this cultural moment. But knowledge can become its own mountain to conquer.
Paul says,
"If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge... but do not have love, I am nothing."
It is possible to win every theological debate while losing the heart of Christ. Truth without love becomes pride. Or worse, in the name of truth, we replace solid theology with a preferred political paradigm or social construct and pass that off as Biblical truth. If we lack the love of God, how would we know the difference?
Peak Three: Service
The third mountain is service.
These churches are known for compassion, justice, generosity, outreach, and meeting practical needs. They feed the hungry, care for the poor, welcome the stranger, and serve their communities. Again, this is deeply biblical, rooted in Jesus and should be commended. Jesus calls His followers to love their neighbors in deed and not just words
Yet Paul gives another warning.
"If I give all I possess to the poor... but do not have love, I gain nothing."
Even sacrifice can become another summit we climb to prove something about ourselves.
Service without love eventually becomes self-serving.
The Mountain Above Every Mountain
None of these peaks are wrong.
We should seek the power of God.
We should pursue the truth of God.
We should serve people in the name of Jesus.
The problem comes when we mistake one of those mountains for the highest summit; the ultimate goal.
Love is not a fourth option alongside power, truth, and service.
Love is the mountain that rises above them all.
It gives meaning to every spiritual gift.
It gives purpose to every theological conviction.
It gives value to every act of service.
Without love, none of the other summits matter.
God Marks the Trail
One reason Christians become divided is because we often redefine love.Some use "love" to avoid difficult truth. Others use "truth" to excuse being unloving. Still others mistake activism for love when it is really driven by anger, pride, or self-interest. Instead, God tells us exactly what love looks like:
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
It does not envy.
It does not boast.
It is not proud.
It does not dishonor others.
It is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs.
It rejoices with the truth.
It always protects.
It always trusts.
It always hopes.
It always perseveres.
We do not get to draw our own map to the summit.
God has already marked the trail.
The Summit That Lasts Forever
One day the gifts of the Spirit will no longer be necessary.
One day our partial understanding will become complete.
One day the debates that divide Christians today will disappear because we will finally see Jesus face to face.
"Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
Power is for this age. Knowledge is for this age. Service belongs to this age.
Love belongs to eternity.
Climbing the Right Mountain
The church does not need less truth.
The church does not need less of the Holy Spirit.
The church does not need fewer people serving their neighbors.
We need to stop treating those mountains as the destination.
The summit God calls us to pursue is love.
When God's power is truly at work in us, it should produce greater love.
When God's truth shapes us, it should produce greater love.
When God's people serve the world, it should be motivated by greater love.
Every trail worth walking should eventually lead to the same summit.
The love of God.
Because when we finally reach that mountain, we'll discover it wasn't merely another peak among many.
It was always the highest one.
And unlike every other summit we climb in this life—
Love never fails.