1 Cor. 13:13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I have a friend with whom I used to have vigorous debates about ethics.  "What should one do in this situation in order to best honor God?"  He used to say that "in all circumstances, the ultimate ethic is love."   I'm continously reminded of that phrase as I've been studying and thinking about authentic community.  What does it mean for the church to live with the interdependence, sacrifice, and devotion that characterized the early church?

"Authenticity" is a popular theme these days. Perhaps because we are reacting against the lack of honest self-disclosure in the 21st century church.   According to Webster, Authenticity is "being what it claims."  To live in authentic community, is to be honest with the community about our problems, questions and sins.  It's attempting to "be what we claim."   This is healthy and good.

The concept of "transparency" is related to authenticity.   To be transparent is "to show oneself." Self-disclosure is also healthy and good, to the extent that it leads to authentic community.   However, there are situations in which transparency might limit authentic community.  For instance, suppose that out of your deep desire to be transparent with your spouse, you confess that your mind wandered toward romantic thoughts with someone else.   Maybe, out of your honest self-disclosure, you decide to even name the person about whom you had these thoughts.  Or suppose that you have deep frustration with your supervisor at work, so out of your desire for transparency, you decide to speak with the CEO about her, without first discussing the issue with her directly. 

In each of these scenarios, you could argue that you were being "transparent."  But as I study the scriptures, I'm beginning to agree with my friend.  There is a higher ethic, especially among a community of believers.  That ethic is love.  Above all else, the goal is love.   So, while asking ourselves the question about what is right to say and do, we should always filter it with "what is the most loving thing to do."  While striving towards self-disclosure and transparency in our goal of authentic community, love is always the filter.  Love trumps Transparency.

Col. 3:12-14 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.