And so “where two or three are gathered” and their loves are out of order, there begins the breakdown of the body of believers.  This disordered love leads to a real problem that could have catastrophic results.  Let’s call this malfunction.

Malfunction in a community or relationship is not necessarily the only cause of a problem, though.  There is also basic wear and tear.  The simple fact is that things used often wear down.  Things get torn down bit by bit by use.  That’s actually to be expected.  Wear and tear are signs that things are happening.  And the response one should have to wear and tear is prayer for renewal.  Wear and tear is an opportunity for rest and recreation.

The best response to disordered loves is repentance (see the messages of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus found in Revelation).  Repentance in organizations and systems can be hard to come by because of they are often more “progressive” in nature: mistakes are just part of a “learning curve.”  But the call to repentance remains.  If we cannot be called back to the better and right way of relating and growing together, we will find ourselves in a system that no longer works.  The soda machine no longer takes your money.  The snack machine no longer lets you choose the option you most want.  The copying machine doesn’t staple correctly.  The speaker system has a reverb in it.  And no matter how many times you put in the flat dollar, the correct change, the right instructions, the thing you most want to happen can’t or won’t.  Then frustration begets frustration.  Negativity spreads.  Expectations sour.  Going back to Paul, here there is no unity, no fulness, no being held together.  Here there is nit-picking and childishness and a dozen things daily to keep us from doing what needs to be done in order to be what we were made for.  And unless the malfunction is not met with repentance, something worse is on the way.  We’ll get to the third and final level of the breakdown tomorrow.