Cross Training
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI
February 1, 2009
Series: The Church in Crisis
The seminary environment is one that fosters discussion as part of the learning process. Part of the reason I recall my seminary days with such fondness is in large part due to the lively discourse we had over points of doctrine and practice. But there is one debate I remember better than all the others I was involved in - I think it was during North American missions. The topic was alcohol – really it was about worldly amusements, but at this point in the discussion we had zeroed in on alcohol.
Now before we get too much further, you should know that my seminary class was for predominantly Canadian and Canada has a very different view on alcohol than does the United States. Canada’s view of adult beverages is very similar to Europe’s, so there is little stigma attached to it. For some of my Canadian brethren, the beer after work was sacrosanct – it was unthinkable to them that any home should be “beerless.”
Another thing you should know is that I grew up predominantly in the southern United States. In the South, church folk don’t drink; pastors, especially do not drink. For a pastor to be caught drinking even socially compromised his ability to speak truth to others. The casual beer seen in the hand of a pastor was cause to question his character, to question whether or not the pastor could be trusted to handle the Word of God correctly.
As the discussion turned to whether or not alcohol should be found in the home of a pastor, the Canadian’s all agreed that it was fine. What the Bible prohibits is the excessive use of alcohol; not the moderate consumption. There are even health benefits to using alcohol in moderation, so it should be perfectly acceptable for the pastor to have beer in the house.
I knew the minute I opened my mouth I was going to be shouted down – I knew I would meet stiff resistance, but what was being said needed to be challenged. The position my brethren were taking, while technically correct – the question of morality hinged upon how one uses alcohol, not whether one uses it or not. So while their answer was technically correct, it was biblically wrong.
Now, I know that sounds a little odd – how can something be technically correct but biblically wrong? Well, this is exactly the kind of scenario that Paul was addressing in our text for today – really our texts for both this week and last week.
Like me, you have probably heard a number of sermons on this passage – messages about how to evangelize and how to persevere in the faith. I became all things to all people that I might win some…. Run in such a way as to win the prize…. With phrases like these, it is easy to see how we can come up with the themes of evangelism and perseverance. But one thing troubles me – these two verses are right next to one another and are part of a larger argument that Paul is making. So how is it that we get two very different messages from texts so close to one another? Shouldn’t they have something to do with one another, especially since they are part of the same argument?
As is so often the case when this sort of thing happens, the reason two texts that are so close in proximity can have messages that seem to have little to do with one another is because the context for the passage is ignored. There are few things as important for understanding God’s Word as keeping things in context. In other words, don’t tease out isolated blocks of text for dissection; always take the time to read a chapter or two before the passage and don’t stop until you get to the next natural break after the text. Try to get the whole story so that you can better understand the particulars.
When you get right down to it, chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians is really a continuation of Paul’s discussion on eating meat sacrificed to idols, which we talked about last week, so it behooves us to recall chapter 8.
You will remember from last week that Paul was dealing with a question the Corinthians asked about meat sacrificed to idols. There were those in the Corinthian church who saw no problem with eating meat that had been dedicated to an idol of Apollo or Aphrodite or whatever god the locals worshipped. Since, the Corinthians argued, we know the truth that there is only one God, meat sacrificed at the altar of a false god was okay to eat because the idol wasn’t really a god. Christians, they said, are free of such superstitions.
Now, while Paul agreed that was true he also said that just because something was technically correct, that didn’t make it right – there were other considerations, he argued. Just because we are free to do something doesn’t necessarily mean that we should.
Can I just say that 1 Corinthians 8 should be required reading in America today? When Rachel and I were buying our home, the banking agent handling our mortgage wondered why we weren’t taking out a larger loan. “You qualify for a lot more,” he said. We could have gotten more house with a larger mortgage, but the payment would have cash-strapped us every month and we likely would have been one of those whose homes were lost in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The reality is many of the homes lost were due to people biting off more than they could chew – for maxing out on what they could borrow, just because they could.
So what should govern our choices then, if not the freedom to do something? Paul says, let love be your guide. Paul argued that even though eating meat sacrificed to idols was not technically a sin, the Corinthians who ate the meat still sinned because they offended the consciences of other believers who still struggled with seeing the idols as gods. They caused those who had less knowledge and weaker faith to sin against their own conscience by leading them to join in the practice. In other words, they were not loving their neighbors as themselves. Instead, they were asserting their own rights, claiming a superior knowledge and more profound spirituality as a justification.
But if you remember the text of chapter 8, you’ll recall that toward the end of the chapter Paul makes this incredible statement – he says that if what he eats causes his brother to stumble, he’ll stop eating meat. Think about that a moment. Essentially Paul is saying, if my lifestyle causes a brother or sister in Christ to stumble – leads them into violating their conscience because they are following my example, I will change the way I live. In a very real sense Paul is saying, “I will put to death anything in my life that violates another’s conscience.” In other words, he’ll sacrifice the life he lives so that he doesn’t hinder another’s growth in faith and Jesus Christ.
Now, that’s a remarkable statement, one that reflects the sort of selfless, self-giving attitude that Jesus preached and demonstrated through his own life and sacrifice. But Paul wants to make sure that the Corinthians get it, so he provides them an illustration in chapter 9.
Paul begins his illustration by reminding the Corinthians that he, too, is free; he has rights he can assert, things he can do that are technically correct. For instance, as an apostle, he has a right to earn a living from his preaching. It would be proper for him to accept money from those who benefit from his preaching. But did he do that? No! Instead, he supported himself through a trade so that his motivation for preaching the Gospel could not be questioned. He gives up his right to compensation to remove any barriers to the message of salvation. In other words, he surrenders what is technically his right to expect as an act of love for his neighbor.
It is in this context that Paul says,
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Do you get Paul’s argument? It all hinges on how he became a slave – on how became all things to all men. When Paul says he became all things to all men, he’s not saying that he became like them in every sense of the word. What he is saying is where he need not give offense, he didn’t. In other words, where the Gospel permitted, he willingly surrendered his own rights so as not to put any barriers up to the Gospel. For example, while among the Gentiles Paul may have eaten meat that was considered unclean according to Mosaic Law – like pork, maybe. But when he went among his Jewish friends, he knew that this was a stumbling block, so he observed the dietary laws of the Jews so that his opportunity to preach the Gospel to them would not be compromised.
Paul becomes a slave to all men in the sense that he was willing to subject his own choices – to subject his freedom to legitimately enjoy something – to the weaknesses of others. If something Paul was doing would cause another to miss the message of the Gospel because they were stewing over him exercising his freedom, Paul would rather deny himself the freedom. That’s what he means when he says, “I have become all things to all people….”
This is important to grasp because of the age we live. Many in the church today want the church to accommodate itself to the culture, believing that is the way to reach the lost. They want the church to look more like the world around her and they use this verse as the justification for such action. But the reality is, Paul is not calling the church to take on the vestments of the world in order to sucker them into listening to our message – that’s not love, it’s manipulation. What Paul is calling for is for the church to be so loving that it willingly surrenders even freedoms that are precious in order to show its sincerity in preaching the Gospel. For instance, let’s say that we have a family that joins the church who believe Christians should not eat pork of any kind. They don’t force their convictions on anyone else, but believe that certain dietary laws should be followed. Would it be loving to serve ham at our fellowship dinners? No, because our freedom to have ham then becomes a barrier to the Gospel proclamation in this church for that family. Better to serve a pot roast or fish so that no barrier is raised, that would be the loving thing to do.
But as Woody Allen said in his defense after leaving his wife for the teenage daughter they adopted, “The heart wants what it wants.” And you see, that really is the dilemma that Paul is dealing with here. The Corinthians were technically doing everything right – they were within their rights. But the problem was they were doing everything out of self-love, not selfless love. They were focused on what was right for them, for their growth, for their well-being, not their brothers and sisters in the faith. They were exalting themselves above their brethren on the basis of a higher knowledge – what they termed gnosis – and the end result was division in the Body of Christ and leading those who were weaker in faith into sin.
But Chris, you say, we’re totally depraved – of course we are going to be selfish. How can we keep from doing something that we’re hardwired to do? Well, fortunately for us, God, through the Apostle Paul anticipated our question.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul says the answer to our dilemma is self-discipline. Like the athlete who prepares for an event by training his body to respond to the rigors of competition, we are to train our hearts and mind to respond lovingly – to be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes for the sake of the Gospel. We’re to train our hearts to prefer eternal life for others before ease of life for ourselves. We’re to train our desires to mirror God’s desires, so that we put a priority on others and are willing to suffer in order to see them come to Christ.
I don’t just suffer for sufferings sake, Paul says – I don’t run aimlessly. There is a goal in mind, a prize I am after. I don’t box at shadows, wasting my time and energy, instead I focus, disciplining my desires so that they do not hinder my witness to the Gospel. As Paul says in the letter to the Philippians, he works out his salvation with fear and trembling, conforming the way he thinks and acts to reflect the attitude and life of Jesus, the Savior.
Where does this discipline come from? Well, it begins by getting the goal firmly fixed in our minds. It begins with us making the salvation and growth in grace of those around us a priority. When our goal is redemption – not how many notches we get in our belt or how much our church grows – but redemption, we then have the foundation for the kind of discipline that can reshape our desires.
But discipline is more than a goal – that’s just the starting point. Discipline only comes from repeated, monotonous, hard-headed practice and exercise. The military understands this. In the Navy, we constantly ran disaster drills – why? For something to do so that the crew didn’t get bored? Didn’t we know our jobs and responsibilities? Of course we did! But by constantly training and doing drills, when a real disaster happened, we responded quickly, without fear because our responsibilities were now our trained reactions – like instinct. No one had to tell us what to do – we could do it without thinking.
That kind of discipline only comes from training over and over again. For the Christian that means reading the Scriptures daily, over and over again. It means immersing ourselves in the thoughts of God by constantly exposing ourselves in the Scriptures. If you need variety, read the confessions and test them against the Scriptures, make sure they are true.
Use the discipline of prayer to open yourself up to the leading of the Holy Spirit – become familiar with his voice. Don’t be afraid to try fasting – self-denial for the sake spending time with God in study and prayer is time-honored Christian practice. Force yourself into situations where you have to think of others by serving others. These are all disciplines which train us – will reform our desires – to be more Christ-like.
In our discussion on alcohol in the seminary class, I argued that for a pastor to have beer in his possession would compromise his ability to preach. Why? Because alcohol in itself is evil? No. But enough people in the South consider it a sign of moral deficiency that it would rob the pastor of all credibility. Sadly, at least during that discussion, my brethren argued that they were free to have beer in the fridge. Free, yes – but is that the loving thing to do? They were technically correct, but biblically wrong.
