I hope that everyone’s year has started off in the right direction. One of the best pathways to take into the New Year is looking at everything through the eyes of God. It would certainly change our attitudes and our perspective on life. If our perspective was focused more on “We” instead of “Me”, this world would be a better place.
If we were all honest, we would probably have to admit that we are all guilty of reading a text while we're driving. We see it all the time. People are swerving from their lane into our lane and almost hitting other cars. It can be a serious situation.
The way we live can also impact those around us. What if we could live our lives in such a way that we couldn't merge into other lanes, causing issues for those around us? What if we lived in such a way that we always stayed in our lane, and in doing so, we allow those around us to reach their destination without our interference.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this telling us how we can live in this way. It is a much better way to live, and it will lead us to support others and honor Christ at the same time. Today our text will come from 1st Corinthians chapter 10. PRAYER
As children of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have many freedoms. As Christians, we should never take these freedoms for granted, but it's not always the best thing for us to exercise our rights either. This was what concerned the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the believers in Corinth. The people had written to him about a particular issue. The issue was whether it was acceptable to eat leftover food that had been offered to pagan gods. Paul offered some wise, practical instruction regarding the believer's rights and freedoms.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 – ““Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. 24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.”
As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he used language they were familiar with. “Everything is permissible” was something the people would have heard on the streets of Corinth. Corinth was set in Greece, and as an important port city, it was a gateway for many people, many viewpoints, and many sinful activities. Everything was acceptable for this city. The attitude of the people was that they could do anything because it was available.
Paul acknowledged that, yes, they had access to everything, but not everything would help them live life. The same is true for us. Some of the things that are accessible to us are not going to bring us life. Instead, they may lead to bondage instead of freedom.
Paul continues and says that “not everything is beneficial” or “builds up.” For instance, I can choose to drink sugary soft drinks with every meal. In fact, I can drink them whenever I want. Yet, if this becomes an ongoing pattern, I will gain weight, have a heart issues, and experience other negative effects to my health. Soft drinks are allowed - they are permissible. But they are not in my best interest - they are not beneficial. I hope that makes sense.
Most all of us are prone to think of ourselves first and others second. Paul reminded the church that the kingdom of God is different than the kingdom of this world. In God's kingdom, we think of others above ourselves. That is not normal for us. We want to be first. We want our own way, yet Paul called for us to humble ourselves and allow the focus to be on we, not me.
So the Bible is calling us to see things through a new lens. It's as if we have been viewing the world with less than perfect vision.
Most of you know that my vision is a long way from being perfect. My vision is so bad that it cannot be corrected with glasses. I have to be fitted with specialized contact lenses in order to see more clearly. If I take my contacts out, I am pretty much legally blind. But when I put my contacts in, it corrects my focus and I begin to see more clearly. My focus immediately changes.
In the same way, when we put on the glasses of the kingdom of god, our focus changes. By this I mean, that sometimes good is not simply saying no to sinful things. Yes, that's important, but we also might need to say no to some good things in order to say yes to something better. Like helping our brothers and sisters in Christ.
When we put others before ourselves, we might set aside our rights - that which is permissible - for the sake of others. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we abandon our earthly standard for a new kingdom normal.
1 Corinthians 10:25-30 – “Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience.
**********28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?”
This passage can be a little confusing at first. Let me see if I can explain it. The Jews among the Corinthian believers were familiar with the restrictions the law placed on them regarding what they could or couldn't eat. However, because of the new covenant in Jesus Christ, those restrictions no longer applied, and they were free to eat everything that is sold in the meat market. This was a big deal for those that were brought up in the Jewish tradition that separated clean food from unclean food.
So Paul now takes this freedom and places it in the context of a dinner invitation. If an unbeliever invited you to his home for dinner, it was okay to go and to eat the food that was prepared. However, if someone said that the food was part of a sacrifice, the scenario changed.
Nothing was wrong with the food itself, but the believer should still abstain for the sake of the other person's conscience. Someone might argue that the Christian could set the record straight by eating the meat anyway, proving it was just meat. But by doing so, the Christian might be sending the message that idolatry is okay. Or the unbeliever, assuming Christians don't eat such meat, would view the believer as being a hypocrite, which would cause a barrier for the unbeliever coming to Christ.
Now remember that Paul had just said “everything is permissible.” But in his discussion of whether believers should eat food sacrificed to a pagan god, he encouraged the believer to abstain eating it to avoid misleading or offending the other person. Even though believers had the freedom to eat any meat, Paul was saying that for the sake of the non-believers, eating the meal could cause confusion for the unbelievers. What does this mean to us?
We may need to set aside some of our freedoms to avoid being a stumbling block to someone else. We may have a right to eat, but we also have a responsibility to love and support the other person. Our actions can make or break the growth of a new believer or the progress of someone coming to Christ. If we are thinking about the other person before ourselves, our focus turns to how we can help this person in his or her Christian walk.
Let me give you an example. I had a pastor friend that has gone on to be with the Lord now, that had some hunting friends that he would go deer hunting with every year. His friends would sit around and drink beer while they were there. My pastor friend was still their friend but refused to drink beer himself. He said that even though they saw nothing wrong with drinking beer, if he drank one in front of them it would be a stumbling block for them coming to Christ. They might look at him as being hypocritical - preaching one thing and doing another. Do you see what I mean?
Choices are not always about good or evil but about what is best. When we are fixing our eyes on Jesus, remembering what is best for her brother or sister, and being guided by the Holy Spirit, we'll take steps according to that roadmap. We won’t offend unnecessarily, we will reflect the love of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
The story is told of a man who was taking a walk when he came across a stone quarry in which a number of men were working. He questioned several of them about what they were doing. The first replied irritably, ‘Can’t you see? I’m hewing a stone.’ The second answered without looking up, ‘I’m earning $100 a week.’ But when the same question was put to the third man, he stopped, put his pick down, stood up, stuck out his chest and said, ‘If you want to know what I’m doing, I’m building a cathedral.’
So, it is a matter of how far we can see. The first man could not see beyond his pick, and the second beyond his Friday pay check. But the third man looked beyond his tools and his wages to the ultimate end he was serving. He was co-operating with the architect. However small his particular contribution, he was helping to construct a building for the worship of God.
Work is worship, provided that we can see how our job contributes, in however small and indirect a way, to the forwarding of God’s purpose for mankind. Then whatever we do can be done for the glory of God
See if you agree with me. Many people live segmented lives. We live one way at work, one way at home, one way in traffic, and one way around our Christian friends. How we live in each of these settings is not necessarily bad, but Paul's words call us to live in these different settings of life with the same mindset: our lives at home are for the glory of God. How we carry out our work is for the glory of God. How we respond to traffic is for the glory of God. Whatever has our attention and focus at the moment is to be seen through the lens of the kingdom of God. So, in everything you do, do it all, so that the end result is for the glory of God. I can testify to you today that if we lived in this way this world would be a much better place.
1 Corinthians 10:32-33 – “Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.”
What Paul had been saying to the church in Corinth can be summarized with this: do what gives a witness for Christ. He encouraged the church at Corinth and the church today to allow every aspect of our lives to honor and glorify Jesus.
And isn't that what we, as Christians, should be doing? Shouldn't we take every opportunity to point others to Christ? Paul says that even though we try to do everything for the glory of God, we also should try to give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the Church of God. Now hear me on this.
There will be times when what we do to bring God glory will offend others. For example, sharing the gospel of Christ certainly brings glory to God, but it can also be a stumbling block or even an offense to others. Nevertheless, the call to glorify God is to fuel all our actions.
If we read Paul's letter to the Galatians, we may think that he is contradicting himself. In that letter he said, "For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." It sounds like Paul is contradicting himself by what he is saying in his letter to the Corinthians.
Paul had been talking about the freedoms that we have in Christ. We have the freedom, for example, to eat any meat that we please. But if eating that particular meat is offensive to someone at the same table, we might want to refrain from eating it. Paul willingly set our freedoms aside if his actions might offend or cause someone to stumble. He wanted to please them - not offend them - in order to point them to Christ. We please God when we love people in this manner.
I know you are probably thinking, I can eat anything, anytime, in front of anybody, no matter what they think. And you are correct to a point. As a Christian, we have that freedom. But what God is asking us to do today as Christians is to accurately represent Him in how we speak and act. This is truly putting others before ourselves. As Christians, we are the ambassadors of the king.
2 Corinthians 5:20 – “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
This is our responsibility as a Christian. As Christians, we speak and act on behalf of the king and represent His goodness to others. Don't we want to give an accurate picture and glimpse of God? That is why we do everything for the glory of God and meet everyone where they are. This is one of the hardest lessons for a new Christian to learn.
We may not always get it right. And that is why grace is so beautiful. If we put our focus on glorifying God in everything that we do, we represent Him in a way that truly pleases Him. Don't let this overwhelm you. Just focus on what you need to do next and look at it through the lens of the kingdom of God. Every step you take then will be more in step with what it means to live as an ambassador of the king.
The people of the kingdom of God speak on behalf of the king and represent His goodness to others. And this is what is meant by going from “me” to “we.”
I close with this thought: Sitting at a railroad crossing, waiting for a freight train to pass through town, you can see lots of interesting graffiti. Some of it can be quite artistic. Some of it expresses anger or rage; some expresses a person’s love for another; some expresses gang affiliation. Some of it is lewd, while some of it is quite beautiful and impressive. The point is that someone, somewhere, at some point in time felt that they needed to make their mark.
All of us will make a mark with our lives. It is up to us what kind of mark we will make. Will our lives make a mark that will bring honor and glory to God and point others to Him? Or will our lives make a mark that dishonors His name and causes others to stumble and fall? That choice each of us has to make.
Prayer
If God is speaking to your heart today and urging you to become a child of God, why not step out from where you are and come and accept Christ as your personal Savior. That is your first step to becoming an ambassador of the king.
