Text: 1 Cor. 9:19-27
Before we begin, I want to share with you a story. This is a story that you’ll often learn in business classes, when you’re learning about partnerships in business, and I think it’s kind of applicable to what we’re going to be learning today… It’s called the Pig and the Chicken.
One day a pig and a chicken were walking down the road when all of a sudden the chicken clucks out, “Hey pig, I think we should open a restaurant.” The pig snorts a little and then says, “Maybe so. What would we name it?” The chicken replies, “Ham n’ Eggs.” The pig thinks for a moment and says, “No I don’t think that would be a good idea.” The chicken looks puzzled and asks why, and the pig says, “Well because, for you, it just requires a contribution. But for me, it requires complete commitment.” (Taken from an illustration on Sermon Central)
The reason I say that’s applicable is because there are many within the Body of Christ who are just contributing… while there are others who are fully, and totally committed. And that is kind of what the Apostle Paul is saying in our text this morning. That the Christian life takes full, and total commitment.
Let’s go ahead and open up our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (READ).
Now you’ll notice here that Paul’s concern is reaching the lost. In verse 19 he says he makes himself a servant – “That I might win more of them.” In verse 20 he talks about winning the Jews. And winning those under the law. In verse 21 he says he wants to win, “those outside of the law.” In verse 22 he says he became as weak so as “to win the weak.” And finishes that verse by saying he’s become all things to all people so that by all means he might save some. And he summarizes that concept in verse 23 by saying, “I do it all for the sake of the Gospel.” And that goes with what we’ve been seeing the last few times we’ve been here in 1 Corinthians. Paul laying aside what he is rightfully deserving of, in order to preach the Gospel and reach the lost. Paul setting aside his freedom and liberty so as to not be a stumbling block.
Now Paul is not advocating for pragmatism here. He’s not saying, to be a hypocrite and pretend to be like one group or another group in order to win them to Christ. And he’s not saying he compromised the Gospel message, or truth. What you win them with is what you win them to, so Paul is not being disingenuous here. He’s not advocating that we pretend to be something in order to win people to Christ. That’s not what he’s done, or what he’s talking about at all. But how is it that Paul is able to go and preach to Jews and Gentiles? How is it that Paul could go and preach to the philosophers and intellectuals on Mars Hill in Athens, and then go and preach to the Galatians who were more of the blue collar type of guys, and preach it to the Roman soldier who was guarding his prison cell?
Well first of all, Paul knew and understood that the fundamental need of all humanity, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, whether you’re black or white, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you have a PhD, or a GED… the fundamental need of humanity is to be saved from the wrath of God, by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Our fundamental, most important, most pressing need is to be saved.
Paul understood that regardless of your background, regardless of your ethnicity, regardless of your bank account – all men are sinners, separated from a holy and righteous God, and that we needed to be reconciled. We need forgiveness. We need to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light.
So Paul knows this… he knows that folks need to hear about Jesus… but how does he go about doing it. Well… Look at verses 24 and 25 (READ). Ok… so before I break down what these verses are saying, let me finish my train of thought. I just asked how does Paul go about sharing the Gospel? Well Paul is writing to the Corinthians here, and he’s been talking about our freedom in Christ, and the love we have for one another in Christ, which is really the theme of all of 1st Corinthians… loving one another, and loving the Church. And he’s just been talking about sharing the Gospel.
Which is one of the greatest acts of love we can do for others…
And then he starts talking about running a race.
Is Paul suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder? NO… no that’s not what this is. Paul just said, “I become like one of the Jews in order to win some of the Jews. I become like the Gentiles in order to win some of the Gentiles.” Here is Paul, becoming like one of the Corinthians in order to win some of the Corinthians.
Every two years outside of the City of Corinth they held something called the Isthmian Games. It was distinct from the Olympic Games that were every four years and held near Mt. Olympus… this was the Isthmian Games – it was every two years, and not quite as extensive as the Olympics – but it was an incredibly BIG DEAL to the Corinthians. The athletes would train for 10 months to get ready, and it had to be verified that they were actually training… they would get a little certificate that showed that they were worthy to compete in these games.
They would do races, discuss, boxing and wrestling, and have music and poetry competition. And people from all over the Mediterranean region came to compete. And if you won one of those competitions you were given a wreath made of pine, and they were basically given a free night on the town. They would have a little statuette made of themselves, and if you were from Athens and you won the Isthmian Games, they would even give you 100 Drachma as a prize (because the Athenians didn’t get along with the Corinthians, so it was like a little extra incentive to beat them).
But in a few months, the wreath was gone, rotted away, and everyone was back to their normal routine of daily living.
So Paul has found a point of contact with the Corinthians… the Isthmian Games. And he gives an example from those athletic events, that points to how we are to live out our Christian lives.
So yes, we are free in Christ! Yes, we are forgiven of our sin! Yes, we are under grace! Yes, we can eat meat, we can go dancing, we can go to the movies, we can listen to secular music, but at the same time we remember that our freedom in Christ is constrained by love. We remember that grace is not a license to sin.
So Paul says, “All the runners in a race run, but only one wins. Be like the guy who wins!” Why? Because you’re running to receive an imperishable crown. It’s not some wreath out of pine that’s going to fade away and wither… it’s not just so people can praise you and buy you meals, and talk about your athletic prowess for a few months until the next games champions remove all memory of you and your accomplishments. Often in his letters, Paul equates the Christian life to a race, or to fighting, or to warfare… And if you’re involved in those things – the goal is the win! Vince Lombardi the Hall of Famer coach for the Green Bay Packers once said, “If it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, then why do they keep score?” And that guy won games! He wasn’t just there to contribute… he was committed to getting his team to the Big Game and winning that game! So Paul is saying here, “Be like the winner of the race. Do what is necessary to be that guy.”
Be committed, not just a contributor.
A couple of years ago, I was talking with a high school football player from a town out of this area… further down state… the football season was over and I asked this student, “What are you going to do now that the season is over?” And he said, “Oh I don’t know, take it easy for a while, maybe go out for basketball… I don’t know?” Then last year, I had the opportunity to ask a Laverne high school student who plays football the same question, “What are you going to do now that the season is over?” And without missing a beat that student looked at me and said, “Mr. McKinley, football season is never over in Laverne.”
BEING A FAITHFUL FOLLOWER OF JESUS NEVER ENDS AS LONG AS YOUR ON THIS EARTH.
And when you stumble, you get back in the race. And when you fall, you get up, and you get back in the race, and if you get distracted, you shake yourself to attention and get back in the race.
So how does that look in our lives? Well it’s commitment… it’s discipline… it’s being intentional. We are to be intentional about sharing the Gospel. Intentionally looking for ways we can tell others about Jesus, or invite them to church, or bless them in some way.
But that also means we take captive of ever thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ. It means that we don’t get sidetracked by things that have no eternal value. It means that we actively fight against our sin and against temptation.
It means we do those things that we know are going to help us win the race… things like reading and studying our Bible… things like prayer… things like gathering with the Church. And we avoid those things that are going to slow us down or hinder us.
The author of Hebrews uses this same kind of analogy to describe the Christian life. He says, “Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”
And ultimately, that’s what Paul is getting at – the discipline he’s talking about is the discipline to persevere. To persevere in evangelism, to persevere in faithfulness, to persevere in the Christian life.
In-fact; in the very next chapter, he’s going to give examples of people who didn’t persevere. You know… those who came out of Egypt during the Exodus, but then later died in the wilderness. These are the same kind of people that Jesus says will profess Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. In-fact; one of the marks of being a Christian, and that we have true, saving faith is that we persevere in that faith.
And the devil will try to trip you up. He will try to get you to doubt. Doubt that you’re saved, doubt whether or not your forgiven, doubt the promises of God… He will try to get you be like the scoffers that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 3:4, who say, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
But again, that’s the battle, that’s the race, that’s the contest we find ourselves in, so we have to purpose in our hearts, that we’re not just going to be contributors, but fully committed.
I pray that you are.
CLOSING
