Introduction: Bill Cowher took over as the head football coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992. He quickly showed himself to be a man with a future. In fact, he currently enjoys the longest tenure in the NFL as a head coach with the same team -- which now stands at 14 seasons. Under his guidance the Steelers have captured eight division titles, earned ten postseason playoff berths, advanced to six AFC Championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances, winning the last one over the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10...sorry Jim Gwinn! One thing that has made Cowher successful has been his ability to stay focused on the most important things. After almost every game, every practice, Coach Cowher drives straight home to his wife and their three daughters. By his own choice, He does very few ads for cars or frozen yogurt. He exists inside his two passions...family and football. Cowher is so focused that after having spent several years as the coach of the Steelers he was invited to a civic luncheon and sat next to a woman he did not know. In an attempt to make conversation he asked, "What do you do?" She replied, "I’m the mayor of Pittsburgh." Oops! Yet, it is this kind of discipline as a football coach that has made Bill Cowher a winner. Did you know that God expects believers to exercise similar discipline as followers of Christ? This is what we discover from the passage that we’re studying together this morning.
Background: To better understand the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9, it will help us to grasp some of the troubles the church in Corinth was facing. They were a body riddled with conflict. Besides badly mishandling an immoral situation in the church, they battled over many issues including church leadership and questions concerning marriage, food, worship and the resurrection. Some of these latter concerns were not necessarily of a moral nature, yet they divided the church. It seems like things haven’t changed much in the last 2,000 years have they? Christians are still arguing over similar kinds of issues: our position on the consumption of alcohol; where we can and cannot hang out; clothing and hairstyles; and even various forms of recreation (i.e. movies etc).
With this background in view, Paul explains that as an apostle of Christ he has great freedom to exercise his authority over the Corinthians believers. He was, in his own words, ’free from all men,’ yet amazingly he made himself a slave to all men (See 1 Corinthians 9:19). Why did he do this? What purpose did he have in mind?
Though many people believe that verses 24-27 relate to the passage that follows about avoiding temptation, it most certainly relates to the preceding verses as well. All along Paul has been calling attention to the Corinthians improper exercise of freedom. They failed to grasp what was so clear to the Apostle, that his freedom extended only so far as it was exercised "for the sake of the Gospel (See 1 Corinthians 9:23).’ Just like Bill Cowher, this singular focus is what made Paul immensely effective and serves as our example as we seek to advance the kingdom of God on earth. Here are two principles for us to consider this morning:
I. We must exercise freedom for the sake of the Gospel (See 1 Corinthians 9:19-23). I think the best way to look at this is to differentiate between "freedom for something" and "freedom from something." Clearly Paul has in mind the latter. In order to avoid any sense of controversy or obligation, the Apostle deliberately refused support for his ministry from Christians living in Corinth. "I am free and belong to no man," he said. It was his choice to preach the gospel ’free of charge’ (See 1 Corinthians 9:18), though Paul had every right to accept financial support (See 1 Corinthians 9:3-6), and even did so from Christians in other cities (See 2 Corinthians 11:8; Philippians 4:15-16). So the freedom that Paul exercised was freedom from enslavement or bondage to anything or anyone that might prevent him from fulfilling his call as an apostle (See 1 Corinthians 6:12). This allowed the Apostle to become all things to all men that he might win some.
A. To the Jews (those under the law), he became like a Jew. To put it simply this means that when Paul was with his fellow Jews he was kosher. He conformed to the practice of the Jewish Law in non-moral matters (See Acts 16:3; 18:18; 21:20-26) so that he could gain an audience for the gospel. This was very different from what Peter did when he sided with Judaizers who sought to impose certain laws on those who sought salvation (See Galatians 2:11-21).
B. To the Gentiles (those not having the law), he became like a Gentile. The Law was given to Israel, so Paul could not expect to reach Gentiles through an argument using the Law. Instead he immersed himself in their culture to increase his opportunities (See Acts 17:22-23).
C. To the weak (those with a weak conscience that did not permit the exercise of certain freedoms), he became weak. If they would not feel right eating meat sacrificed to idols, then Paul would not do so either (See 1 Corinthians 8:13). In short, Paul bent over backwards to be sensitive to the non-Christian mores of a culture, so long as it did not result in immorality. He did this that his audience might not be hindered from accepting the Gospel. Application: Please permit me to ask you a question. Is there anything or anyone in your life that is keeping you from being set free to fulfill God’s call as you’ve received it? I had a roommate once who during a CCC conference boldly announced to all of us that God had called him to preach the gospel. For several weeks he was on fire, until he met a beautiful young lady who did not sense the same call of God in her life. You can guess what happened. As my friend gave his heart away to this girl, who would later become his wife, he became less and less certain that God had ever called him to preach, eventually going into her father’s family business instead. Paul was free from enslavement to anyone or anything that kept him from remaining true to his purpose. Are you free this morning or are you still in bondage?
II. We must exercise restraint for the sake of the Gospel (See 1 Corinthians 9:24-25). This is the other side of the same coin, so to speak. Here Paul compares the Christian life to a race. It’s likely that he has in mind as the context for this comparison the Isthmian Games that were held every two years in Corinth. They were second only to the Olympics in terms of prestige. The Apostle makes it clear that the prize will not go to the one who indulges every desire, but to him who learns to exercise restraint in order to win the prize.
A. There is but one prize. The winner of each event in the Isthmian Games received a crown made of leaves that could be proudly worn on his head (Sorry there were no women competing in these games) until its leaves dried up and withered away. Not so for those running the race that Paul is describing. Theirs is a crown that will last forever. It is the prize for which we are called heavenward in Christ--See Philippians 3:14). In the games, there could only be one winner, but in the kingdom there will be many winners!
B. Believers have but one shot. Competitors in the games endured long hours of rigorous training under the watchful eye of an official. If at any point, a rule was broken, the athlete was disqualified from the race. Paul wants us to know that a similar danger faces all of us who are called as Christ’s ambassadors. It is possible that we, too, can be disqualified from the task to which we’ve been called by the failure to restrain our choices. To prevent this from happening to himself, Paul maintained great self-discipline and a very clear vision of his goal. Just as a boxer who only beat the air instead of his opponent was destined to lose, so Paul wanted to make sure that everything he did had an impact ’for the sake of the Gospel.’
Conclusion: A fivefold test that can be applied to any life situation to determine if we are properly exercising freedom and restraint for the sake of the Gospel:
1. Will it lead to freedom or slavery (See 1 Corinthians 6:12)?
2. Will it make me a stumbling block or a stepping-stone (See 1 Corinthians 8:13)?
3. Will it build me up or team me down (See 1 Corinthians 10:23)?
4. Will it only please me, or will it glorify Christ (See 1 Corinthians 10:31)?
5. Will it help win people to Christ or turn them away (See 1 Corinthians 10:33)?
Illustration: You may have spent some time last winter watching the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. One of the more memorable moments of the games came in the gold medal race of a brand new event called “Snowboard Cross”. In this event, snowboard racers negotiate over a treacherous course filled with obstacles. In the Gold Medal Race, American Lindsey Jacobellis started out with 3 other racers. By the midpoint of the race, Jacobellis was alone, far in front, having escaped a crash that took out 2 of the 4 racers and delayed a third. As she had the finish line in sight, she reached the 2nd to last jump. She was so far in front you couldn’t even see the 2nd place racer. So, she did something she’ll regret for a long time. She decided to do a little showboating, and grabbed her board in mid air and did a little squiggle in midair. Unfortunately, this little act of showmanship caused her to lose her balance. She crashed on her landing, and as she was struggling to get back up, Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden raced past her to claim to gold medal. Jacobellis later gave this simple explanation for her behavior, "I was caught up in the moment." Of course, what Lindsey meant was that she lost her focus on the ultimate goal -- winning and, for a brief moment, took to showing off. Those few seconds, which epitomize the undisciplined exercise of freedom, cost her the gold medal. Fortunately she is young (21 years old), however, and will have another shot during the next Winter Olympics in 2010. Until then, Lindsey will be left to contemplate what might have been. May this never be said of us!
