The Two Disciplines Of A Gospel Life

Have you ever watched the TV show Undercover Boss? The premise of the show is this: The CEO of a massive company, a person with a nice corner office, luxury cars, and the authority to hire and fire hundreds, decides to go undercover within their own organization. They trade their expensive suit for a company uniform, a hairnet, and a messy apron. These CEO’s give up the rights and privileges of their position to do the most difficult, and sometimes menial jobs. They might spend a day cleaning toilets, working a deep fryer, or trying to keep up on a fast-moving assembly line.

Why would they do this?

They do it for a single, powerful purpose: to connect with their people, to understand their struggles firsthand, and to ultimately win their trust to build a better company.

This is a powerful idea of willingly setting aside your rights, status, and privilege for the sake of a greater mission. But this idea is not a unique one. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul lived out the same reality. As we have seen in our series through 1 Corinthians, the church in Corinth was obsessed with asserting their personal rights – their rights to follow certain leaders, their rights to sue each other, and their rights to eat certain foods, no matter how much it damaged another believer.

But as we turn to the second half of chapter 9, Paul is going to show them a more excellent way. Paul is going to use his own life as the ultimate “undercover” story to demonstrate that a Christian’s life must operate differently from the world. He reveals a very important truth that we need to hear today: To win the world for Christ, we must be flexible in our outreach but disciplined in our walk.

THE FIRST DISCIPLINE: OUTWARD FLEXIBILITY

Now Paul begins this section with a statement that would have been considered counter-cultural. In a Roman world obsessed with status, citizenship, and freedom, Paul says in verse 19: “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.”

Let this sink in. Paul is the great Apostle of the Christian freedom who wrote in Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” and in Romans, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” But all of a sudden, he says that he has voluntarily put on the chains of a slave. The apostle Paul, who belonged to no one but Jesus Christ, placed himself under the authority of everyone else. Why?

To win as many people as possible to the Gospel. That is Paul’s goal. Now, the Greek verb “to win” appears five times in these few verses. This word is a business term; it is a merchant’s term. The word “to win” here means “to profit.” This indicates that Paul’s call to the Gospel ministry wasn’t just a casual weekend hobby. Paul’s Gospel ministry had a clear vision, strategy, understanding of the people, and a strong value proposition to gain the greatest profit, which was to profit and gain the souls of men and women to salvation in Jesus Christ.

For example, imagine you are a businessperson trying to win a major deal in a foreign country. If you want to get a deal done, what do you usually do? You do your homework and learn the language, culture, customs, and etiquette. You show courtesy and respect because that relationship is crucial for success. And Paul applies the same strategic wisdom to his mission for the Gospel. And this is his principle of “becoming all things to all people.”

And Paul goes on to list several things he would do.

First, he says in verse 20, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.” This means when Paul was ministering in a synagogue or in a predominantly Jewish area, he willingly submitted himself to their customs. He would have eaten Kosher. He would have observed their Sabbath traditions and festivals. He would have reasoned with them from their own scriptures (which we know as the Old Testament), showing how Jesus was the fulfillment of all of their hopes for the Messiah. Paul didn’t do this because he believed these rules were necessary for salvation, but because he wanted to win the Jews to the Gospel.

Then he says in verse 20, “To those under the law I became like one under the law.” The one under the law refers to the Gentiles. When Paul was in cities like Athens or Corinth, he entered their world. Paul would eat in their homes, sharing meals that a strict Jew would never touch. He would walk through their marketplaces, observe their idols, and present the Gospel in a concept they could understand.