Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
The Apostle Paul was
brilliant. Even in a cursory reading of
his letters you cannot miss the way God used the intricate and deep mind of
Paul to communicate complex spiritual principles in ways that drive the point home
to even the most uncomplicated reader.
At the same time there is depth that can keep you exploring for decades what
God gave him to write.
Paul was not only intelligent;
he was very persuasive and found himself in a position of power. Prior to his
conversion to Christ and because of his impressive pedigree as a scholar
and his connectedness within the ruling class, Paul had been so trusted by the rulers
of Jerusalem he was commissioned to put a stop to the spread of Christianity;
he was even empowered to imprison Christians, which often led to their deaths. That all turned around on the Road to
Damascus when Paul met Jesus.[2] Suddenly Paul’s strength turned to weakness,
which God then used to impact the whole world .
Paul could be caustic and
borderline obnoxious with his strong will and being not at all shy about
confronting somebody. Several times in
Scripture we find Paul in hot debate with those whose wobbly conviction needed some
correction.
But we find in today’s reading
the mysterious opposite of being dogmatic and confrontational; today we see the
convivial warmth of someone who cared enough about others to keep his mouth
shut at the right times. Paul understood
what it was to be filled with power, and what it meant to be blind and
helpless. As such he also understood
what is needful for a witness of grace to take hold in another’s life. Identification! Paul understood that for someone’s faith to
be helped along to receive saving grace, the person who witnesses must learn to
be with, not just talk-at a person.
Many years ago, as a young
believer I was being “taught” how to witness.
George took me to a home where an elderly couple lived. They’d recently moved to our community and visited
our church. They welcomed us in, and
George began his memorized and rehearsed speech before we even sat down on the
couch. For the next twenty minutes he
led them down the Roman Road eventually coming to the
point where it was now or never for their eternal
security. Were they going to say “yes”
or “no” to God? The whole debacle made
me feel so uncomfortable watching how uncomfortable the old couple were, squirming
on their seats. I wanted to rush over to
them and give them a hug. But the old
man simply said, I think we’ll think about that. The next twenty minutes or so, George put on the
most amazing display of browbeating someone to the altar I’d ever seen. The man and woman finally caved, joined
George on their knees at the coffee table altar and followed his direction to pray
the sinner’s prayer. Five minutes later
we were in the car headed home. While
driving George asked, wasn’t that great?
I had an answer, but God gave me grace not to pull the
trigger. The couple never darkened the
doorstep of our church again.
For You Today
For too many of us we err on
the exact opposite of the abrasive George method – we fail
to open our mouths at all. Perhaps it
would be different if we took the time to learn how to share our faith, but also
took the time to get to know about, and care for those to whom we’d
witness. Then the sharing would be
natural, and something led by the Spirit, as opposed to claiming another
evangelistic scalp to list on the church membership rolls!
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