Scripture:
I Corinthian 9.19-27
Translation: 19For example,
although I’m free from all people, I enslave myself to all people, so that I
could gain more people. 20And I become like a Jew to Jews, so that I
could gain Jews, that is [I became] like [someone] under the law to people
under the law (even though I’m not personally under the Law), so that I could
gain people under the Law. 21To lawless people [I became] like a
lawless person (even though I’m not lawless person before God; instead I’m a lawbound
person before Christ), so that I could gain lawless people. 22I
become a weak person to weak people, so that I might gain weak people. I really
am becoming all things to all people, so that in all ways I could save some. 23Moreover,
I do all things because of the Good News, so that I might become a co-sharer of
it. 24Don’t you know that although all those running in the stadium
are running, only one person gets the prize? In the same way, run, so that you
might win. 25And every person who fights maintains self-discipline
in all things. So, those people on the one hand [do what they do], in order
that they might get a corruptible crown/trophy, but we on the other hand [do
what we do] in order that we [might get] an incorruptible one. 26So,
in light of the present discussion, I’m running in this way, not as though
unclearly, in this way I’m boxing, not as though I’m punching at the wind. 27Instead,
I’ve been wearing out my body and making it my slave, so that I personally
don’t become unapproved after preaching to others.
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Free from All, but
Enslaving himself for all
i.
Principle: Free from all,
Enslaving himself to all, to gain more people
ii.
Implications:
Contextualization for the sake of Evangelization
1.
Becomes like a Jew to Jews,
like a law-bound person to law-bound people
a.
Qualification: free from
the Law
2.
Becomes like a person
not-bound to the Law, to the people not bound to the law, to win those people
3.
Becomes weak to weak people
b.
Going for the Win, the
Prize
i.
Only the winner gets the
prize, so try to win
ii.
Wresters train, so train yourselves
to get an incorruptible crown.
iii.
I (Paul) am running for the
prize, I’m not boxing the air; instead, I’m beating up my body and enslaving
it, so that I don’t fail to live up to what I’ve preached
2.
Themes
a.
Different types of
people/cultures/socio-economic groups
b.
Gospel
c.
Gain/win
d.
Reward
e.
Freedom surrendered/slavery
embraced
f.
Law
g.
Athletic competition
3.
Doctrines
a.
Christians are not under
the Mosaic Law
b.
Christians are still
however attached to God’s Law through Christ,
c.
Christians are called to
humility
d.
Christians goal is reaching
the lost with the Gospel
e.
The Gospel shapes what we
do and how
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
We are Free
i.
Free from cultures
1.
Not so free that we were
born without a culture
2.
But free to change what
culture we live in and by to reach more people
3.
For example,
a.
if Jesus was trying to
reach a Muslim, even though He drank wine for His whole life, because He knows
that Muslims think that drinking alcohol is bad, Jesus would not drink wine
around Muslims, and maybe even former Muslims, who are still very much holding
the cultural value of wine being bad
b.
or me, because I am serving
in a Korean church, I have accommodated myself to certain cultural values and
traditions and expectations, and we as a community did this a couple weeks ago,
when we made flowers for parents day, which is not an American holiday, but a
Korean one, one that the church as a whole wanted to celebrate, so we did that,
even though it may have been far more natural for us to celebrate Mother’s Day
and then Father’s Day a month later. And in fact, become some of your parents
are really 1.5 generation, they were not expecting a Korean expression of
honoring them.
c.
Or for example, some 1st
generation Koreans, don’t seem to like it when we lie around on the couches in
our worship room, because they think it is somehow disrespectful to God, and
for them it would be disrespectful, but for us who are not in the 1st
generation, a couch is a couch, and a couch is for being comfortable on, and
lying on the couch says nothing about our respect or commitment to God
ii.
Free from the Mosaic Law
1.
Free from having to obey
things like Shabbat, food laws, legalistic expectations, purity regulation,
Levirate marriage, etc.
2.
But not so free that the
Law has no influence over us, that we are totally disconnected from God’s
revelation, rather we interact with the Law through Christ, for Christ, and in
light of Christ
3.
For example,
a.
Jesus was a Jew, and He ate
only Kosher food His whole life, but if Jesus wanted to reach homosexuals in
the Old Town area downtown, He would probably eat all kinds of non-kosher
foods, like bacon or shrimp, but Jesus would not become a practicing homosexual
to try and reach homosexuals, because although we are not under the Law
anymore, and Jesus as the fulfiller of the Law dealt with its obligations, we
are still connected to the Law through Jesus, and the Law is Jesus’ desires put
to writing in the ancient times.
b.
In the same way, you might
want to reach the druggies in your school for Jesus, but while it’d be fine to
hang out with them, talk with them, even dress like them, if you started doing
drugs with them, you will have actually given up your true freedom for a false
freedom of being enslaved to drugs
iii.
Free from socio-economic
status
1.
Free from socio-economic stereotypes
2.
But perhaps not so free
that we can just buy a yacht on a credit card and expect that we will be free
from the collectors
3.
Also, it is should be
interesting to note that Paul doesn’t talk about accommodating higher status
people, and that may be because in Christ we all are high status, and perhaps
because Christianity calls for us to be humble, not self-inflated with our own
pompous sense of importance.
b.
We freely choose to
surrender our freedom at times for the sake of gaining more brothers and
sisters in Christ
i.
We give up expecting people
to adjust themselves to our cultural expectations, and we adjust
ii.
We don’t require people to
become Korean, or White, or Kenyan, or 1st generation, or second
generation to become a Christian
iii.
We don’t force others to
live by legalistic expectations, even if we feel comfortable living with them
iv.
We do live like free
people, we enslave ourselves, for the sake of reaching others
c.
We do all that we do
because of the Gospel, to reach more people with the Gospel: we are all about
reaching people, we will do whatever we have to, within reason, to reach people
with the Gospel.
d.
We’re in it to win it;
i.
we want to enjoy the Gospel
for ourselves
ii.
to live by the Gospel for
ourselves
iii.
to get the reward contained
within the Gospel: eternal life, praise from God, tons of brothers and sisters
in Christ
2.
Questions
a.
Do you feel free as a
Christian? Why or why not?
b.
What in our culture can we
identify with, and what do we have to transform or reject?
c.
How do you think we can
accommodate the first generation? How do you think they should accommodate you?
d.
How much does the gospel
and reaching people with the Gospel shape all that you do?
e.
How could we become a group
that embraced fully all the cultures and backgrounds of the people who join us?
f.
How hard are we as a
community pushing to reach the goal of enjoying the Gospel, sharing the Gospel,
and living the Gospel? Scale of 1-10, why do you say that number?
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