A Servant to All

“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:16-23 ESV)

What was the gospel that Paul preached? He preached Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That Jesus Christ, who is God, and who is our creator God, left his throne in heaven, came to earth, lived on the earth, and eventually died on a cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we, by faith in him, might die with him to sin and now walk in freedom from bondage to sin in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands.

But he also preached that we must no longer walk in sin, making sin our practice, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, we will NOT inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed. He said that over and over again. The message could not be more clear. No “wiggle room” allowed!

He spoke all the time on the subjects of holiness and righteousness and godly living. And the grace of God which he taught was that God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Php 2:5-11: Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]  

So, as we read this passage of Scripture, we need to read it in that light. For Paul was committed to Jesus Christ and to preaching the truth of the gospel of Christ. That was his life. That is what he lived for, to please God, to serve him, to obey him, and to preach the truth of the gospel so that many people would find true hope and true healing for their sins and eternal life with God via God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord. For by faith we die with Christ to sin and we now walk in obedience to his commands, in his power.

So, when he said here that he made himself a servant to all people that he might win more of them, in no way was he saying that he made any moral or spiritual or biblical compromises in order to win people over. So he did not serve anyone in the sense of doing what is opposed to God and to his word or that would require him backing down in any way from doing the will of God for his life. He did not let any person be his God. God was still his only God, and he followed the leading of the Lord in what he did.

So, whatever he did, he did not back away from serving the Lord in any way. He did not compromise truth or righteousness or the gospel or his commitment to the Lord and to the truth of the gospel in any way. But he found ways to relate to the people where they were in order to better communicate with them so that they would listen to him. But, again, this did not involve cutting short the message of the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh as so many are doing today.

So, let me give an example from my own life and ministry which I believe can fit here. The Lord called me 20 years ago to write down what he teaches me from his word each day and to post these writings on the internet. But as means of communication changed on the internet, the Lord began to add on to my ministry new ways of communicating. I still write out what he teaches me from his word each day, and I still post these on the internet, but even though some of them may be long to some people, they are half to a third or to a fourth of the length of some of my earlier writings.

So the writings became shorter, and some are longer or shorter than others. And then he added on writing and recording songs, which was all new to me, and then he added on writing poetry, and then he had me recording video talk devotions, and then Christian memes. So these are all different ways of communicating which may reach a wider audience than when I was just writing out my times of devotion with the Lord each day. So no compromise of truth or righteousness, just different ways of communicating with people.

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811