It's one of my favorite movie scenes.
A tour de force of 80s techno pop new age music
with a driving bass line written by the great composer Vangelis.
Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
The screen opens and you see men running along the beach in England
as they appear out of the mist and run across the screen
with the ocean spray spitting up into their faces,
their white running shorts and shirts getting stained with sand.
And so you see the heart of the movie, Chariots of Fire, Oscar winning.
Many of you weren't born when it was made.
It's worth going back to watch because it's a great story.
It is a great story of two men in their pursuit,
their different paths to Olympic gold and to Olympic glory.
Eric Liddell, a missionary kid, local Scottish rugby hero,
active in ministry and campus mission,
preparing to return to China as a missionary.
He says to his sister,
I believe God made me for China,
for a purpose, for China.
But I also know that God made me fast.
And when I run, I feel his pleasure.
And so to live his whole life for the glory of God,
he pursued both this Olympic opportunity
and his career in missions.
The other main character,
Harold Abrams,
from a non-Anglo-Saxon family.
In fact, he was half Jewish,
half Lithuanian, if I remember correctly.
Succeeded at the highest levels
at Cambridge University,
working to be the best runner in the world,
driven by an inner compulsion
to overcome the odds.
And as an outsider,
climb to the top.
Both of these men in their various courses
disciplined their lives.
And this is what you see.
Abrams and Liddell running next to each other,
both members of the Great Britain Olympic team,
training,
disciplining themselves,
training their body through hard work.
And it's fun to watch how they do it differently.
Eric Little's running through the Scottish Highlands,
jumping over rocks.
And Abrams is training methodically
in a modern sports way
that was shocking to the day.
But both of them trained themselves
and focused for this purpose
of being the best runner they could be
as they ran their Olympic race.
They denied themselves.
They even put some of the relationships
that they held most dear on the back burner
in order to follow through
with the purpose that they had set
for themselves,
to win the prize.
Friends, this is a great movie
partly because the Bible uses a picture
of running and running a race
to be a part of the Christian life as well.
And how we are called in a similar way
to live lives of discipline and purpose.
I was struck by how important this is
as I read a news report this week.
Yet another well-known pastor
removed from ministry,
fallen into sin,
graciously being loved by his congregation,
and yet how devastating it is
for him, for his family,
for his church
to not run the race well,
to fail to run to the end,
to fail to have the discipline
and the focus
to keep going.
And so, we asked the question this morning,
what does it look like
to run the race
such as to win the prize?
Maybe you're here visiting
and you're wondering,
what is this Christianity thing all about?
You get a peek in
to what it looks like
as Christians wrestle with
how are we called to live out our life
in following Jesus?
And for those of us,
as we look at
the example of the Apostle Paul
and how he talks about
his own life in ministry,
we will be challenged
to think how we also
ought to live our lives.
Continuing in our series
in 1 Corinthians,
we're in section chapters 8 through 10
that is responding to a question about,
which is one we don't have,
we don't face today,
about food offered to idols.
What do we do with food
offered to idols
in pagan temples?
As Christians,
do we eat it?
Do we not eat it?
Are there context?
How do we wrestle with those things?
And it seems that
for some in the Corinthian church,
they had said,
we know it's just food.
We know that idols
are not really gods at all.
So what's the big deal?
We can do whatever we want.
Paul says,
no, running the race
is more nuanced than that.
We need to be more careful thinkers
about how we respond
to these situations.
And so,
as we come to our passage today,
1 Corinthians chapter 9,
starting in verse 19,
page 957 in your pew Bibles.
As we come to this,
we get Paul talking about
how do we run the race
so as to win the prize?
Let's look at that passage
and read it together
and then we'll dive in.
1 Corinthians chapter 9,
starting verse 19.
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.
2 Corinthians 6.
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 may 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. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control
in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run
aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control,
lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Please pray with me.
Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you that it teaches us, instructs us, and Lord,
more than that, that it changes us. That as we read your word by your spirit, Lord, you are able to
work in our hearts. Lord, to change our attitudes, to motivate us to action, to instruct us in our
belief, and Lord, to encourage our faith and trust in you. God, I pray you would help us this morning.
I pray for your help that my words, Lord, would be useful in your hands, Lord, for all of us.
God, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
What we see in the Apostle Paul is what God wants for all of us. He wants us to live lives of great
gospel flexibility and great gospel focus. And when we run this race, this is how we will run to win
the prize that he has us. So gospel flexibility and gospel focus is what we have on tap this morning.
Verses 19 through 23 show us about Paul's flexibility and the flexibility that Christians can have.
Verses 24 through 27 talk about the focus. So let's explore those first in order.
So 19 through 23, Paul has just spent, if you were here last week, you remember Pastor Nick preached on this,
but Paul has just spent the greater part of chapter 9 talking about his rights, that as a traveling
religious teacher and as a minister of the gospel in the kingdom of God, for both cultural and theological
reasons, there is a good expectation, even a right that he would have, that the church,
the people that he is teaching and encouraging, that they would support him, that they would take
care of him financially. And so in verses 1 through 14 of chapter 9, Paul says, this is my right as an
apostle for me to ask all of this. And yet, then he says in verses 15 through 18, but I don't take that
right. As a matter of fact, I consciously defer that right. I do not want that obligation to be placed
on you because I do not want the obligation to you that is entailed in that. I want to be free
to proclaim the gospel to you without any burden to you at all so that you would hear the gospel and
respond not because of any obligated relationship that we have, but simply because of the message that
I proclaim. This is what Paul has been saying so far. And he's saying, talking about his ministry in
the context of trying to address this issue of offering meat to idols and how he has shaped his life and
shaped his ministry and shaped his message to live out this calling of preaching the gospel free of charge.
So he says, I have this freedom to avoid obligation. And yet, and yet, look with me at verse 19 again.
Though I am free from all, I'm coming to you and I have no obligation per se based on that.
I have made myself a slave or servant. It's the same word. I've made myself completely obligated. I have
surrendered my freedom and my right. For what? I have made myself a servant of all that I may win
some of them. Recognize friends that this is a different concern that in chapter that he had in
chapter eight. Chapter eight, he was talking about protecting the souls of fellow brothers and sisters
who might stumble by the action of eating meat offered to idols. Here he is extending his vision
even more than that. Yes, we are going to continue to care for them, but his, his vision is greater than
that. He is looking beyond his brothers and sisters and thinking in this world, there are those who
have not yet heard and have not yet received the good news of Jesus Christ. And this is Paul's great
burning desire that the freedom that I have because of Jesus, I would spend fully and completely
that others might also know that great freedom in Christ. This is what it is. Paul says, this is my
life. And I put it forth to you as an example that this is the pattern, not just for ministers
or pastors, but for all believers to follow in my pattern. And what is the pattern? You see it. It's
fascinating to see if you're an English major, did you see that there's a, there's a linguistic pattern
here to the X, I became as Y so that I might win X. Do you see that to the Jews? I became a Jew
to those under the law. I became as under the law to those not under the law. I became as those not
under the law to the week. I became as those under the week. And even the summary statements,
verse 22, the second half, I become all things to all people that by all means I may win,
I may save some. This is the pattern. Paul's saying, because I now have this deeper identity in Christ,
because I now know that regardless of what else I am, I am first and foremost a Christian because of the
gospel work in my life. I have the freedom to be flexible. I have the freedom to go to a person and
meet them in every way I can without compromising the gospel itself so that they might understand it.
What did this look like? Think about, for instance, Paul says, to the Jews, I became as a Jew. Well,
you know what? Paul was a Jew. Ethnically, he was a Jew. And yet his identity in Christ was so profound
that what he said was, though these are my Jewish brothers and sisters,
what I'm going to do is I'm going to put myself back under following some of the customs, some of the
legal patterns that my Jewish brothers follow that I don't have to follow anymore. That's what he means
by saying to those under the law, though I'm not under the law, I become under the law. He's explaining
that to say, although I know I don't have to do these things in order to be accepted by God,
I do them willingly so that my Jewish brothers and sisters will not be offended.
I will not eat blood with meat in it. I will not travel on the Sabbath. You know, I will not
all sorts of, I will not eat shellfish. You know, there are all sorts of different ways in which Paul
might have embraced these different things. Say, I won't do those things with my brothers because I
don't want to offend them. To those outside the law, to those without law, and for lots of religious
people in the world, that would feel like those like crazy pagans out there, those people who are
off the hook, living it up. So Paul says, look, to those outside the law, I'll become like them. Not
that I'm off the hook with them, right? It's not that I'm embracing everything that they do because I'm still
under the law of Christ. I still have to live a life that reflects what God calls me to. But at the end of
the day, I'm going to become like them in every way that I can so that they might hear the gospel. What did this
look like? Well, it's fascinating to think about some of Paul's examples, right? Here's one of them.
The issue of circumcision. To the Jewish community in the first century, and maybe even today,
circumcision is a big deal, right? It's a sign that you're in the covenant. It's a sign that you're a
part of the people, right? And so, fascinatingly, Paul had one companion, Timothy, who in Acts 16,
Paul had circumcised so that they could continue their ministry among the Jews without
offense. So he had Timothy circumcised because he didn't want that to be offensive to his Jewish
brothers that Timothy had not done that. But then you turn over to Galatians chapter 2 and you find out
Titus, another traveling companion, was not compelled to be circumcised
for the same reason. To clarify the gospel among the Jews. Because in the Galatian context,
there were people who were saying, you must follow the Jewish law in order to be a true Christian,
in order to be saved, in order to be accepted by God. And Paul, in his letter to the Galatians,
says, no, the only basis for our salvation is only and exclusively the finished work of Jesus Christ
on the cross. His sufficient death for our sin is the only thing that is necessary. And our faith,
which receives this work that God has done for us, is the only thing that makes us acceptable.
And so, I won't circumcise Titus so that you will understand the gospel clearly.
In the same way that I will circumcise Timothy so that you will hear the gospel clearly and not
be offended by these external things. It's fascinating to watch Paul be flexible like that.
We don't like this. We like things to be neat and clean. Well, should he do it? Should he not do it?
Do I eat with the Gentiles? Do I not eat with the Gentiles? How do I work these things out?
Right? And for Paul, there is this clarity about it. Does it help the gospel become clear?
Does it help the gospel be heard in this circumstance? There are certain places where
if I went to preach in a church and I did not wear a tie, people would not listen to me.
They would wonder what kind of backwater yahoo I am that I couldn't get dressed up enough to actually
honor God but from the pulpit. There are other places where if I wore this, they would look at
me and think, oh wow, I don't know who he is, but he has no idea what my world is like. And they
wouldn't give me the time of day to listen. Right? So there's nothing I can wear that will always
win. There's nothing that a preacher should always wear when he does ministry. It is contextual.
If I'm a woman working in the Middle East sharing the gospel, I will likely wear a head covering.
Unless I learn that that head covering is going to offend, is going to be confused
by the people there as a necessary requirement to be accepted by God. If I don't wear this, I can't be
accepted by God. Then I might not wear it for the sake of clarifying the gospel.
In some cases, there's a great illustration one of my seminary professors used where, you know,
he's from Canada, his mother's British, and he ministers in America. In lots of places in America,
he doesn't drink alcohol because he knows that for some people, that's something that could be a real
barrier to them hearing him as a minister of the gospel. Right? And so he doesn't do it in order to
not offend people. But he said, but if I hear someone saying, you must not drink alcohol or you
cannot be a Christian, he will say, well then pass the port and let's drink together for the sake of
clarifying the gospel. Paul's pattern is to be flexible in everything that can be flexible.
Let me give you some categories. How we dress, how we speak, the things that we talk about,
the places that we go. There's some deeper ones that are harder when we get into it. Things like
how time is spent. If you're in a different culture, people might just stop by your house
for the day. In America, that's just unthinkable. In America, you think, I've got a schedule,
well I've got to be at the grocery store in 45 minutes and I've got to, you know, and so on and
so forth. And we live that way, right? But what does it mean for me to become all things to all
people, to my neighbor for whom time works differently than me? How do I do that?
These are some of the ways. Really another funny example. Physical space, right? In some cultures,
physical space is like three to four feet. In other cultures, it's 12 to 18 inches. And if you've ever
been in one of those cultures where it's 12 to 18 inches, we as a Western Americans particularly,
we keep moving backwards in the conversation because we keep finding ourselves invaded.
And our friend that we're trying to have a conversation with, he's trying to build a
relationship with us, keeps moving towards us because they want to connect with us and
they can't figure out why we're so far away. And honestly, it's really uncomfortable to have
a conversation with someone when you're not used to it culturally. But Paul says, I become
all things to all people that I might by all means win some. What are the limits of this?
Well, you know, we can't actually become someone else. Great missionary story I heard about a guy who
went out, he lived with some more primitive tribe in Southeast Asia for 20 years, lived like them,
ate like them, talked like them. He did everything he could to make himself one of them.
And after 20 years, they're sitting around the fire talking and he's thinking, I think I finally
made it. And then someone makes an offhand comment that reveals that, oh no, they know he's an outsider.
They know that he's not a part of them. He, in sadness, asked them, why would you say that?
And they looked at him and they said, well, your feet are big. And it was just one of those things
where it's like in that culture, as a Westerner, he had big white person feet. And that was,
and so we need to recognize there are human limitations. We ought not to have the arrogance
of thinking that we can become exactly like someone else, but we can move towards them in
every way possible. There are also limits of this. Paul does not say to the sinner, I become as a
sinner so that I might win the sinner. Specifically, let's think about what he means in this context.
He's talking about food offered to idols. And what he's going to end up saying in chapter 10 is,
you know what? Go to your friend's house, eat the meat. That's fine. But if he says,
this is meat offered to an idol, then you can't eat it. Because then you are participating with him
in his idolatry. And you are encouraging it by the connection between the meat and the idolatry
that your guest is making. And it seems like this is in an evangelistic context. This is in a context
where someone, you're in a home of a friend. Think about how offensive that might be. Particularly in a
culture where meat was fairly rare. And so you're being served the best food possible.
But Paul says, no. In that case, you have to say, I can't participate with you in that.
We're going to preach on that for the next two weeks and unpack it a little more.
But Paul says, there's a limit there. I cannot participate with them in their sin.
And in this case, in their idolatry.
Even if it's really costly. We might think, well, that's a terrible way to reach someone.
That's really offensive. You walk in their home, they've invited you in, and what do you do?
You just reject their best offering to you. Their most hospitable action.
Paul says, yes, but there are gospel limits.
You don't get drunk with the drunkards.
You don't lie with the liars.
You don't scorn with the scornful.
And you don't ostracize with the in crowd.
You don't get greedy with the greedy.
And you don't worship with others
who worship other gods.
Because
what cannot change
is the reality of the gospel.
It can be shaped.
I think Paul shapes his language.
Look at his preaching in Acts 13
of Sidian Antioch.
And his preaching in Acts 17
to the Greeks and Athenians.
Fascinating how different his approach is.
One is through the law
and through the Jewish background
of the believers.
Trying to see Jesus.
Trying to present
how clearly Jesus is the fulfillment
of all the Jewish hopes.
But to the Greeks and Athens,
these aren't the important things.
Instead, the connections
have to do with an unknown God
and the great principles of the world.
But both of them land on
Jesus Christ
who died on the cross
for his sins
and rose from the dead
for your salvation
and for your sanctification.
And when the clarity
of the gospel is threatened,
we cannot be flexible.
So what are the barriers
between you and your neighbors?
Where are the areas
where you
just really don't like
to connect with your
coworkers?
How is it hard for you
when you go
and see your family?
What are the things
in our culture
that you just really wish
weren't true?
And what are you holding on to?
One of the things
that I've realized
as we've looked through this
is that
at the core of our
lack of willingness
to be adaptable
and flexible
the way
Paul is
is
well,
twofold.
One is that
it comes from us
not understanding
our fundamental identity
in Christ
and so we cling
to these secondary things,
these cultural things,
these familial things,
these ethnic things,
these whatever things,
we cling to them
as being more important
than they ought to be.
But even if that's not true,
it's still hard
because we're just
plain selfish.
And by that I mean this,
we just think
we want our lives
to be pretty comfortable
and pretty easy.
We don't want to be stretched
in the places
that we might be stretched
by the people
that God places
in our lives.
We feel inadequate
to know how to do it
really well
and so we never try.
we feel awkward
in reaching out
to someone
who's obviously
different from us
and so we don't.
And Paul says to us,
no,
don't you see,
friends,
the call of the gospel
in our lives
is to love
and it's to love
people who are
different than us
and it's to engage
in the painful,
refining process
of loving them
not selfishly
but sacrificially.
How do I die
to my comfort zone
to reach my friends,
my co-workers,
my family?
Where am I unwilling
to do that?
It's hard.
I'll just say it.
It's hard to do,
right?
Because it is awkward.
It's facing our incapacity.
Here's my one piece
of advice for you,
my practical pastoral advice.
If we are trying
to reach others
with the good news
of the gospel
and we take a stance
of being the answer people,
I have what you need
and I'm going
to bring it to you.
When we face
these cultural barriers
and things,
we see them
as impediments
to a task.
That's why
it feels awkward
and that's why
we're not very good
at it
and why it's not
very love-driven
actually.
But the thing
that I have learned
very imperfectly
is that when I take on
the role of a learner,
when I look at someone
and I say,
you know what?
You are obviously
different from me
and I am different
from you.
And gosh,
I'm sure that
God has done
all sorts of great things
in your life
in His common grace
that there are things
in your ethnicity
and your family
and your background
and your interests
and your personalities
that are totally different
from mine,
totally foreign from mine
and I have no idea
how to connect with them.
But rather than being
afraid of that,
to press into that
and to learn.
tell me about that.
Tell me about football.
Why are there 11 guys
instead of five?
You know?
Why do they keep stopping?
I'm used to watching soccer
where they keep playing.
Why do they keep stopping?
Explore the thing
that you don't understand.
And if you take on
a role of a learner,
it actually frees you
to be the role
of one who loves well
because you get to see them
as they really are.
And you get to see
and God so often
opened doors
for the gospel
through that kind of approach.
And when we learn,
we're not feeling
so defensive.
And when we learn,
we're not feeling
so protective of ourselves.
Paul finishes this section
on adaptability
by saying,
I do it all
for the sake of the gospel.
God's great work in Jesus
that it may go forward,
that people may participate
and know the great blessing
of what it is
that God has done,
that they may receive
this truly good news,
this life-changing news,
and be saved.
And I want them
to participate in it
and to receive it
so that we might
rejoice together in it,
so that we might share together
in its blessings.
Paul's Christianity
is never,
I'm in,
I'm good,
I'm done.
Paul is,
God has given me this
and I want you to have it
because it's the best thing
that's ever happened to me.
It's the best news
in the whole world.
God has done
what we can't do
for ourselves.
Come and see
and believe.
This is the heart
that Paul has.
So having talked about
his gospel flexibility
that's grounded in
his own experience
of the gospel,
shaped by the clarity
of the gospel
and driven by this purpose
of gospel love
for neighbor.
He then goes on
in verse 24,
through 27
to give an extended
metaphor
basically talking about
how focused
his life is.
He uses athletic metaphors
and the Corinthian church
would have understood
the Corinthian,
these metaphors
because the,
just like the Olympic games
happened in other parts
of Greece,
the Isthmian games
happened
in the Isthmus,
which is the little connection
between northern
and southern Greece,
that Corinth was on.
And so this happened
every three years
and they would see
these games
and they would see
the runners
and the wrestlers
and the fighters
and they would understand.
It was a cultural phenomenon
maybe bigger than the Olympics today,
more like the Olympics
was like 25 years ago
for those of you
who were alive back then
when it was a really big deal
and everyone watched.
Nowadays,
I think,
I don't know.
But it's a much,
maybe 600 cable channels
have dulled the impact
of the Olympics.
But the Olympics
were a big deal
and so they are a big deal
to that.
And Paul's basic point is
compete with discipline
so you may win the prize.
He's talking about
a disciplined
or a self-controlled life.
A life that makes
intentional choices
to invest in certain things
because he has
a very clear purpose
and he wants to bend
every resource in his life
towards that purpose.
He says,
don't go like a runner
who doesn't know
which way he's running.
You can't win the race
if you're running
a race that heads this way
and you head off that way.
And don't be like a boxer
who,
rather than landing a punch,
just swings at the air
and never hits anything.
This is not
going to bring success.
This is not going to bring
you to the goal
for which you have
trained yourself.
Paul says,
no,
there is a gospel focus here.
The gospel focus is
that I might win some
and I am going to bend
everything in my life
to that end.
The NBA playoffs
are upon us
for those of you
who are paying attention.
The Golden State Warriors
set a record
for the best record ever
in the regular season
if you haven't noticed.
And if you haven't noticed,
you ought to pay attention
because in about
a month and a half,
the finals will start
and then you'll get to see
the actual championship series.
But in this,
it's fascinating to have read.
I read a great article
on Steph Curry
who's the all-star leader
in many ways
of the Golden State team.
Two years ago,
they thought he was probably
going to be done
in his NBA career
because he had
really bad ankles.
And he found
a new training regimen
that brought in
all sorts of different things
to shape his body differently.
It had to do with diet.
It had to do with
certain kinds of exercises.
It had...
But what he did
is he spent
his whole time
retooling
how his body worked
so that his ankles
would not be so stressed
and so that he would be able
to have more fitness
to do what he's doing,
which is shooting the ball
really, really well.
And he is shooting the ball
really, really well.
Like phenomenally well.
Like better than anyone ever has
in the history of the NBA well.
But his discipline
of his body,
of his diet,
of his time,
he has spent
all of his energy
shaping his body
so that he might be prepared
to do this.
And the question is,
how do we do that?
What does it look like
for us to discipline
our lives?
And here,
discipline means
both saying no
to bad things,
which is kind of
the discipline
we often think about,
but it also means
saying yes
to the good things
that we do
for the purpose
of living out
this calling.
Let me give you
a couple of examples
of people that I've seen
discipline their lives
in this way.
I think of a guy,
when I worked
in campus ministry
at Cornell,
there was a guy
there named Izzy.
Izzy showed up
on campus,
fairly new believer,
wanting to grow
in Christ,
wanting to,
and his freshman year
he kind of got involved
in our campus fellowship
and he was growing a lot
and it was really exciting
to see him
understanding the faith more,
learning to study
the Bible more deeply,
and those sorts of things.
But Izzy was
always restless
because he thought,
I'm on a campus
with 15,000 people
and I'm spending
all my time
with Christians
and I'm never interacting
with people
who don't know Jesus.
So at the end
of the year,
he'd said,
I think I'm going
to pledge a fraternity.
And we sat down,
we talked about
what that would mean.
We talked about
some of the boundaries
he would have to set,
some of the limits,
some of the prior commitments
he would have to make
so that he could
be a part of a fraternity
without engaging
in some of their
pretty well-worn
traditional sinful practices.
And then he'd have to do
some of those things
up front
to make sure
that that would be
all right.
And he did that
and he was accepted.
And for the next
three years,
he was never a part
of our campus fellowship
as much
as many people
wished he would
because they saw
his maturity,
they wanted to grow
by being around him.
And you know why?
Because he was disciplined
to spend time
with his brothers
in the fraternity house.
He made it a priority
to make sure
that his Christian activities
didn't pull him away
completely
from being
involved in the community
that he was a part of.
And he did it
for the sake of the gospel.
And I can think
of one of the guys
who he knew
was one of his
fraternity brothers.
I got the privilege
of seeing him
ten years later.
And he's
a Christian now.
He wasn't a Christian
back then,
but he's a Christian now.
It's the fruit
of Izzy's commitment,
his discipline
to say,
I'm going to choose
to invest
my life
in a significant way
at a cost
of not doing
other good things
so that I might
be able to
invest in these
relationships
and walk with Christ.
And it was costly
in the fraternity
for him to do it
in a way
that the gospel
was clear.
That he wasn't
simply participating
with them
in everything they did,
but that he was
living for Christ
among them.
Friends,
we have
other great examples
even in
our own church.
I can think
of a young Yale
undergrad
who said,
how can we
live out our
calling
to reach this city
if we're not
getting outside
the bubble
and somehow,
someway,
beginning to reach
the urban poor
in our city?
And so the
ministry from
Trinity Baptist
Church to
Columbus House
was started
a long time
ago.
Greg said,
I don't know
what I'm doing
but I'm going
to do it
anyway and
figure it
out as I
go along.
And so many
lives have been
changed by him
and by many
who have
followed after.
there.
There's a guy
in our church
right now
who goes to
the sauna
in the gym
every week.
They call it
chapel
because he
has taken
the time
to invest
in the
relationships
he's developed.
Some of his
friends are here
today.
Good to see
you guys.
Good to see
you guys.
Might not have
taken that
time in his
busy schedule
otherwise.
But for the
sake of the
gospel he
said,
I want to
be here.
I want to
be present
with these
guys and
see what
God might
do.
It might be
picking a
particular
playground for
you to take
your kids to.
Maybe it's not
your favorite
one but it's
the one where
you know that
there are
people who
go every
week at
the same
time to
reach your
neighbors.
It might be
thinking about
how you
balance your
extracurricular
activities in
college so
that they're
not all
Christian but
that you're
actually investing
in somewhere
else.
Not just to
build your
resume but to
reach the
lost.
It might mean
thinking about
your family and
being more
intentional to
call them and
to connect with
them and to
be with them on
holidays.
there's so
many different
ways that this
could look.
I want to
finish by
quoting from
Hudson Taylor.
Hudson Taylor is
one of my
heroes.
He was a
missionary to
China back
in the
1800s and
he was a
pioneer in
thinking about
how to reach
people.
Before he
went,
missionaries
from Europe
would go to
China.
they would
establish a
walled
compound where
they would
dress in
European clothing,
speak in
European languages
and invite the
Chinese in.
It was about
the opposite of
becoming all
things to all
men so that I
might win
some.
Hudson Taylor
said that can't
be the pattern.
He wrote
later in a
discussion about
how to do
this well.
He said this,
we wish to
see Christian
Chinese,
true Christians
but with all
true Chinese
in every sense
of the word.
We wish to
see churches
and Christian
Chinese presided
over by pastors
and officers of
their own
countrymen
worshiping the
true God in
the land of
their fathers,
in the costumes
of their father,
in their own
tongue wherein
they were born
and in the
edifices of a
thoroughly Chinese
style of
architecture.
If we really
desire, and
this was
groundbreaking
because they
would build
western style
cathedrals and
then expect
people to come
and understand
what it was
all about.
He goes on,
if we really
desire to see
the Chinese
such as we
have described,
let us as
far as possible
set before them
a correct
example.
Let us in
everything
unsinful become
Chinese,
that by all
things we may
save some.
Let us adopt
their costume,
which for him
meant shaving
the front of
his head and
wearing a
really long
ponytail.
It was very
un-European.
Their costume,
acquiring their
language, he
spoke four
different dialects,
studying to
imitate their
habits and
approximate to
their diet as
far as health
and constitution
will allow.
Let us live in
their houses,
making no
unnecessary
alterations in
external
appearance and
only so far
modifying internal
arrangements as
attention to
health and
efficiency for
work absolutely
require.
Let the love
of Christ
constrain you
to seek to
commend yourself
and your
message to the
Chinese.
As becomes the
follower of such
a master, let
there be no
reservation.
Give yourselves
up fully and
wholly to him
whose you are
and whom you
wish to serve
in this work
and there can
be no
disappointment.
The Apostle
Paul sets
before us a
picture of
reaching Christ,
reaching his
world for
Christ.
Hudson Taylor
followed in
that saying,
by all things
we might win
some.
And of course
friends, the
reason why Paul
could do this
and the reason
why Hudson Taylor
could do this
is because this
is what our
Savior has
done.
Because this
isn't just a
task to be
more strategic
in how we
reach people.
It's not just
learning the
rules of what
we can do
and not do
so we can try
to get through
by the skin
of our teeth.
But it's
following the
pattern of
our Savior
who did not
come to be
served but to
serve and to
give his life
a ransom
for many.
He who did
not count
equality with
God something
to be grasped
but humbled
himself and
taking on human
form made
himself a
servant and
he submitted
himself even to
death on the
cross.
He deferred in
love the rights
of the Godhead
so that he
might win us
by his
identification
with us in
every way yet
without sin so
that he might be
our substitute
and our
sacrifice.
He identified
with us, he
suffered for us
and he died in
our place so
we might be
raised with
him to new
life for all
who believe in
him.
Friends, this is
the gospel reward
and this is the
hope and this is
the prize that
Paul was pressing
on to.
not just his
own salvation
but that this
great savior
Jesus would be
known and that
many, many more
would come to
know the blessing
of salvation in
him.
So friends,
I leave you with
the questions.
What is it going
to look like for
you to run your
race?
Where are the
places and the
people that God
wants to stretch
you to be
disciplined?
to reach those
who don't yet
know Christ?
How will you
reshape your
life to follow
in the footsteps
of Paul and
follow in the
footsteps of our
savior?
Let's pray.
Jesus, we love
you.
You have done so
much for us.
Lord, you have
left us not only
a model to
follow but Lord,
you have given
us the very life
that we need to
live it out.
Lord, help us,
we pray.
Lord, help us
to have your
heart for those
who don't yet
know you.
Lord, help us
to be willing
to sacrificially
and in a
costly manner
embrace a
pattern of life
that is driven
by a desire
to reach many,
to win some.
Lord, we know
that ultimately
you're the only
one who can save
us but Lord,
we want to be
useful to you
and so we ask
that you would
help us.
We pray this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
We have the joy
of celebrating
this with a
baptism this
morning.
Amen.