The Bible tells us that we are to 'become all things to all me' that we might win some of them to the Lord. What was Paul trying to do here? He was becoming all things to all men, so that he might win them. But win them to what? He might win some of them, so they could be saved.
In order for us to 'win' people to the Lord, so that they might be saved, we have to become all things to them. People will be able to relate to us, if we can relate to them. The Gospel will be more accessible to them. It will make more sense to them.
But we have to be careful here as well. This verse found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 is not telling us to sin in order to save sinners. We can become like other people, and we don't have to sin in order to accomplish this.
Other verses give a different perspective on this, and can be confusing to us, if we don't understand them properly. The Bible tells us, "“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18. ESV
Some people think that these verse mean that we have to take ourselves out of the world. After all, God says that we need to be 'separate' from people who are sinners, right? If we take the verses before verses 16-18, they are talking about being involved in relationships that would involve a commitment, such as marriage or perhaps business. It makes a reference to worship. Christians cannot worship and have that level of fellowship with nonbelievers. It just doesn't work. That's why marriages with one person being a believer and the other a non-believer, is extremely hard. We aren't to become involved in marriage relationships with unbelievers if we know the Lord. But people who are not taking those verses in context, mean them to say that we should not even be friends with people who don't know the Lord. But if we aren't friends with people in the world, how can we expect to win them to the Lord? How will they ever feel comfortable coming to us, should they be interested in the things of God? They would see us as 'above' them, although in reality, they will see right through us and we would appear to be hypocrites, because whether we believe it or not, we have our own sins to deal with. We might not see our sin, but be assured, others do. See Matthew 7, the first 5 verses.
So then, how is the church to be a light? It would seem that if we are relatable to people, as Paul recommends, then wouldn't we blend in? Not necessarily. Remember that becoming all things to all people doesn't mean participating in their sin. Jesus was a friend of sinners, but He never participated in their sin. Many who were living in flagrant sin, understood the Gospel, and were changed people during the time Jesus ministered to them.
What would make people in the church appear to the darkened world as a light? There are certain characteristics that mark the true church. One of them is love. 1 Corinthians 13 describes what love is. Bible Gateway - 1 Corinthians 13 . We think of love as something that makes us happy. Love can make us happy, but the kind of love we are familiar with is a selfish love. That is not what the Bible is talking about. We have to be in relationship with one another to express love.
Another noble trait that makes the church shine, is humility. Without humility, you can forget about God being glorified in the church. We either lift up God, or we exalt ourselves. Do we want our church to point to us, and make us look glamorous, or do we want God to be shown for who He is, as we live out our lives together? God's presence isn't even there where there is pride. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Servanthood ties in with humility and love. The Bible tells us to esteem others better than ourselves. There are a multitude of different ways of serving one another. When the Apostles got together, they pulled all their resources together and distributed them as needed. The Bible tells us that there was no needy person among them. The Bible tells us in Galatians 6, to bear one another's burdens. With the grace of God, we can help pull a brother or sister who has been entangled in sin, out of their bondage. We are to put other people before ourselves. Jesus gave the best example of serving by laying down His life for us. We can lay down our lives for one another as we seek to serve them instead of ourselves. One person put it this way; 'We live our lives in order to make others successful.' This, of course, doesn't mean we quit our jobs so others can take our place and be promoted. Success encompasses all areas of life, especially the spiritual. We can help make others spiritually successful by serving them.
We are in the world, but not of it. We have Christian plumbers, as well as unbelievers for our plumbers. We live in neighborhoods with Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Hindus, and an assortment of all kinds of people. We don't go to a remote island to get away from them. We live in their neighborhoods, and God uses those positions in order for us to 'win' them so they might be saved. We don't blend in with a darkened world of sin. The light that is set on a hill is not camouflaged in a world of darkness. In fact, there is a striking difference. The light doesn't go out when we build relationships with people who don't know God. The light will grow dim and disappear, when we go so far as to participate in sin. Participation in sinful activities is not a way of relating to sinners. They need to break free from sin. You might be the only Bible they ever read. We don't identify with other people in their sins. What we do have in common though, is that we are all created in God's image, though marred by sin.
Jesus says that 'By their fruits you will know them.' He also says that He is the true vine, and we are the branches. If we abide in the vine, we will bear fruit. It is the kind of fruit that resembles God. Everyone bears fruit of some sort. It is either bad fruit or good fruit. What kind of fruit are you bearing today?
17
No comments:
Post a Comment