As I write this let me just say this is hard for us today… well, let me say, “this is hard for me” … I don’t want to speak for you!
Paul has just written about denying himself for the call of Christ. He writes, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27
He then gives awareness to the writings in the Old Testament and the example they were to the church. He eventually writes, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.” 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Here’s what’s so hard. As a follower of Christ, I have liberty to do LITERALLY whatever I want. There’s really no limit to my freedom because my salvation is in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. I can enjoy the pleasures of life without fear of losing my salvation. The other side though is what about others? Is my profit really the call that’s been laid on my life? Or should I be seeking the profit of others? Paul writes, “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” 1 Corinthians 10:32-33
The example we have in Jesus… The example we have in Paul…The example we have in the apostles is one of offering some of our temporal pleasures for the sake of someone else’s eternal state. I can’t say what that is to each of us as followers of Christ, but there will come a time when the Holy Spirit will speak to you… in that moment let’s be people who make the decision for other’s well-being.
Let’s be people that stay walking in the Spirit. Not to confine ourselves in living life, but to be aware of what we can give for the sake, well-being, profit, and salvation of others. Let’s just be willing to be “Luke 9:23-24” followers of Jesus.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.