Pop quiz: What’s the opposite of freedom? Maybe you think of words (and realities) like slavery, bondage, or oppression, when one human being takes away the freedom of another one. Perhaps your freedom is curtailed by more personal factors, and you think of words like sickness, weakness, or poverty as being in contrast to the freedom that you seek.
Let’s read from 1 Corinthians 9.
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 NIV
There’s a key point here, I think: Paul doesn’t say that he was enslaved by other people, but that he made himself a slave to everyone. He has freedom in Christ, but – like Jesus modeled for him – Paul has also willingly and intentionally given up certain aspects of that freedom for a good reason (more on that in a bit).
To be clear, Paul isn’t pretending to follow the faith of those outside of Christ (whether those following Judaism or adherents to Greek or Roman beliefs) and trying to blend in. Instead, he is giving up his right to do certain things when he is in the presence of others, when Paul’s freedom might become an obstacle to their listening to the good news about Jesus and remaining in that good news.
As a result, Paul isn’t going to serve pork chops to his Jewish friends when they visit, just as it would be rude for us to do so. (Paul may have continued to follow much of the Jewish ceremonial law, anyway, due to his culture.) Conversely, he’s not going to loudly call out his Gentile friends for working on the Sabbath or for not being circumcised. He is sensitive to people of various cultures and backgrounds, and he doesn’t want a preventable obstacle from getting in the way of their salvation, especially when that obstacle would be nothing more than Paul seizing his rights and holding onto them, rather than making a choice to love his neighbor.
This may sound like a tall order, and it’s not easy to do, especially when we really want to be selfish and get our own way. However, Paul has a reason for why he limits his freedom, as described in verse 23. He does this “for the sake of the gospel”, because Paul really, really wants more people to know the blessings, joy, and salvation of following Jesus.
In return, Paul also gets to share in the gospel’s blessings. What are those? I think that the blessings of the gospel include seeing others experience the same sort of transformation in their lives as Jesus has made in our own lives.
The NASB translates part of verse 23 as, “so that I may become a fellow partaker of it” (referring to the gospel). Paul didn’t just stop when he heard the gospel; he is living out the good news. Not only does he use opportunities to share it, but he experiences the love that God has for the whole world, as he sees it being shared with others. That has got to be a good enough reason to yield a few of our freedoms when the situation calls for it.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 17, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, March 17, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 Corinthians, by Richard E. Oster, Jr. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 