Readings for today: 1 Corinthians 9-11
I love how the Message version describes Paul’s approach to ministry in our reading this morning. “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 MSG) Paul may be one of the most “free” persons to have ever lived. He refused to live by other’s expectations. He refused to bow to other’s demands. He refused to live one way when he was with the Jewish people and another when He was with the Gentiles. He refused to walk away from those who were struggling the most in life. He didn’t ever worry about his reputation. He simply kept his bearings in Christ.
“Bearing” is not necessarily a word we use often. It can mean many things but Paul is using it here to describe direction, orientation, heading, the trajectory of his life. He takes his bearing from Christ. Christ is the fixed point. Christ is his North Star. Everything he does is for the sake of knowing Christ and making Him known. There is no other calculus for Paul. There are no other factors in play. There are no other issues at stake. Christ is everything for Paul. And this allows him to maintain his “bearings” in the midst of a world of chaos, fear, and violence. Paul is very aware of how his life in Christ will set him apart. He’s very aware of how his life in Christ will make him different. And yet, because Christ is his firm foundation, he is free to enter the world of the least reached and least resourced around him and experience things from their point of view. He is free to engage and interact with them in an effort to win them to saving faith. It’s why he becomes a servant to all in order to save as many as he can.
What about us? Do we walk in the same freedom or do we worry too much about what others might say? Do we humbly seek to serve those around us, no matter their manner of life, in an effort to win them to Christ or do we hold back out of fear of the damage it might do to our reputation? Do we maintain our “bearings in Christ” as we navigate the challenges of this world or do we allow ourselves to be tossed about like a small ship on a raging ocean? Lean into Christ, friends. Make Him the fixed point of your life, your North Star, the firm foundation on which you stand.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 12-14