BEAUTIFULLY DIFFERENT

I haven’t figured it out yet but last weekend pastor Dave Roberts got me to either thinking or dreaming. I haven’t decided which yet, maybe both. At any rate, he took us back a couple of thousand years ago to the city of Corinth where the apostle Paul decided to plant a church.  If ever there was a difficult place to plant a church it was Corinth.  Pastor reminded us that “Corinth was every bit as diverse as the city of Los Angeles, but the diversity went well beyond where you were born or what language you spoke.  There were incredible economic differences even including slaves and free, rich and poor and everything in between.  There was a diversity of power, position, status, prestige.” 

If Las Vegas is sin city today, Corinth was then. In was secular in every sense of the word. Pastor Dave shared with us that

Corinth was unbelievably wealthy and her residents were people of great pride, independence and diversity.  With wealth comes enterprise and Corinth was a city that drew entrepreneurs from every corner of the earth.  Business boomed in Corinth and that applied to businesses built around the lower human appetites. Corinth was the original Sin City.  Overlooking the city was a temple in honor of Aphrodite.  It housed 1000 priestesses who were in Greek culture considered sacred prostitutes.  It was a city of indulgence.  Throw in the sophisticated nuances of Greek Philosophy and in Corinth almost any behavior could be celebrated or at the very least, rationalized.

In this city the church of Jesus Christ was planted.  Why would Paul choose this city?  I think he chose it because no matter the wealth or education or economic status or hedonistic passions of people, these could not speak into the deepest needs of the human heart.  People can party till they drop, but the deepest needs of the human heart go unanswered.

         In a culture defined by everything other than God, Paul plants a church and invites people of great diversity and background to gather at one table and be one family.  Around that table is great love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, mercy, hope, laughter, purpose, and life.  Jesus invited people to partake of a new and different food, a new and different reality. The world was offering one way to live. Jesus came and offered another way to live. 

            The more I think about it the more I think Pastor Dave got me to dreaming about some things.   Wouldn’t it be great if into the chaos of life there could come peace?  Wouldn’t it be great if there could be a community where, in the midst of diversity, there could be a sense that we are in this thing called life together; that each of us matters in a special and unique way, that though we are many, because of Jesus we are one?  Wouldn’t it be great if there could be a community where the things that make for wholeness and healing and mental, spiritual, and physical health would dominate the atmosphere?  And, if that kind of community could actually exist how would those in the community reach out into the lives of those who are not in the community inviting them into the place and people of new beginnings and God-stirred possibilities?

As the community of Jesus we have Good News for our world and for our spheres of influence.  But we live in Corinth of the 21^st century.  People are busy and active and on the go.  They work hard and play hard.  They are tuned into their world, and gaining an audience with them is a most difficult thing to do.  They are distracted by a thousand voices calling out to them each and every day.  They are occupied with entertainment and sports and vacations and get-a-ways.  In our Corinth the world never sleeps.  It is on the go 24/7. How do we gain an audience with these busy people and share the Good News?

            For the apostle Paul the answer to the question was simple, yet grounded in selflessness, self-giving, and humility.  He was an intelligent man and he knew that ministry for Christ in Corinth would not be easy.  He didn’t expect it to be.  So, he went to work with a guiding principle leading the effort.  He explained it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23.

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. (NIV) 

            This makes me think that maybe the way to people’s hearts these days is relational, relational, and relational.  Get into their world. Identify with them.  Build relationships.  Get to know them.  Show up on their turf and love them there. Find out what interests them and become interested in it, too.   Saturate your relationship with prayer for them.  Earn the right and then find ways to share the Gospel.  The Message says, “Proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple” (2 Tim. 4:2).  As the New International Version says, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”  In other words, just go out and be Christian.

Be the message before you speak the message. Isn’t that what Paul is saying?   “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”  Why this approach?    Because we live in a Biblically uninformed age, and many people don’t have the vocabulary of the Church or the Bible at their disposal.  We are living in an age where in many cases we have to start at ground zero and earn our way into the lives of people who do desperately need God but don’t know that it is God they need.  For some, there is a built-in resistance and hostility to the Gospel.  This is a whole new set of challenges.  Rushing into their lives with lots of words can do more damage than good. 

How do we be the church in our Corinth?  I’m sure there are as many answers to that question as there are Christians asking them.  I am also sure that God is more interested in reaching lost and broken people then you and I are.  In that light I would say that the most important things you and I can do in an effort to become all things to all people so that by all possible means we might save some, is to

1.    Get ourselves into the throne room of grace, and pray the Holy Spirit will find ways to break into the lives of people in ways that will draw them to life in Jesus.  This assignment is bigger than you or me.  We need God.

2.    Saturate our lives in the Word of God because “the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews. 4:12, NIV).

3.    Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus “the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2, NIV).  He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6, NIV).  Stay close to Jesus, trust Him, keep your eyes fixed on Him. 

4.    Trust that God is more interested in reaching people than you and me.  Trust His love.  Trust His heart.  Trust His compassion.  Trust His work on the cross.  It is not about you and me.  It is about God loving the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life and have it to the full (John 3:16 and 10:10).

5.    Live the message before you try to articulate it. As someone once said, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  It might just come down to this.  CARE. 

6.    Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in you.  Live an attractive life for God.  Be a fragrant aroma of Christ (Ephesians 5:2, 2 Corinthians 2:15).

7.    Let God be God.  Only God can draw people to Himself.  Live the life of one embraced by grace. Leave results to God.

“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some…. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”

-- I Cor. 9:22, Romans 1:16