Everything went gray.


Warning, this is longish.


I am not a strictly black and white person. There's always been a good bit of gray in my eyes. But last month, everything went gray. 


I look around and all I see is a world trapped in bondage. Unbelievers are bound by a life that is subject to sin. They have no power or peace or victory over it because they do not have Christ. We know that. But what about believers? Do you know what bondage I see in us? The bondage that comes with trying to live your life under the wrong law. My new favorite (and least favorite) passage of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. The more I grasp of this passage, the more free I feel. 




"For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (ESV)


When I hear my Brothers and Sisters describing their Christian lives, more often than not that comes in list form. I hear about all the stuff they do, and all the stuff they don't do. "I serve, I tithe, I teach, I volunteer, I sacrifice. I don't gamble, I don't drink, I don't listen to secular music, I don't cuss, I don't beat our kids. Oh yeah, and I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It began on October __, 20__ when I prayed and asked Jesus to come into my heart."

Of course, there is nothing wrong with what you're doing or what you're not doing, and there is nothing wrong with knowing the date that you gave your life to Christ. What's wrong is putting all of that into a neat little package and labeling it "The Christian Life".

Paul became all things to all men. Do you know why? He had tree goals in doing this.
  • To share in the blessings of the gospel. 
As Christians, what motivates us? If we jump on over to 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." So what does this look like? How does this whole "becoming all things to all men" thing translate into our lives as 21st century American Christians? Bear with me as I attempt to act like a theologian. I believe this has everything to do with the law. For the next few minutes I'm going to ask that you take off your "American" hat, because we're not talking courtroom stuff. This isn't about rights and political freedoms, it's about love. It all comes down to love. 

"To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law." 

So first, Paul is saying that while he is not subject to the rituals and restrictions of the law of Moses, he is still free to partake (and did on occasion) in order to win those who (by denying Christ and the freedom he brought) remained under the law. In other words, the Jews. With me? 

He goes on to say that in ministering to those outside the law he becomes as one outside the law, in other words, the Gentiles. Do you see what Paul is doing? We say it all the time, it's really become cliche, but this is a real and true example of meeting people where they are. Paul could sit down at the table with a Gentile and eat whatever was put in front of him. Likewise, he was absolutely free to turn around the same day and go through a Jewish ritual with is law-bound buddies. 

And so can we. What I have garnered from this passage, and what has become emboldened on my heart this month, is exactly what it means to have freedom in Christ. Freedom from the law. We have it, and yet we live like we are in bondage. We say that salvation isn't about works, and yet we still try to justify our faith with checklists. It doesn't work that way. Because no matter how much you may want Christianity to be a standard package that looks the same on everyone, it just isn't. 

We have to stop judging motives and critiquing methods. 

Think about this. If Paul were in the ministry today and he put these things into action, what would that look like? Let's say that in an attempt to minister to Muslims he begins attending services at a mosque . . . and thereby building relationships. Maybe he wants to minister to the prostitutes so he initiates a relationship with them by distributing clean needles and condoms. What if he gave a homeless guy $20, and while they walked to the liquor store he shared Christ with the man? What would you say to that? 

I would be willing to bet he would hear a lot of words like "enabler" and "sucker". 

But you know what? I also believe that his would be a ministry that looked like Christ. A ministry that truly met people where they were, and endeavored to pull them up out of it. Not by throwing them a rope, but by wading through the crap and standing beside them. And step by step, helping them through it. 

Jesus hung out with prostitutes. He was a friend to sinners. The really nasty, despicable ones. The ones who sinned in ways that the "normal" people weren't comfortable with. How do we respond to those kinds of sins? I'll tell you how, we push them away. We hide from them. We unfriend them on Facebook. We spit and gasp and cry because unbelievers act like unbelievers and offend our delicate sensibilities in the process. When the world tries to push us away we respond by turning and running. Yet I see that nowhere in Christ's ministry, nor in Paul's. I see the very opposite. I see men who said, "If you try to push me away, I am going to turn around and pursue you with every ounce of strength in my being."

Christ did that for me. And by his grace I will endeavor to do the same. 

The most profound part of this passage that Paul wrote is when he says that while he's not outside the law, he is under the law of Christ. When I began to search through Scripture for an understanding of what exactly that means, my heart began to ache. Do you know what the law of Christ is? It's the only law that we are subject to, and my friends, it is all encompassing. 

"Bear on another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." -Galatians 6:2

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." -John 13:34, 35 (emphasis mine)

And lastly, 1 John 4:21, "And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." 

It's about love. Not actions. Not lists. Not rights or freedoms or ranks. It's not about your lists, my friends, it's about your heart. It doesn't matter how much you've given, how long you've served, or how undeserving and unappreciative other people are.

It's about love. And what Paul is urging us to do is find the line that we must walk in pursuit of Christ. If we veer off to one side we become so immersed in the world and it's culture that we no longer look like Christ, and we become useless. But! Friends, if we veer to the other side we become so isolated from the world that we no longer have any impact for Christ, and we become useless. 

This isn't an exercise in manipulation, it's a challenge to you to do some self examining. Because, Paul's third goal was to share in the blessings of the gospel. That tells me that we can win people and save people, and do a lot of great "Christian" stuff, without ever really having Christ. Paul wasn't just concerned with living a good Christian life, he wanted the whole enchilada. He wanted Christ. And so do I. 

So hear me today, and if you feel so led then by all means join me: I refuse to continue living my life in pursuit of Christianity. I refuse to live like I am bound by the law.

I will pursue love.

I will pursue Christ. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5, 2012 and is filed under ,,,. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

2 Responses to “Everything went gray.”

  2. By the way, my blog has moved.. http://wecandobetter12.blogspot.com/

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