Free To Be A Slave
As the United States celebrates almost 250 years of freedom on July 4 this year, I can’t help but think about what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:19.
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.”
The context preceding this verse is fascinating. Over and over again in this chapter, Paul talks about specific “rights” he possesses—to eat and drink whatever he wants, to have a wife, and to be financially supported by the church.
But his whole purpose in talking about these “rights” is to say that he intentionally relinquishes these rights in order to spread the gospel among people who need it. He changes his diet, he willingly embraces singleness, and he even refuses some financial support because he knows doing these things will help reach more people with the gospel.
Then, when he gets to verse 19, he uses an astonishing word to describe himself. He says, “I have made myself a servant of all,” and the word he uses for servant is doulos, which is the Greek word for “slave.” In other words, with all sorts of freedoms at his disposal, Paul says, “I make myself a slave to people who don’t know Jesus, so that I might lead them to Jesus.” That’s what he means when he says, “that I might win more of them.” He elaborates later, saying in verses 22-23:
“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.”
In light of 1 Corinthians 9, let’s take a moment to think of all the freedoms—and “rights”—we have. We have the right to life, friends, marriage, family, safety, security, health, and happiness. We have the right to eat, drink, watch, wear, study, listen to, or say whatever we want. We have the right to organize our schedule, spend our time, choose our career, make our money, use our money, take our vacation, and plan our retirement. We have the right to do what we want to do, go where we want to go, and live how we want to live.
But this is where 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 is so revolutionary. As followers of Jesus with all of these rights, we actually make ourselves slaves of people who don’t yet know Jesus in order to lead them to him. In other words, the Spirit of Jesus in us leads us to sacrifice our resources—our time, our money, our gifts, our comforts, our plans, and our dreams—in order to spread the gospel to people around us who need it and people far from us who have never heard it.
How is this posture of a slave playing out in your life? In what ways are you sacrificing your rights for the spread of the gospel? And in what ways might God be calling you to sacrifice more of your rights for the spread of the gospel?
In the end, let’s realize that this is true freedom: following Jesus and spending our lives spreading his love in our neighborhoods and among all nations so that more and more people might experience the freedom from sin and death that Jesus alone can bring.
This article first appeared in The Commission, Radical’s biweekly newsletter featuring global gospel stories and encouragement from David Platt and others to help you follow Jesus and make him known. Subscribe today.
