For the Sake of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:22–23)

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.
– 1 Corinthians 9:22–23

This is an incredible statement that Paul is making here and an incredible chapter where Paul describes himself as a slave. He uses the word servant in 1 Corinthians 9:19, but the word there is literally slave. And he says, “I’ve made myself a slave to all kinds of people around me for the sake of the gospel. I want to serve people and do whatever I can, including relinquishing different rights.” Paul has over and over again in this chapter, talked about rights that he has, but he says, “I relinquish those rights. I sacrifice those rights in order to lead people to Jesus. I want people to experience the blessing of knowing God. So I rearrange my life. I relinquish my rights to do whatever I can to lead people to life in Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 challenges us to a sacrificial, gospel-centered lifestyle.

And I just think about our lives. I think about the country where I live, the United States of America. We talk all the time about our rights. Just think about the rights you have to life, friends, family, marriage, safety, security, health and happiness. You have the right to eat, drink, watch, wear, study, listen, and say whatever you want. You have the right to organize your schedule and spend your time and choose your career and make your money or use money or take a vacation or plan a retirement. You have the right to do what you want to do. Go where you want to go, live how you want to live.

But here’s the deal. As followers of Jesus, we specifically relinquish some of these rights to many of these things for the spread of the gospel. I think about brothers and sisters right now who are serving in really hard places in the world, who’ve relinquished rights to wear what they want to wear or organize their lives the way they would like to organize them. They’ve relinquished rights to comfort, security, and safety. And it’s not just around the world. What does it look like for each one of us today? So just think today in your life. What can you rearrange in your life today for the spread of the gospel through your life today? Think about people in your sphere of influence who don’t know Jesus. How can you rearrange your schedule today to share the gospel? How can you rearrange your priorities today to share the gospel?

How can you rearrange your plans today to share the gospel? And this is the posture Paul is describing here. How do we rearrange our lives and our priorities to share the good news of God’s grace with people right around us, and then people far from us. How do we rearrange the way we use our money? How do we rearrange the dreams we have for our lives for the spread of the gospel to people who’ve never heard it? Oh God, we pray that you would teach us and help us to live as Paul describes here in 1 Corinthians 9. Help us to do whatever you might call us to do whatever we can do today to lead people around us to life in you. God, we pray that we would do this for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of your name, Jesus, for the sake of sharing with others in the blessings that are found in knowing you.

God, please help us today to rearrange our lives, our priorities, and our plans for the spread of your love to people around us today and people around the world.

A Prayer for the Tanti People

God, we pray specifically today for the Tanti people of India and Bangladesh, for over 5 million of them who have little to no knowledge of your grace. God, we pray for their salvation. We pray that they might experience your blessings in Jesus. And God, we pray that you’d help us to rearrange our finances and our dreams for the spread of the gospel to people like and specifically the Tanti of India and Bangladesh.

God, we pray that you would help us to see ourselves today as slaves, as servants of people who need the gospel and to do whatever you’re calling us to do, to share your love with them, to lead them to life in you that we might share with them in your blessings. In Jesus’ name, we pray in the name of the one who laid down his life to serve us as a slave, to die on a cross for us. God help us to live as the overflow of his Spirit in us. Amen.