Issue 16 - Day 5

1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9:19-22
19)  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20)  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21)  To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22)  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

We continually struggle with the question of how to reach people. Most often we are trying to reach a particular people group, and this passage explains why we are failing. However, we ask the same question of our own peer group, and that raises another issue.

The bottom line is simple, in order to reach someone you have to be where they are. You can’t witness to the queen if you stack shelves for a living, and you can’t witness effectively to the guys in your local pub if you live in a castle. The best person to reach Albanians is an Albanian, and the best person to reach a nurse is a nurse. Why is this? Well, as Paul says, in order to save some, you have to become like them, at least to a certain extent. He does say not to be totally like them, as I did at University, for then you have no witness at all. Be a witness, and understand where people are at.

Underneath all of that however, none of this is any good if you do not open your mouth and share the gospel. The word of God is given to us, not only to show us how to live, but in order to give it to others. It is good to hold God’s word in our hearts, but it must also come out through our mouths.