Serving God Right Where You Are
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17 Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters.
20 Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called.
21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.
24 Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.
Introduction:
3 “i am a slave of” “free in christ” “circumcised ears”
God Met Us Where We Were
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In the text:
Categories: Religious/Cultural and Social/Societal
Circumcision. Genesis 17:10-12
10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised.
11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring.
This was a practice among the Jews. It is both religious and cultural.
Paul doesn't circumcise Titus (Titus serves right where he is)
2 I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain.
3 But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us.
5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.
Likewise the circumcised should not try to be uncircumcised in order to serve....
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters.
Assimilation vs. Cultivation (we do not have to assimilate)
20 Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called.
POINT: We can serve God right where we are. We do not have to change our culture in order to serve Him (give illustration).
It doesn’t matter where you are, God can use you for His glory right there.
Slave and Free
Paul brings another dynamic into the mix, that of the slave and the free. His admonishment to the slave is “don’t let it concern you”
1 Corinthians 7:21 (CSB)
21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you....
The emphasis plays more to the idea of not letting that define you.
28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Your identity in ultimately found in Christ. With circumcision and uncircumcision he tells them to remain but here he does tell them to get free if they can.
21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
So our identity in Christ does not mean that we have to be bound to whatever lot we have. The focus here is that whatever is going on and wherever we are we ought to serve God in that capacity.
To the person that is free: he is to view himself as bound to Christ, for he (like all) was once a slave to sin but he has been redeemed.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.
Conclusion:
Our service is not based on where we are or any other thing that would try to define us. What we know is that we have been redeemed by God and we have been called to a good work (right where we are). Eph. 2:8-10
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Paul’s perspective...
11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.
12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
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