As You Were

So if last week you thought “what does a passage about marriage have to do with a teenager” then this one we’re looking at tonight may really have you spinning! But it absolutely does have something to say to each of you! Harry Styles says, “you know it’s not the same as it was”, but Paul says it can be!

If you are a Christian, if you are living your life for Jesus, then you know that it totally changes your life. If you are not, then let me go ahead and assure you that it does. But tonight I want us to think a little about what exactly changes.

read 1 Cor 7.17-40

So what in the world does this mean for you? We have to remember that Paul is addressing a certain situation that was going on in Corinth with biblical wisdom. So we aren’t in the same situation they were in, but we do want the biblical wisdom! This is a skill we need to develop as we read the Bible, to see the wisdom and principles being used and see how they apply in our lives! So here’s what I believe it is for what we’re looking at tonight.

As Christians, we should live focussed on following God and his Kingdom.

Live for Jesus where you’re at.

You need to live for God, to follow Him and honor his commands, in the situation you’re in. You don’t necessarily have to leave where you are to do that.

Parker has strep… The NP wanted him to have a certain medicine but they were out of it at CVS so they called it into a new pharmacy. That meant the new pharmacy needed our insurance info. Kristen called me and asked me to go up there and take care of that. I was grabbing my stuff to leave and then it occurred to me that the pharmacy probably has a phone, so I called them. Malyn answered…

I was able to take care of it over the phone. I did what I was supposed to do without having to leave where I was.

You can probably honor God and follow his commands without leaving the situation you’re in.

Remember the context of the conversation we’re in. Paul has just been telling new Christians to stay in their marriages even if their spouses are not Christians. So he’s still talking to people who have recently become Christians, but even if you’ve been a Christians most of your life, it still applies and is helpful for us.

v19

Colossians 3:17 ESV

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean you stop doing all the things you were doing and leave and go do only church things. It means that you now live for God in everything you do. You don’t automatically have to change everything you are doing in your life.

You do need to get out of any situation that is sinful…

But outside of that, your situation does not have to change, but the way you see it does. Your motivation does. Your thoughts do.

So if you are…

you don’t have to quit or leave those things, but you are called to live for God and point people to Him while you’re there.

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Live for God where you are, and remember that where you’re at won’t last forever.

Live with a focus on forever.

Strive to live with eternity in mind, because it’s a lot longer that your life on Earth!

I love sports, y’all know this. I like professional sports, but I prefer college…

One of the differences in college and professional sports is personnel. In pro sports a lot of teams may decide that the players are more important because they’re the ones out there and a really special player could have a bigger and longer impact on a franchise than a coach. In college athletics, a coach is almost always going to be there longer than a player (unless we’re talking about Auburn football), so colleges focus more on their coach than a player. So in college if a player says, “I’m not playing for that coach” then they university is going to look at the long term and let that player go because they want long term health. But in the pros if a player doesn’t like a coach then the management might fire the coach to keep the player for as long as possible because they believe that will be better for them in the long run. I’m pretty sure the Cavs fired their coach when Lebron was with them because he wanted them to and they wanted to keep Lebron. They look at the long term and plan for the long term.

Paul is telling us this is how we should live our lives, with a focus on the long term and not what’s in front of us right now.

We want to be free of things that distract us from focussing on God’s Kingdom. But remember the point from verses 17-24, that doesn’t mean we get rid of everything else in our life, but we focus on honoring God, being salt and light as we do the things that we do. He alone is who we are serving.

1 John 2:17 ESV

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

So taking all of what we’ve looked at tonight, here is the biblical wisdom for us: Live your life in the situation God has placed you in and called you to and glorify Him in that assignment. As you do that, remember that the things of this world are not going to last forever.

So, you don’t need to drop out of school to go be a missionary. Be a missionary at school. Honor God as a student by doing your best. But remember that academics won’t last forever and you need to value your relationship with the Lord over your relationship with your GPA.

Students understand that there is more than just this life. You will last longer than just your time on this Earth. But it’s what happens in your time on this Earth that reveals what will happen afterwards. 1 Corinthians 7 has lots of warnings against sin. Sin is rebellion against God and God will rightly punish our rebellion. But our sin can be forgiven and we can spend our eternity with God in joy instead of apart from Him in punishment…