Are We Winning?
Notes
Transcript
What does “winning” look like for Christians?
Paul is responding to criticism of his ministry and apostleship (v. 1-12a).
Paul claims he has not received nearly as much benefit from his labors as he was entitled (v. 12b-19).
What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
Paul “won” by giving up his rights.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
Paul “won” Jews by submitting himself to the disciplines of the Jewish synagogue.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
Paul “won” Jews by submitting himself to Jewish abuse.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
Paul “won” Gentiles by submitting himself to the injustice of Gentile courts.
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
Paul “won” Gentiles by enduring the dangers of reaching them.
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.
Paul “won” the weak by sharing their weakness.
And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
Paul “won” the weak by worrying more over their problems than his own.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
For Christians, winning is not imposing our desires or demanding our rights.
For Christians, winning is paying the price of being persuasive for the gospel.