No Hindrance
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Welcome - finishing 1 Corinthians 7
We have been in a section where Paul primarily addresses some misunderstandings the Corinthians had about marriage. Remember, they had sent him a letter asking him to address some specific issues, and marriage is the first that Paul addressed.
So remember that Paul addresses issues specific to the church in Corinth. However, while we may not identify with the specific situation, there are universal principles that we can learn from how Paul handles these specific situations.
And today we will see Paul is again talking about marriage and how it is subordinate to serving Christ. And if something as important as marriage has been addressed so thoroughly by Paul and made secondary to serving Christ, how much more does that apply to all those things in our life that are far less important than our marriages.
So the general principle has far reaching application, maybe life-changing application - and that is that serving Christ and glorifying Him are more important than anything else we do in our time here on earth.
That’s something we know.
But is it something we live?
Well, we’ll explore that idea today.
Now, our passage today is a difficult one. First, it is difficult to translate well into English. There are a number of words and and phrases Paul uses here that are found nowhere else in the Bible. There are some words that are traditionally translated differently here than everywhere else in the Bible.
And because of that, the passage can be difficult to understand. So we are going to have to dip our toes in the weeds a little things morning, but I’m confident we can navigate our way through this.
Let’s begin with verse 25:
Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
Paul is still responding to things the Corinthians asked him. In verse 1 of this chapter we saw Paul start with “now concerning the matters about which you wrote.” Here, we see the second of many “now concerning...” statements that Paul makes the rest of the way in the letter.
Each time you see that, you know that he is responding to something that they asked him to address. Sometimes he quotes that they wrote - like we saw earlier in the chapter - and other times he just answers them concerning the matter.
Here is one of the matters, and we have no direct quote. The Corinthians asked Paul something in their letter about “the betrothed” - only it actually says “the virgins.” There are other words that mean “betrothed” that are used in the Bible. The word used here is the word used to describe Mary in the Gospels. And it is translated as “virgin” everywhere else in the New Testament.
What virgins is Paul talking about?
Paul already addressed the unmarried and married because the Corinthians were wondering if it would be better to abstain from fulfilling marital duties in order to be more holy. And Paul told them absolutely not, because if you’re married, you are not gifted with the ability to abstain, and you owe your spouse their rights.
And this is what he continued with. Last week we saw that Paul made it clear that no matter where you are in life as a follower of Christ, you have the opportunity - and the ability - to glorify Him right where you are. To live for Him in whatever situation you are in.
Here, they asked a specific question about virgins. This is talking about the virgin daughters of those who asked the question - some men wanted to know if they should give their daughters in marriage.
Because the custom was that the Father would arrange the marriage for his daughter. A girl didn’t get married without her father’s say. He was responsible for her in every way until she got married and that responsibility became her husband’s.
And based on the whole passage, this is probably referring to betrothed - or engaged - virgins.
So apparently, the Corinthians here asked something along those same lines from the first question about marriage: “should we be giving our virgin daughters in marriage.”
And once again, Paul says that Christ Himself has not addressed this matter directly. So he has no command given by Jesus. Neither does Paul give a command. But he offers his opinion on the matter, and he once again urges the Corinthians to think about this, especially because it comes from someone who is trustworthy, or faithful, in Paul.
And his answer is:
I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.
And this “he” is a universal “he.” Grammatically it refers to both men and women.
He also mentions this “present distress.” What is the present distress he is talking about? This is a word Paul uses in a few places in his writings. He uses it to refer to the present age from a Christian point of view.
This is talking about the time between Christ’s two comings through which the Church would expand through the suffering she would endure. Christ warned about it. Paul warns about it over and over. Peter talks about it. Jude talks about it. The book of Revelation is all about it.
This is what Paul is referring to here.
But we are so far removed from the first-century context here that we don’t necessarily correlate distress and being a Christian. Especially since the western world had been culturally Christian for so long - up until about 50 years ago.
But I remind you again that there are brothers and sisters around the world suffering for their faith. To be a Christian in many countries means distress, or trouble.
But in Paul’s time, being a Christian anywhere meant distress. Think about his journey to establishing the church in Corinth. Go read Acts and see all the beatings he took. All the slander he endured. How many times he had to flee because of danger. He had even been arrested once already.
All for nothing more than speaking the truth.
And even in Corinth, the Jews came against Paul, and it was there that he said for the final time, “that’s it, I am going only to Gentiles.”
Paul knew distress.
And what about the Corinthians?
Well, in Corinth, a metropolis that was on a major trade route - in Greece, which was still the intellectual center of the ancient world - there was a certain type of distress.
It may not be the same as what Paul had already endured and would endure. But we have seen how the Corinthians were assailed on all sides with worldly thinking, and worldly wisdom, and some false doctrine - and how the church was suffering because of it. They were losing their way because of the influence of the world.
That is much more like us here in America. We aren’t beaten or arrested for our faith. But the world comes against us. With the enticements it has to offer, with the wisdom it has to offer, and with false doctrine.
Once again, our situation isn’t very different from the Corinthians to whom Paul is writing.
So Paul says - in this present trouble - where you are drawn away from Christ on so many sides - you shouldn’t worry about changing your situation - and that means it would be good to stay unmarried if you aren’t yet married.
This is what we talked about last week. Paul is still talking about how we need to think in terms of our call and not of our worldly situation. Because we are not of the world. We may fall into living like it, like some of the Corinthians did.
The Corinthians had already been so influenced by things outside the church.
Paul tells them and us that we need to stop looking at those worldly things and being swayed by them. Just serve Christ right where you are.
We all need to be content to stay as we are.
That’s what Paul’s talking about:
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
Paul already touched on this a couple of paragraphs ago. As a concession, he suggested to the unmarried to think about staying unmarried. But if they were married, he said that’s fine, just serve Christ as a husband or wife.
If you want to get married, that’s fine, but seek God’s glory through your marriage.
So he repeats again what he said there:
But if you do marry, you have not sinned
Again, avoid extremes. Paul did.
Not everyone has the same desires and capacities as others. That’s why staying celibate is not for everyone. It is not sinful to get married.
So Paul here is doing a little review of what he’s already said, because he is addressing this other question. The first question the Corinthians had was about the married, and that’s why Paul said what he said.
Here, they are asking about giving their daughters in marriage, so Paul applies the same principle.
But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries [or if a virgin marries], she has not sinned.
So, Paul reminds them what he said about the married, and applies it to giving your daughter in marriage. It isn’t sin either way.
But, in view of the present distress that Paul talked about, Paul gives a warning:
Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.
Now, is Paul saying that we will have more trouble if we marry? Yes.
But keep this in the larger context. Paul just said that he suggests singleness because of the present distress. We already have to contend with the distractions of the world.
Here, this “worldly troubles” is literally “fleshly troubles,” or “trouble in the flesh.” And he uses a different word for trouble here.
What is the trouble - it can also be translated as “burden” - that the married will have? It is their responsibilities to their spouse and family. Because Paul made it clear - you are responsible to carry out your obligations to your spouse.
Once married, you are no longer responsible just for yourself.
And let me say it again: avoid extremes. Because if we take everything Paul says as applying to literally everyone, then he contradicts himself multiple times in this chapter alone.
Because now he offers a clarification to this statement - those who marry will have worldly troubles:
This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.
Clearly, after Paul has already said that one who is married has a responsibility to their spouse that must be fulfilled, and also said that it is perfectly fine to get married if you want to, this “let those who have wives live as if they have none” would be a huge contradiction if that is a blanket statement.
If he means by this that you should ignore your spouse - then this negates a lot of what he already said.
And the problem here, is a Greek to English one. Because the verb used in this explanatory statement is difficult if not impossible to translate directly. This is why, as I always say, don’t buy into the fallacy that any English Bible is a “word for word” translation. That’s false advertising.
What is it that Paul is saying? He is talking about a mindset. He is talking more about how he wants the Corinthians to do what they actually do, and not about what they should do.
He is talking about your current situation - including marriage - not being your primary focus.
Again, serving Christ and glorifying Him are more important than anything else we do in our time here on earth.
This goes to what we looked at the last two weeks. In marriage, you have a unique opportunity to serve God. Use it. In singleness, you have a unique opportunity to serve God. Use it.
Because Paul’s focus, remember, is on the call of God.
No matter our situation, we cannot forget that first and foremost, we are to glorify God.
That’s why I pointed out - the reason I love my beautiful wife is not for the myriad reasons there are to love her. It is first because I want to honor God in my marriage. I love her because I love God. Serving her is serving Him.
This is very similar to what Paul is saying here.
And I know that some of you are going to be shocked by this, but I am actually going to quote the New Living Translation because I think it grasps the spirit of what Paul is saying here better than any other translation:
New Living Translation Chapter 7
From now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them.
Paul says not to lose the forest for the trees, as they say.
The Corinthians thought what they did mattered more than how they did it. So they said, let’s not get married. Let’s not let our daughters marry.
And Paul tells them that they are looking at this all wrong.
It is not sin to get married, but your marriage is to be about God and His glory. My marriage is about God before it is about me and my wife.
In the same way, Paul says there are reasons to weep and reasons to rejoice - but the things that we weep about and rejoice about in this world need to be kept in the right place. There is a world to come that is far more important than this world that is full of distress for the believer.
Jesus wept over some things of this world and rejoiced over some things of this world. Clearly it isn’t sinful to do these things.
Just like there is nothing wrong with having worldly possessions. Jesus had worldly possessions. His cloak was so nice the Roman soldiers gambled for it. But don’t be absorbed with such things.
All that to say, none of these things are sin, as long as they are not your focus. You can do these things, but how do you do these things? It needs to be for God’s glory.
Time is short, Paul says, and what we lose, what we gain - what makes us happy in this life or what makes us sad - they are not eternal.
The age where those things matter at all is coming to a close.
Again:
This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
Paul says the appointed time has grown very short. And that may seem odd to us considering he wrote this almost 2,000 years ago. But 2,000 a drop in the ocean of eternity.
Because there is an appointed day that we do not know. On that day, the total of the elect of God will have been called, Christ will return, and we will be with Him forever.
That might be today. It might be another 2,000 years from now. But we are closer to it each day.
The appointed time for the church to do what we are here to do is getting shorter every day.
So, Paul says, we cannot put our attention on the things of this world. We cannot focus on this world.
The focus of our marriages should be God.
Through mourning or rejoicing, our focus should be God.
Though we may obtain worldly things, they are not an end in themselves - they need to be used for God’s glory.
Though we deal with the world - and we already saw: we are called to deal with the world - the things of the world can’t be our focus. The world is not to affect us. We are to affect the world for God’s glory.
Because this present world is passing away. We are closer to it each and every day - each and every moment. And when this world is remade - mourning will be gone, right along with our worldly possessions - and what will matter then?
Christ our King.
So what should matter now?
That is Paul’s point. Yes, go ahead, give your children in marriage. It is not sinful by any means. But realize that time is short, and as Christians, they are to be part of the mission of the church.
And in marriage, you have responsibilities, and they are right and good to fulfill, and yes, God can be glorified through your marriage - and should be! - just remember that in fulfilling those responsibilities you cannot lose sight of what’s most important.
Paul expands on this with what he says next:
I want you to be free from anxieties.
Okay, I’m going to stop here for a minute. Because if we take this to the extreme, then Paul contradicts himself. Keep this in context. It is the anxieties about fulfilling marital responsibilities that he is talking about. And that’s obvious, because of what he says:
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.
Paul is not saying that being concerned with pleasing Christ is a bad thing, obviously. So the way he uses the word “anxieties” doesn’t mean all cares. Being anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please Him are good anxieties.
Which is why he says:
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.
The anxieties Paul wants, or wishes that, the Corinthians would be free from are those that come with marriage. Because, and Paul puts it very frankly, once you get married, your interests are divided.
I used to be responsible for my soul and my walk with God. I am now married with two unmarried daughters, and I am responsible for their souls and their walk with God. And that is how it’s supposed to be.
But it is an added anxiety or concern. My interests are divided between making sure I am obedient to Christ, and that they are obedient to Christ. I have responsibility for my soul, and for theirs.
But Paul is also speaking even more practically here. There are practical, day to day responsibilities I have to my family. Paul already spoke about the conjugal rights owed to one’s spouse. But there are many more.
When my wife and I counsel young men and women who are getting married, we will often remind them how much different life is going to be when you share a living space with someone married people do.
And most are still starry-eyed and think sharing a living space and one small bathroom is going to be continual bliss. We all think that. Until we have to do it and reality sets in.
And so, my wife and I warn them that it’s gonna take work. It’s gonna take effort. It takes work to be successful in marriage. A good marriage takes work in all aspects. If you are married, you know that.
This is what Paul is talking about. Interests are divided even though all we do as a family can be done to the glory of God. There are other concerns. Other interests.
And once again, Paul says that this goes equally for women. This is actually the point he builds to.
And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.
Here Paul adds in this part about body and spirit. He is referring back to what we already saw - the two are inseparable.
Remember, the Corinthians thought that sharing their bodies in marriage might corrupt them spiritually, so it might be better not to use their bodies that way.
Here, Paul is not agreeing with them, as we saw he already shot that idea down. But what does happen in marriage - since each spouse’s body belongs to the other and the physical and spiritual cannot be separated - is that by fulfilling what is right to fulfill in marriage, you are dividing yourself between God and your spouse.
In the marriage bed, what belongs to God - your body and spirit - is shared with your spouse. That is a divided interest.
And ultimately, Paul is not saying this is bad. He is warning that it can present challenges to serving God whole-heartedly.
Look at what he says:
I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
Again, Paul is clear that there is no command here. There is not even an intimation that being or getting married is somehow outside of God’s will.
So why did Paul say this? For their benefit. He wants them to consider how they will be divided when they live to please God and also their spouse.
But there’s more. Paul is saying it to promote good order and to secure their undivided devotion to the Lord.
And this is an interesting phrase here. This “to secure your undivided devotion” is just two words in the Greek, both of which appear only here and nowhere else in the Bible. They don’t appear in the Greek Old Testament, either.
And this presents problems for translators.
Because the “undivided” here is not a negation of the word Paul uses for “divided” earlier in the passage. It is an adverb that means “without hindrance.”
The second word is actually an adjective. It means “consistent” or “steadfast.” It is a word that was used to describe an attendant or servant who was a sort of personal assistant to their master. Who would never leave their side. Who was constantly in service to their master.
So if we put this all together, what Paul says here is that all he has said is not for the purpose of giving a command, but to encourage good, and steadfast service to the Lord with no hindrance.
Good, and steadfast service to the Lord with no hindrance. And marriage can become a hindrance. But don’t limit this to marriage. Any number of other things hinder us from steadfastly serving Christ.
The enticements of the world. The wisdom of the world. False doctrine.
Idols of the heart. Pride. Rationalizing sin.
Our desire to be accepted among our peers, our desire to have more, all the way to how we use our phones.
There are hindrances around every corner and in every pocket.
Are you hindered in serving Christ in any way? What’s your hindrance? Let’s come back to that.
Understand that we should think of what Paul says in this passage as a warning. The unmarried don’t need to worry about being hindered by a spouse in their service to Christ. The married need to worry about that.
But he isn’t saying it’s a given. He isn’t saying: “if you get married, you will be less devoted to the Lord.”
No. He is warning the married - or those getting married - that there is a very real danger in marriage. You can let your responsibility to your spouse become more important than your responsibility to your God.
He is not saying as a universal rule that all who are unmarried serve God more consistently than those who are married. He is saying they have one less thing - and a big thing at that - to pull them from serving God.
He is not saying that getting married means you are less devoted to God. He is saying that marriage puts some major responsibilities on you that can very easily distract you from your service to God.
And once again, Paul knows that staying unmarried is not for everyone.
He has already said that the unmarried should get married if they are not gifted to remain celibate.
And he says the same thing here again about a man giving his daughter in marriage.
If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin.
Or as it can also be translated, since the people can once again be male or female here:
If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his virgin [his unmarried daughter], if her passions are strong, and it has to be, let him [the father] do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin.
He says that if you’re daughter is not one of the few gifted to remain unmarried, then let her get married.
And once again, Paul qualifies all he has said by saying: “it is no sin.” Again, it is not a blanket statement that getting married means someone is less devoted to God than all unmarried people. That’s going to the extreme.
In fact, Paul has already said that if you are not gifted to stay celibate, that you should get married because of the danger of falling into sin. In other words, for many of us, there is a greater danger in not getting married.
But there is a benefit to staying unmarried if you can because you are free from the additional anxieties of family life.
Which is why Paul says:
But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.
I will offer this translation, and this time there is actually a feminine adjective used:
But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity - but she has her own desire under control and she is resolved in her heart - he will do well to keep her as his virgin.
Again, this is not for everyone, which is why Paul lays down these stipulations.
Dad, are you firmly established in your heart that this is for your daughter? Does she have her physical desires under control? Has she determined in her heart this is right?
And this being resolved in her hear is different than being firmly established in heart. That talks about being firm in a decision. This talks about feeling no conviction over the decision.
In other words, you better be darn sure this is for her.
If it isn’t, then that’s fine. But if it is, then she has a unique opportunity to not have her interests divided:
So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.
Note, again, not only is it not sin to get married, but it is good to get married.
But what about the initial question about giving your daughter in marriage?
Well, this is actually the answer. The NASB gives a better translation:
1 Corinthians 7:38
So then, both the one who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better.
In other words, if your daughter wants to be married, let her get married. It’s a good thing.
But if she can live as a virgin, even better. She won’t have to divide her responsibilities.
There is actually nothing new here that Paul hasn’t already said about the married and unmarried earlier in the chapter.
But then Paul seems to throw out this non-sequitur:
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
How does this idea follow from what Paul just said.
Well, it doesn’t from the immediate context.
But in the larger context, he is still discussing the overall topic of marriage and may even be addressing another particular situation in Corinth.
But taking the whole chapter together, this follows as the conclusion to everything the Corinthians asked about marriage. After talking about fulfilling your responsibility to your spouse, Paul says that if you are gifted to stay single, do it.
And then he specifically addresses the unmarried and widows:
To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
In our passage today, he addresses the unmarried, and now he returns to the widows:
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
Paul tells the widows in Corinth: if your spouse dies, and you want to remarry, you are free to marry again.
However, Paul puts a stipulation here. He says that a widow may only in the Lord.
Meaning, only marry another Christian.
Why would he say that?
Well, as we have seen, if you enter into a marriage, then are called by Christ unto salvation, and your spouse is not, then you are to stay in the marriage because you have an opportunity for God to work through you for their salvation.
But Paul also wants to be practical. And this whole chapter is very practical.
Paul already spoke about the divided interests someone has when they are married. This is exacerbated when you are a believer married to an unbeliever. You are much more likely to have your focus shift from God onto the things of the world when you now have responsibilities to someone who is of the world.
So, if you are a believer and are widowed, you should not marry an unbeliever.
Again, this is very practical.
But Paul is also pulling from the Old Testament and traditional Jewish teachings on the Old Testament.
In the book of Deuteronomy, we read that a woman is released from the marriage bond if her husband dies. But based on the laws about marriage with non-Israelites, a widow could only marry within the ethnic people of Israel.
Here, Paul takes these principles that are taught in the Mosaic law, and makes them part of the moral law that apply to the church as God’s people.
Because if you marry an unbeliever, you are dividing your loyalties between God and the world.
So marry in the Lord, Paul says to the widows.
But again, Paul wants to repeat that if she is gifted to be single, then she should stay single:
Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Paul thinks she would be happier remaining single. The word here, though, is usually translated as “blessed.” Paul’s opinion is that she would be more blessed is she stays single if she can.
And then he throws in this other odd statement: “and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.”
What does that mean?
Well, as someone who is faithful or trustworthy to teach, Paul would certainly be guided by the Spirit in His teaching here. But Paul doesn’t say: “this is my judgment and I have the Spirit of God.”
He says, “and I too have the Spirit of God.” Who else claimed to have the Spirit of God guiding their judgments?
The only option is the Corinthians who wrote to him. They were claiming that their understanding about certain matters - including celibacy and marriage - were led by the Spirit of God.
But here, Paul has disagreed with everything they’ve said so far, and we will see in the coming chapters that he will disagree with even more.
Paul is telling them that they should listen to what he has to say. That they aren’t as “led by the Spirit” as they claim. They are like so many modern-day Christians who claim they are led by the Spirit to do all sorts of things.
It ain’t necessarily so. We very often mistake our own desires for being “led by the Spirit.”
Be careful.
And speaking of our desires, I circle back back to where we started.
Serving Christ and glorifying Him are more important than anything else we do in our time here on earth.
That’s something we know.
But is it something we live?
Is it something we want?
Because we are called to, as Paul says, good and steadfast service to the Lord with no hindrance.
So here is my question: What have you been allowing to hinder you?
And it can be very subtle. Just like marriage is a good thing but can be a hindrance, so can any number of good things hinder us - this isn’t necessarily about sin.
This is why we need to be intentional in what we do with our time here on earth. Otherwise, all those other good things will hinder us from serving Christ. From spending time with Him. From enjoying the benefits of our union with Him.
I am going to challenge us this morning.
Be intentional an unhindered for an hour and forty minutes. Let’s add an hour and forty minutes of Jesus into our lives this week.
168 hours - 1:40 is 1% of the time we have this week
Let’s devote one more percent of our week to Jesus. And let’s do it every week until it is a regular part of our life.
Most of us can find that time by putting our phones down or shutting the TV off for less than 15 minutes a day. Or, you can get up about 15 minutes earlier than normal to make up that time.
And here is what you can do to meet this challenge:
If you are not serving in a ministry, then remember that no matter your situation, you are gifted to serve Christ. Choose a ministry to serve it. GriefShare, hospitality, Youth Group. And you don’t need to be out front, leading a group. There is always something to do to help the leaders of these ministries.
We need help on Sunday mornings - when you’re already here. We need help with clean up after fellowship time, we need someone to help administrate the cafe schedule, we need people to refill the seat backs with welcome cards and pens, we can always use help at the welcome desk, and we can always use more ushers.
If you are already serving - and many of you are serving in multiple ways, praise God! - then come to the prayer meeting on Wednesday night. Or, join a community group. If none of our groups work for your schedule, maybe you want to start a community group - a Bible study or a discussion group or a fellowship group.
Or, use that time you have now set aside, and read your Bible. In addition to what you already do. Read one of those Old Testament books you’ve never read. Try reading a letter of Paul in one sitting. Commit for realsies this time to reading through the Bible in a year - if you read the ESV, you can do in that 15 minutes a day reading 33% slower than an average reader.
Or spend that time praying for all of the ministries here at MCC, one by one. I will send you a prayer list, if you want.
And here’s the real challenge, if you can’t add in the 1%, figure out why. You need to find your hindrance, because it is keeping you from growing closer to Christ. And you need to remove it from your life.
The appointed time is growing short. No matter where we are in life, let us shift our focus - just a little more - onto Christ, starting right now.
To echo Paul: I say this for our benefit, not to lay any restraint on us, but to promote good and steadfast service to the Lord with no hindrance.
Let’s pray that God would remove every hindrance from our lives that we may be devoted to Him.
