Connecting Points

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 9:16–23 NLT

16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! 17 If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. 18 What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News. 19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

Interview with a reporter at 19 years old.

Not the kind people I expected to work with (different age).

Did not have a team with me.

I had to get over my surprise and learn to see the world the way these kids did.

Only one ever came to church, just a few times.

The exception proved the rule. Donnie, met my mom before coming to church. When he came to church, he sat with her.

He was the only one of the dozen kids I worked with several times a week that summer who made a connecting point with anyone besides me.

Later that summer, I was interviewed by our conference for a conferencewide newsletter article. They were excited to have young people out there willing to connect with youth and children. I explained to the reporter that I struggled relating to these kids that were ten years younger and more than me. I told him that it really didn’t matter if I was 20 or 50 or 80 years old, I still had to get down on their level, which was very different from my own. It was a challenge, but we do it because Jesus got down on our level to connect with us.

Thesis: We have to move beyond ourselves and connect with others in order to share God with them.

Point 1: (vs. 16-18) Would you do it for free?

There are two types of ways we get connected into God’s Kingdom ourselves. We get invested and we get involved.

Invested - believing in something enough to provide for it to grow. We have heard a lot about investments in the news this week and the way your investments reflect back upon your own life. If you are invested in God’s Kingdom, you should expect it to have an impact on your life. As part of the Body, we rejoice with those other parts when they have something to celebrate and we mourn with those who suffer loss because we are invested in each other, together.

The Bible Project - I received an email this week from The Bible Project, thanking me for donating to them and sending me a tax receipt. It is a wonderful ministry that offers bible study videos I have learned from personally and shared with some of you, and they offer it all for free. I give to them because God gives me a little bit I can use to bless others and I believe in the importance of their ministry. It is a small amount, but that is the level of my investment with them.

I am not invested in GameStop. Their great wins or losses will have less affect on me than those who are invested.

We need to be more than investors in God’s Kingdom though. We are called to get involved.

Involved - means putting your time, energy, and service where your money is. Those who get involved are saying that they believe in God’s Kingdom enough that they are going to the front lines to make sure it grows.

After 9/11 I had several classmates who joined the military because they did not want to just be invested in our nation through taxes and donations. They wanted to be involved. When the pandemic broke out last year, we had people who went back to work on the front lines as nurses and caregivers to help keep others safe. That is involvement.

Paul shared with the Christians in Corinth that he was both invested and involved. He would gladly preach for free. He was not a professional. He was a person who loved Jesus enough to give his all and let Jesus lead in all his choices. He was not just a disciple maker on Sunday, or when he had a class or crowd gathered. He was a disciple maker in all circumstances, 24/7.

Point 2: (vs. 19-23) Shipwrecked victims

Paul understood that accepting the saving grace of Jesus was just the first step in becoming a disciple - getting invested and involved in God’s Kingdom. Here is analogy - a picture of what the kingdom of God in a local church could look like.

Imagine a shipwreck off the coast somewhere, one so bad that many of the people are trapped under the water.

under water - those trapped under water need strong swimmers maybe with oxygen tanks to rescue them and get them above water where they can breathe.

in the water - those breathing, but still in the water need rescue boats to get them out of the water, safely to shore.

out of the water - those on the shore need swimming instructors to help teach the rescued people how to get back in the water and help the work of the rescue operation. These are the people who take the rescued and get them invested and involved in the work that saved their own life.

It takes all three types

First, we need to make sure we are spiritually stable enough to be brough to shore. You cannot jump in and save others before you know how to swim, no matter how much you care for them. But you can point them out to those who are willing and able to dive in to pull them up.

Those who have been freshly pulled out of the water can encourage others in the boats, but those boats are not made to hold people forever. The longer we ride the boat around without getting invested and involved in the rescue, the more we are taking up room that others need to be rescued as well.

Finally, those on the shore have to choose to get trained and get back in the after.

Willing and Able

We need to make ourselves available (willing) so that God can equip us (make us able) to serve in God’s work of Salvation. God can equip us, but it is our choice to be willing to help others along. To put that another way, we may prefer and choose to serve in one way, but God has designed us all to rely on His gifts and be willing to do any of those jobs when those opportunities arise.

That is what Paul meant when he was willing to be a swimming coach for the Jewish leaders, getting the, back into the water and teaching them how to share the saving grace of Jesus. Among those Jews Scattered and lost in foreign lands, he was willing to be a boat captain, gathering them together and encouraging them. For the utterly lost Gentiles, he was willing to hold his breath and dive deep into their lives, not forgetting that he needed to breathe himself, but going after them who would never show up to church on their own.

Criticism

Working in the food pantry - it’s always easy to get food donated. The hard part is getting enough volunteers to pack the bags, assist the clients, and talk to the people. It is easy to sit back and criticize a ministry for helping with physical needs and not spiritual ones, until you volunteer to be the person helping that ministry with their spiritual needs.

Change is not bad. It is necessary for growth. The difference between a suggestion and a criticism can often be perceived by how personally invested and involved the person is in the ministry they are trying to help change.

Paul was very careful with his criticisms. He, like Jesus, saved them for those who were or claimed to be spiritually mature. Where is the fruit of your labors?

CTA:

Have you made it to shore? Some of you have not. Some of you are not even in a boat yet. You need a connecting point - someone who has made it to shore and can help you along. You need a disciple-maker. It’s not a prayer or a program you need, you need a person to help you get to the shore.

Willingness to be invested and involved can happen in a moment - just like salvation. It is a choice. Testing your willingness is being honest with ourselves about where we are willing to invest and serve, and where we are not. You might be surprised.

There are small investments that I have made in the past that I have not even noticed until a thank you note comes around. There are also larger investments that I was not sure I could make, that ended up making me more connected.

The same applies to getting involved. Life is never dull when you are part of the Kingdom of God. You never feel in control, but God takes you places and helps you meet and connect with people you would have never experienced on your own.

Are you willing to join with us and let God make a disciple-maker out of you?