One Message, Many Methods

One Message, Many Methods
1 Corinthians 9: 19 – 23.

I. Introduction.

I am a week late on this information…Last Sunday—October 3, 2010—was the 50th anniversary of “The Andy Griffith Show.” The program aired on CBS television from October 3, 1960 until April 3, 1968. It ran for eight seasons and shot 249 episodes—I’m fairly sure I have seen each episode about a dozen times.

While I was not alive during the eight seasons “The Andy Griffith Show” was on television, I remember the show from its run in syndication. In fact, I would dare say that “The Andy Griffith Show” has probably been on television every day of my life—either on TBS or TVLand.

Do you have a favorite character from “The Andy Griffith Show?” Perhaps Andy was your favorite, because he was always able to solve problems in less than 30 minutes. Perhaps Barney was your favorite, because he could create problems for Andy to solve in less than 30 minutes. What about Helen Crump? Or Thelma Lou? Otis the town drunk? Or Ernest T. Bass?

Do you have a favorite episode? One of my favorite episodes was the one where they all went to church. (I know you expected me to say that, since I am a pastor.) There was a visiting preacher from out of town. He preaches a sermon with a refrain, “Relax…Slow down…Take it easy…” Of course, Barney slept through church. When he walked out the preacher’s door, he said, “Good sermon. Like I always say, You can’t preach enough on sin.”

The rest of the Sunday afternoon, all the residents of Mayberry work to refurbish the town Gazebo in order to have a Sunday afternoon band concert. By the end of the day, they realize they have not followed the advice of the sermon.

I can only think of one episode that was not funny. It was dramatic. Do you remember the time when Opie killed the momma bird? Andy made him raise the baby birds. Opie named them Inkin, Blinkin and Nod. By the end of the story, Opie learned his lesson and released the three birds back into the wild.

That may be the only sad episode…But there is something really sad about “The Andy Griffith Show.” It was fiction. Oh, but we wish it weren’t fiction. We wish the real world was more like Mayberry. We want to go down to Floyd’s Barber Shop and catch up on the town gossip. We want to pick up the phone and say, “Sarah, get me Aunt Bea on the phone.” We want to live in a town where the only crime is moon shining, and the only criminal is Otis—and only Otis has to serve 24 hours in jail…

It’s really not that sad for us to wish we lived in Mayberry. But, it is very sad to pretend like we do. For example, I think a lot of churches are organized for the people of Mayberry. We develop programs and ministries for a simpler time. We expect all families to have two parents. We expect the town and community to recognize the valuable services the church provides. Yes…If the real world ever returns to the fictional world of Mayberry, the churches will be well prepared.

If we can all recognize that we don’t live in Mayberry, we need to create churches that aren’t Mayberry churches. We need to be committed to the life changing story of the Gospel. But we need to present the Gospel in ways that our real world culture can hear the Gospel and respond.

The best way I know to say this is to say that our church needs to have one unchanging message—Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But we need to communicate our one unchanging message in many different methods. Perhaps this is what the Apostle Paul was talking about to the churches at Corinth…

Read 1 Corinthians 9: 19 – 23.

19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.(NIV)

In my experience, most people who quote this passage use it to rationalize their behavior. Perhaps they live an unconventional Christian life. They claim to be Christians, but they don’t really live like Christians. So, they turn to places like this in the Bible to claim that they are living a missionary lifestyle. They claim that by becoming more like the world, they are in a better position to share the Gospel with the world. But, is that really what Paul was saying?

Actually, I think Paul is saying something entirely different. We can grasp Paul’s point by looking carefully at the context and at Paul’s words…


II. Context.

1 Corinthians 9 falls in between 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. That seems obvious enough. But, I want you to notice the themes of 1 Corinthians 8 and 10.

1 Corinthians 8: 13, “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”

This verse sounds like Paul’s conclusion about meat sacrificed to idols. It only sounds like his conclusion, because I believe his argument does not end in chapter 8. It continues through chapter 9 and ends in chapter 10.

Meat sacrificed to idols does not seem to be a very big issue to you and me. However, there was no such thing as Brookshire Brothers in the ancient world. On one hand, people did not eat a lot of meat. Meat was a luxury item. On the other hand, the places where meat was most readily available were the places where animals were being sacrificed on a daily basis.

The animals were slaughtered as a part of pagan worship services. There were a lot of animals killed, and there was a lot of meat left over. The pagan temples would then sell that meat to the public.

Some Christians didn’t really see this as a dilemma. They knew that the pagan gods were not real gods. These gods didn’t actually exist. These gods didn’t actually possess any real power. Therefore, these Christians would eat the leftover meat.

Other Christians had a real struggle with this practice. They thought that eating meat sacrificed to idols was in actuality participating in idolatrous behavior. Where did they get this idea? From the Old Testament…

1 Corinthians 10: 18 – 21, “Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.”

Paul’s argument is based on the Old Testament as the Word of God. He refers to the Jewish practice of eating the meat of slaughtered animals as an act of worship. Then, he does two more things. First, he warns the Corinthians not to participate in idolatrous worship by eating tainted meat. Second, he encourages the Corinthians to make a choice between worshipping God and worshipping false gods.


1 Corinthians 10: 23 – 24, “"Everything is permissible"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-- but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

The NIV has placed the first quote in quotation marks. This is a way of interpreting this passage as something Paul has placed in the mouths of the Corinthians. In other words, this is a dialog between Paul and his readers. Since this is a written communication, Paul is the only one speaking. So, he is both asking their questions for them and answering their questions. We could read it like this… “You say everything is permissible. I say yes, but not everything is beneficial. You say everything is permissible. I say yes, but not everything is constructive. Remember, nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”


1 Corinthians 10: 31 – 11: 1, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

This is Paul’s conclusion to his teachings about meat sacrificed to idols. His conclusion includes three points. First, be very careful in your actions and make sure that everything you do brings glory to God and to no one else. Second, don’t do things that might cause other people to sin. Third, follow Paul’s example.

In my interpretation, this is the reason 1 Corinthians 9 appears in Scripture. Paul was setting himself up as an example for the Corinthians to follow. In fact, I think he is setting himself up as the example for all of us today to follow as well.

What was Paul’s example?


III. Paul’s Example.

In 1 Corinthians 9: 1 – 6, Paul insists that he is an Apostle. Apostleship in the New Testament had an exclusive membership. Everyone who claimed to be an Apostle had to have two characteristics. On one hand, they had to have personally seen the resurrected Jesus. On the other hand, they had to have been sent by Jesus to preach the Gospel. This is the literal meaning of the word Apostle—one who was sent.

Paul met both characteristics. In Acts 9, we read Paul’s conversion story. While Paul was on the road to Damascus to persecute the church there, Jesus appeared to Paul. In the rest of the Book of Acts, we read about Paul’s missionary journeys. On these missionary journeys, Paul preached the Gospel, established churches and even appointed elders, pastors and deacons to serve in the churches. The churches of Corinth were some of the churches Paul established. These churches were in and of themselves proof that Paul was a real Apostle.

As an Apostle, Paul was in an elite company of men. We don’t know how many Apostles there were, but we know that there were not very many. Apostles got special treatment from the early churches. The churches paid all the living expenses for the Apostles, so that they would not have to work. If the Apostles did not have to work for a living, they could devote themselves to full time ministry—preaching the Gospel is far away places and establishing more and more churches.

Yet, this was not Paul’s practice. Paul never accepted money for his work as an Apostle. Instead, he chose to work with his hands, making tents. However, he insists that he has every right to take money from the churches he served. He had a right, but he chose not to exercise his right.

This is the example Paul wants us to follow. When you and I became Christians, we received certain rights from God. It would be perfectly understandable for you to demand that your rights be upheld. In fact, we could even jump ahead to chapter 10 and say it would be “permissible” for you to demand your rights. However, not everything “permissible” is “beneficial.” Not everything “permissible” is “constructive.”

Paul never demanded his rights, because it was not the best thing for the church. He thought of the church more than himself. He placed the good of others above his own rights as an Apostle.

With that in mind, think of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9: 19 – 23…

Paul did not think of himself as a Jew anymore. His primary way to identify himself was as a follower of Jesus—a Christian. Yet, he was willing to live like a Jew in order to preach the Gospel to the Jews.

Paul did not consider himself a man under the Old Testament Law. When he placed his faith in Jesus, Jesus set Paul free from the Law. Yet, he was willing to forego his rights of freedom and to live according to the Law in order to preach the Gospel to those who lived according to the Law.

Paul did not live under the Law, but he also did not live a “lawless” life either. He lived according to the Law of Christ—The Law that Christ gave and the Law that is Christ himself. Yet, he was willing to live among lawless people in order to preach the Gospel to lawless people.

Paul’s fourth example is different from the first three. In the first three, Paul said he became LIKE a Jew, LIKE one under the Law and LIKE one who is lawless. In the final example, he did not use the word LIKE. Paul did not become LIKE a weak person. He actually became a weak person.

What do these examples have in common? Paul chose NOT to exercise his rights as a Christian. As a Christian, Paul did not have to live like a Jew…But he did, for the sake of the Gospel. As a Christian, Paul did not have to obey the Old Testament Law…But he did, for the sake of the Gospel. As a Christian, Paul did not have to live among lawless people…But he did, for the sake of the Gospel. As a Christian, Paul did not have to be a weak person who refused to eat meat sacrificed to idols…But he did, for the sake of the Gospel.

In a word, Paul SACRIFICED for the Gospel. We don’t really like the word SACRIFICE. We would much rather demand our rights as Christians and, as a consequence, live any way we want to live. But, Paul tells us that the church and the Gospel are worthy of our sacrifices.


IV. Conclusion: Following Paul’s Example.

Life in the church today is very hard. I have several friends who grew up with fathers who were pastors. Most of their fathers are retired today. And most of their fathers have told them that they could not do it today, because it is so different.

There are cultural differences today. We don’t live in Mayberry anymore. Perhaps, we never really lived in Mayberry…But we thought we did.

There are internal differences today. For the first time in history, the church consists of four or five generations of the same family worshipping together. Think about the number of 80 and 90 year olds in our church. Just 20 years ago an 80 year old would not be healthy enough to attend church every week. Today, our churches contain 90 year olds, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Have you ever stopped to think about how difficult it is to bring four generations together for worship? And how difficult it is to select music for four generations?

Have you ever stopped to think about the differences in the ways these four generations learn? For example, I am almost 40 years old. I was born in 1971. Two years before I was born, 1969, a new television program came out—Sesame Street. I grew up watching Sesame Street. I grew up learning by watching characters on a TV screen. If you are older than I am, you grew up learning by reading words on a page or listening to a lecture given by an expert. If you are younger than I am, you grew up with the Internet. On the Internet, you can learn anything you want to learn (and probably some things that you don’t want to learn).

This has huge implications for the church. We have One Message—Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But if we communicate our One Message in only One Method, we will not connect with the multiple generations inside our church and we will miss our opportunity to reach those outside the church.