1 Corinthians 9:19-22
Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 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. 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. 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.
When I started to title this morning’s sermon notes, I was interested in where the expression ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’ originally came from. As it turns out, the origin of the idiom was first seen in print in 1777, in Interesting Letters of Pope Clement XIV: “The siesta or afternoon’s nap of Italy, my most dear and reverend Father, would not have alarmed you so much, if you had recollected, that when were at Rome, we should do as the Romans do.” Wow, this bit of news is so appropriate for our discussion this morning.
Thanks to my wife, I’ve had the privilege of traveling all over the world, and one of our frequent stops is Rome. And sure enough, Italians religiously take midday naps. In matter of fact, nothing is more important to the citizens than their rest, relaxation and fellowship. When it’s siesta time, everything shuts down. You could be buying a $1,000 item, but at break time, all bets are off. They shut down. That’s what Romans do.
Now the thought of losing money for a nap is ludicrous to our American sensibilities. We value money pretty much above everything. But that’s not the case in Italy. So when you visit you have to learn to leave your preconceived American notions of right and wrong back home. But unfortunately more often than not, Americans barge in and demand the entire world accept our myopic view of correctness; and frankly, it’s really embarrassing. We are a laughing stock in many countries in the world. And you know I wouldn’t care if it were just money or habits; but sadly, our cultural biases often impact the dissemination of the Gospel, and that’s not okay.
The Apostle Paul, in defending his apostleship to the Gentile Christians in Corinth, made what may be one of the more inflammatory comments ever made in biblical history. Paul openly admitted to caring for people over principles. Here in this text he testifies to allowing his long held believes, biases, opinions and feelings to be pushed aside in favor of winning the heart of a brother or sister. And we know Paul had a really stringent and strict upbringing. But something happened to him that made his own viewpoints insignificant in comparison to winning souls.
This is truly a breakthrough concept. Most of my life, I’ve heard church folk arguing that their way, their denomination, their vision, their church or fellowship was correct, and anyone differing with them was, not only wrong, but unsuitable for salvation. Oh yes, it got that serious. We’ve had arguments, disagreements and divisions over almost everything: with no resolution in sight. But Paul saw something different. Paul saw through the differences and was able to grasp the enormity of the commission we’ve been charged with. Our job is to win souls, not arguments.
So you can imagine when I finally learned of my many Faux pas (embarrassing mistakes) in Italy and all over the world, I felt like a real ‘dummy’. I didn’t take the time to learn about the people who I was going to visit. I didn’t do what I needed to do to show that I genuinely cared. I thought it was all about me. On vacation, you might can get away with it. But not when it comes to winning souls.
Dear People of God, the Spirit of Christ in us is, in effect, the Spirit of love. And love demands that we share. And sharing demands that we care. You cannot in any way say that you have the Spirit of Christ and at the same time care more about yourself, your image, your viewpoints or even your limited view of righteousness than a soul in need of saving. Jesus didn’t. Neither can we.
God bless
