By Jeffery M. Leonard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biblical & Religious Studies, Samford University
JESUS DISPLAYED
1 Corinthians 9:16–27
In his book “Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery,” Yale surgeon Richard Selzer recounts a difficult scene following a facial operation he had performed.
The operation to remove a tumor from a young woman’s cheek had been a success, but there had been no way to avoid severing one particular nerve, which left the patient’s mouth permanently contorted.
As the woman’s young husband stood beside her hospital bed, Selzer had to give the difficult news that it would always be like that.
The woman fell silent, but the husband smiled and reassured her, “I like it. It’s kind of cute.” He then bent down to kiss her, twisting his own lips to match with hers, showing her that their kiss still “worked.”
We’ve seen adults who tower far above a small child stoop down to meet them at their own level. We’ve seen a stranger who has tried their very best to give directions even when English is not their first language. We’ve seen a person slow their pace to help an aging parent maneuver their way across a busy street or through a crowded store.
In each of these cases, we see examples of people leaving their comfort zones to adapt to the needs of someone else. In his first letter to the believers at Corinth, the Apostle Paul describes a similar process when it came to sharing the gospel with other people.
We have been given a commission to share Jesus. (16–18)
Few people have experienced a more intense call to share the gospel than Paul did. He saw his outreach not as the grounds for some sort of spiritual boasting but as a divine compulsion.
He described his calling as a necessity laid upon him and insisted, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” As Paul would say in his second letter to the Corinthians, “the love of Christ compels us” to spread God’s message (2 Cor. 5:14).
Step into the shoes of others to share Jesus. (19–23)
To bring more people to Christ, Paul says he made himself “a slave to everyone.”
When reaching out to his fellow Jews, Paul became “like one under the law.” When he reached out to Gentiles, he became “like one without the law.”
Although Paul may no longer have felt he was obligated to keep the kosher laws or observe the Sabbath, he would have done both of these when he was among his Jewish audiences.
And although Paul would not have participated in sinful actions among his Gentile audiences — after all, he insists he is not “without God’s law but under the law of Christ” — he would not have hesitated to eat Gentile food and attend Gentile events when he was among these non-Jewish groups.
As the apostle sums it up, “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”
Sharing Jesus takes discipline and self-denial. (24–27)
Paul wants his Corinthian readers to understand that while this kind of servant outreach is necessary, it does not come without a cost. He compares the process to that of an athlete who “exercises self-control in everything” in order to win the prize.
His encouragement, though, is that the prize we gain through this self-control far exceeds that of a perishable wreath. Ours is a reward that is imperishable and eternal.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The Sunday School lesson outlines are provided by Lifeway.
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