Tag: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

The Win Some Factor

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

winsome

In our Bible Study, for the next several months, we are studying selected passages from the Gospel of Luke.  Luke acts as historian in his account of the life of Jesus, and desires to put everything in the correct order and accounting.  In our study we’ve only just covered the early years of Jesus birth, and the few verses describing His childhood and young adult life before His ministry.  Even in these less than detailed descriptions Luke says, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” -Luke 2:52

This image is not of a madman, or a raving lunatic spreading myths and fantasies, or heresy.  The winsome nature of Jesus, His engaging smile, His attractive appearance, His appealing character, caused people in every village and town to come running to discover more about this Man.  In Luke 18 Jesus is teaching and people were bringing their babies to Him so He would touch them, and the disciples acting like sentries tried to stop the people.  It wasn’t because the babies were crying, or that the young children didn’t want to be there because they were scared of Him.  The disciples just thought Jesus too important to be disturbed in this way. Yet Jesus tells them, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” – Luke 18:15-17

No man, or woman, before or since, could appeal to the masses like Jesus.  It was His winsome nature that won them over.  And it causes me to pause and reflect on the words of the apostle Paul once again, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…” – Philippians 2:5.  Could it be that in this one phrase Paul has captured the very essence of the winsome nature of Jesus?  And could it not be said that what we should do, in fact must do if we truly want to reflect the light of love found only in Christ, that we must adopt this “Win Some” attitude found in Philippians 2?

Even a quick look around in many Christian circles today, it’s often all too easy to see judgmental, hypocritical, shallow attitudes of faith, poorly expressed, and dramatically ineffectual for changing our world.  These believers are not seen as “winsome”, like the Master they say they serve.  To the lost folk around them, these Christians are viewed more as a roach might view a can of “RAID,” and those lost folks run away in the opposite direction.  The lost are not attracted to this kind of faith, they are repelled by it.  Which might lend some understanding as to why Paul wrote to the church in Corinth,(who by the way, probably looked much like the description above), when he said, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul did his best wherever he went to have the attitude of Jesus, and be winsome with those he met, in order to win some to Christ in salvation.  Too many folks today, who I know are true believers in Jesus, just don’t communicate their faith well to those outside their circles.  They’re brash, and proud, and their condemning spirits precede them, and the world turns to run and hide.  This looks nothing like the winsome nature of Christ who said, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them…”

Only when we become childlike in our faith, trusting God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, trusting in Jesus’ power to save us, and allowing God’s miracle-working grace to transform us… will we truly become winsome in our nature and character, and begin to win some.

 

Winsome

The Zealous Nature

Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

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Have you ever known someone so exuberant, so passionately fanatical about something it made you feel apathetic or indifferent in comparison, even though you both were saying the same thing?  I’m always annoyed by those guys who can quote baseball or football statistics from 15 years ago, like it was front page news.  Who cares who hit .323 and is headed for the Hall of Fame as a 3rd baseman? Avid people do, apparently.

I really like playing golf.  In fact I probably would be called “avid” by people who don’t like golf.  However, as avid as I might be about the sport, and while I do have opinions which I tend to be passionate about regarding the game, I’m not zealous about it.  Well, let me think about that again.  Maybe I am.

Some of the synonyms for zealous include: devout, dedicated, hard-core, enthusiastic, card-carrying, intense, and fierce.  So, does being a card-carrying member of the USGA (United States Golf Association) make me zealous?  Does talking about the sport to anyone who’ll listen make me zealous?  Does joining a Senior Men’s Golf Association to play golf every Tuesday morning at 8:00am make me zealous.  Ok, I’m zealous.  But I’m not a Zealot.  I’m an avid golfer.

A Zealot is a fanatical partisan, but more specifically a religious zealot.  When applied to a specific group a Zealot was a member of a fanatical sect of Jews in Judea during the first century A.D., which opposed the Roman domination of Palestine so much they regularly planned assassinations of key Roman leaders in the middle east.  Today we would call them Terrorists.  The Zealots were the most radical of rebels within Israel, finally making a stand against Rome at a great fortress called Masada.  Here some 1,000 Zealots fought for a time, and when it became apparent the Roman army was going to overtake them, committed suicide rather than be captured alive.  Zealot came to mean someone who is passionately dedicated to some cause.  They weren’t just avid in joining the opposition to Roman rule, they were zealously called Zealots.  It rings of “give me liberty or give me death!”

The apostle Paul was zealous, yet not a Zealot in this political sense.  Paul was so passionate about convincing everyone he came into contact with, that Jesus was the Living Christ, that his whole existence was devoted to this cause.  Paul ate the job, talked the job, walked the job, slept the job.  Paul was the job.  If the job is “making disciples” like Jesus commanded us all to do (Matthew 28:19-20).  Paul’s overwhelming commitment to the task, makes me look like an amateur playing against the professionals.  Paul’s eloquence about Jesus makes my puny little articles seem like kindergarten text.

Even though my life-long goal has been to speak, teach, preach, and now write in such a way that people come to know God better, and entrust their lives to Jesus, compared to Paul, I seem like just an average avid “fan” of God, rather than a “fully-devoted follower of Christ.”  I hear in Paul’s words a message of encouragement to keep trying though.  Paul really doesn’t want me, or you, or anyone to compare ourselves to him.  He wants us all to use what we have, do what we can, and leave the results up to God’s own Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.  I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

There are very few people today who can live the zealous lifestyle of the apostle Paul, making their life-focus the gospel of Jesus, becoming all things to all men, so that by some means God will save some.  Yet, God doesn’t call us to be Paul.  God calls me to be me.  God calls you to be you.  And in this calling, God wants to use you to bring Him glory, experience His grace, and do whatever is necessary so that He can win some, save some, around you.

My desire is to become as zealous about speaking out for Christ, as I am about discussing golf.

What about you?

 

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