Now, even though I am free from obligations to others, I joyfully make myself a servant to all in order to win as many converts as possible. I became Jewish to the Jewish people in order to win them to the Messiah. I became like one under the law to gain the people who were stuck under the law, even though I myself am not under the law. And to those who are without the Jewish laws, I became like them, as one without the Jewish laws, in order to win them, although I’m not outside the law of God but under the law of Christ. I became “weak” to the weak to win the weak. I have adapted to the culture of every place I’ve gone so that I could more easily win people to Christ. I’ve done all this so that I would become God’s partner for the sake of the gospel.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 TPT
Have you ever been talking to a small child and while talking to them you bend over so your eyes are even with thier eyes? Why do we do that? As I read this passage this is what I picture. Paul squating down so that he can see eye to eye with the people that he is called to.
Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians is letting them know that what he does he is doing willingly not out of obligation but out of a hunger to see people brought to Christ. He is giving us an example of what Christ also did. He left his culture and went into another. He didn’t used his position to force his culture on people, he went in with the idea of adapting to the culture first and then bringing in kingdom culture. The other thing he didn’t do was He didn’t go in with the desire to only share the gospel. He went in with the idea of building trust and relationships with people first. He understood the principle of empathy. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. When we look at Jesus this is the same thing he did. He came to earth as we are not as he was. He didn’t come as God but as man, there were many reasons for this but one of them was to identify with where we are at. I love how the Passion translation puts it “to gain the people who were stuck”. Are we going to the stuck places and entering in with people where they are at? I get a picture of driving down the road and seeing someone stuck in mud. Wouldn’t it be easy to just yell out the window to tell them how to get unstuck? But that isn’t what we are called to do. We are called to get our of our car and push, pull, get dirty with those that are stuck. We are called to go into the messiness of peoples situation.
So what are some ways that we can adapt to culture? How do we avoid getting stuck ourselves?
- Be willing to spend time in cluture. I grew up in a small country town, that is the culture that I grew up in, I can relate to that culture and understand that culture. When I realized that God was calling me to minister in the city I became drawn to spend time there. Not only was I drawn to spend time there but I had to spend time there if I was going to gain understanding and build relationships. Wherever you are called be willing to spend time learning the needs of the people there. Don’t come in with a solution to a problem that the culture doesn’t have. Or don’t use a method that worked somewhere else with out learning if that is what is needed there.
- Know your identity. If you lack identity it is hard to keep your bearings. For instance in a culture that is all about image you could get stuck in the lie that your value comes from how you are percieved by others. How then will you be able to stay free of the trap of image if you don’t know that your identity comes from being a son or daughter of the most high.
- You are an influencer. We all have different levels of relationships in our lives. We have relationships that we consider our closest relationships, these relationships have influence in both directions, you influence them and they influence you. There are other levels of relationship where they may have influence over you but you don’t have influence. Then there are those relationships where you have influence over them but they don’t have influence over you. These are the relationships we are looking at. You enter in to help those that are stuck but you don’t allow yourself to get stuck because you have boundaries. You can clearly help someone who is stuck but you are not putting yourself in a position to get stuck as well.
I’ll end with this. Are you willing to exit the comfort of your culture to bring Jesus wherever. Yes we are all called somewhere but when you see Paul he believed he was called to people. He was willing to do what it took no matter where he was or who he was with. In his mind God called him everywhere, he wasn’t waiting for his next assignment he was running and if God wanted him somewhere else he believed that God would nudge him in the right direction. The point is Paul was a mover because he had one command. Go and make disciples of all nations. Are we that committed to the gospel?
