A Passion For The Gospel

I Corinthians 9:16-23

What is your big passion in life?  For some it might be cooking, or perhaps gardening.  For others it might be antique cars.  As we continue reading in I Corinthians we see that the Apostle Paul’s all-consuming passion was preaching the Gospel and winning souls for Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at this passage and see what we can learn.

Paul was not proud as he talks about his work and ministry of preaching the Gospel message (vs. 16).  This was not his gospel.  It wasn’t his ability that gave him what success he had in preaching. God had given him a divine commission to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ.  Paul knew that he was unworthy for God to have come to him on that Damascus Road and saved him, and then to have selected him to bring His message to others.  This was something he felt he had to do, out of his deep love and obedience to God. Preaching the Gospel was Paul’s gift and calling.  He couldn’t stop preaching, even if he wanted.  He wanted to do what God wanted, to bring Him glory, and lead others to salvation in Jesus Christ.

It is both a privilege and duty to preach the gospel.  God will both supply our needs, and reward us as we obey Him (vs. 17 - 19).  Quite frequently Paul gave up his right to be supported from preaching. He would often work as a tentmaker to provide for his daily needs. Paul did this in order to remove a potential offense to people, and thus be able to win more to Jesus.

As Paul went around the eastern Mediterranean bringing the Gospel to various groups of people, he strove not to deliberately offend anyone (vs. 20 - 23). Within the bounds of God’s Word, he did not want to be offensive to either Jews, Gentiles, intellectuals, those less intellectual, or any group.  Paul would not change Scripture for anyone, trying to make it more “politically correct”, nor compromise the truth, but instead, he would behave and act in ways pleasing to others.  Paul wanted, if at all possible without sacrificing any truth of the Gospel, to make others feel comfortable and at ease, thus making it easier to present his message and win them to Jesus.

The Great Commission has fallen upon us, as well as on the Apostle Paul.  How do we go about presenting the Gospel message to others without offending them or turning them off from Jesus, but also without compromising the truth and twisting it around just to be “politically correct”?  First, Paul tried to find common ground with his audience, if possible, without compromising his convictions.

When we interact with people, whether it’s during a lunch break at work, or across the backyard fence, we should look for good openings to give the Gospel message.  Then when the right opportunity arises, we should strive to make the people we talk to feel accepted, by being sensitive to their needs and concerns. Paul also didn’t go around acting like a know-it-all.  It was true that he was an extremely intelligent man, and had a great knowledge of the Scriptures, but he never went around saying that he could never learn something new from someone else.  He was very humble.

As mentioned, Paul’s passion, ambition, and calling was to save souls.  That should be our goal, too.  Let’s learn from his example. Paul knew that in order to win some, he would need to be winsome, and we should be, as well.