5 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Psalm 106
1 Corinthians 9

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

1 Corinthians 9:22 (CSB): “…I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

I grew up thinking there was only one way to worship the Lord in church, and that one way was the way we were doing it. It involved singing the old hymns, and ONLY the old hymns. It included preaching from the King James Version of the Bible, and ONLY the KJV. It meant that we MUST have three services a week, two on Sunday and one on Wednesday evening, and everyone must “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25), which meant that we had to be at church anytime the doors were open. On and on I could go about the specific ways we worshipped at church and the parameters we set regarding how it was to be done.

In reality, virtually every Christian, church, and Christian organization is like this. We all have certain ways that we expect to worship. We also have our own feelings (and even convictions) about what is outside the bounds of the way worship is to happen.

Growing up in my own context, I remember how negatively I felt toward churches that used drums, or that allowed (or encouraged) worshippers to lift their hands in praise, or pastors who didn’t preach in a suit and tie. Even though many of those folks were essentially proclaiming the same truth as us, they weren’t doing it our way, so I was convinced that they were compromising. In my mind, they were wrong and would answer to Jesus one day for their actions.

But then I began to realize that many of my convictions were nowhere to be found in Scripture. What we were doing wasn’t necessarily wrong. The Bible didn’t speak against them, but it also didn’t command, or even address them. I came to understand that my convictions were actually just preferences.

And that’s where the verse I have chosen for today comes in. As long as we are accurately proclaiming the unchanging Gospel, and conforming to God’s Word in whatever way it is relevant to our situation, then we have the ability to package the Gospel in ways that would more readily reach the people around us.

1 Corinthians 9:22 (CSB): “…I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”

With this mindset, we should seek to fully understand the Gospel. We want to accurately understand the life-giving message of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, and how that work is applied to our account when we repent and trust in Jesus alone to make us right in the Father’s eyes.

But we should also be a student of our culture. We should ask ourselves the question: “How can I package the unchanging Gospel in a way that fits within what the Bible allows and commands so that the people in my city can understand and be drawn to my Jesus?”

If being a “traditional” church enables you to achieve that, then do it for God’s glory! If being a “contemporary” church enables you to achieve that end, then do it for God’s glory! If meeting in a church building or in a park or a local school enables you to achieve that, then do it for God’s glory! Just as long as the unchanging Gospel is presented in ways that can be readily understood and eventually received by those you are trying to reach.

As I listened to Pastor Adrian Rogers (former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, TN) talk about how the Gospel doesn’t change, but the way we deliver it to our culture does, he gave a rhyme that helped to illustrate his point, in which the Gospel is the principle and the methods are the ways we package the Gospel.

“Methods are many, principles are few.
Methods always change, principles never do.”

As long as a Christian, a church, or a Christian organization is proclaiming the biblical Gospel, then don’t ridicule them for doing it in ways that are different from your own. Praise God that they are reaching people you may not be able to reach.

1 Corinthians 9:22 (CSB): “…I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you cultivate an accurate, biblical understanding of the Gospel, as well as the rest of God’s Word.
  • Ask God to help you understand how the Gospel should be “packaged” to reach your culture.
  • Ask God to help you not condemn others who are proclaiming the same Gospel, but doing so in ways that are different from your own.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into how to package the unchanging Gospel, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean to become all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:22)?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)