An Obstacle or a Step?1 Corinthians 9:22b
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
Thoughts for Today:On one of my mission trips we were told by the local pastor to make sure we did not wear shorts for the following day's activities. He explained that showing bare legs in public would be taken as a sign of disrespect in the village where we would be conducting our ministry.
Over dinner that evening a few of the younger men in our group began to complain about the discomfort of wearing long pants in the over one hundred degree heat we would experience the next day. Our passage today was used as the basis for our evening devotional time. The point is that sometimes we must be taken out of our comfort zone -- and sacrifices made for the good of others -- in order to effectively share the Gospel message. Certainly, shorts would have been much more comfortable for our group. But would the harvest for the Kingdom have been as great?
The following day I was pleased to see that everyone in our group was wearing pants. And by the end of the day a great number of the villagers had accepted Christ. So was there a connection between not wearing shorts and the number of people who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? I think so. But it wasn't the length of our pants that mattered most -- the real difference was in the heart of love and spirit of obedience our group displayed related to the customs of the village and the God in whose name we served. It's the same attitude Paul held when he said, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
Questions to Ponder:In humility, Paul chose to blend in with those he served. Rather than becoming an obstacle that caused people to stumble, he committed to being a stone on which they could step. What have you become to those around you, an obstacle or a step? How can you change?
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
Thoughts for Today:On one of my mission trips we were told by the local pastor to make sure we did not wear shorts for the following day's activities. He explained that showing bare legs in public would be taken as a sign of disrespect in the village where we would be conducting our ministry.
Over dinner that evening a few of the younger men in our group began to complain about the discomfort of wearing long pants in the over one hundred degree heat we would experience the next day. Our passage today was used as the basis for our evening devotional time. The point is that sometimes we must be taken out of our comfort zone -- and sacrifices made for the good of others -- in order to effectively share the Gospel message. Certainly, shorts would have been much more comfortable for our group. But would the harvest for the Kingdom have been as great?
The following day I was pleased to see that everyone in our group was wearing pants. And by the end of the day a great number of the villagers had accepted Christ. So was there a connection between not wearing shorts and the number of people who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? I think so. But it wasn't the length of our pants that mattered most -- the real difference was in the heart of love and spirit of obedience our group displayed related to the customs of the village and the God in whose name we served. It's the same attitude Paul held when he said, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
Questions to Ponder:In humility, Paul chose to blend in with those he served. Rather than becoming an obstacle that caused people to stumble, he committed to being a stone on which they could step. What have you become to those around you, an obstacle or a step? How can you change?
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