Sunday, October 30, 2011 - Straighten Up and Fly Right
Here in Nebraska in the middle of college football season, we pay a lot of attention to winners and losers. We follow
each pretty closely for some reason. Winners and losers are part of life in other areas besides football – and a few of
us pay a lot of attention to these winner and losers. And some people see themselves as one, but are actually the other
(CHARLIE SHEEN). We could probably list a number of worldly winners – actors, athletes, business people,
politicians. The losers we may not be familiar with unless they failed very publicly (BERNIE MADOFF). By the way,
I think brother Camping has decided that today is the day of the end of the world – just so you know.
These people are referred to as either winners or losers according to the world’s definition and standards. Does God
ever refer to people this way? And if He does, are His definitions the same as the world’s?
In reality, God never refers to people specifically as “winners” or “losers.” If He did, the fact is that we would ALL be
losers because the only valid comparison is “us with Him” – Romans 3 says that none of us are righteous and that all of
us fall short. But God’s desire is for all of us losers to WIN. As I make reference to about every six months, one of
my favorite songs is by Switchfoot and some of the words are “we are the church of the dropouts, the losers, the
sinners, the failures and the fools.” And, according to what we read in 1 Corinthians 1, that’s who God has called.
And if God has called us losers – and His call to us is to WIN – then how DO we win? What does it mean to “win?”
Paul gives us some things to consider in that regard in 1 Corinthians 9 that we will look at today. We continue our
series in 1 Corinthians called “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” If we’re going to straighten up and if we’re going to fly
right, we need to not only know what God wants, but to actively pursue it. As we prepare to look in the Word of God
this morning, let’s PRAY.
I need to return to what we talked about last Sunday for minute. Paul answers a question at the end of chapter 7
regarding how to deal with “virgins” in the church. Some of your Bible say, “betrothed” and “engaged to.” Those are
possible translations that make sense with the text, although the only Greek word used is “virgin.” And then, in the
NASB, the word “daughter” is included (usually in italics).
In most Bible versions, if a word is added to the translation to provide better understanding, it is put in italics. That is
what happened here in the NASB. But that is a kind of far jump in the text to put the word “daughter” there. I can see
how they came to that conclusion, but it seems more likely that the question is from people who are dealing with their
own personal internal sexual desires toward an unmarried woman in the church. This does not fit with the idea of this
virgin being one’s own daughter.
I didn’t mention any of that last week for lack of time, but it was brought up in our small group, so I thought we might
want to address it here. I hope that helps you as you read. You can trust the NASB – don’t give up on it. We are
dealing with translations that may have things that are up for discussion. We go back to the Greek and Hebrew to seek
the original meaning as best we can.
On to chapter 9. We will spend most of our time on the last sections of this chapter, but let’s quickly go through the
early part. I want to read this out of the Message, which gives what I think is a pretty accurate description of what Paul
was saying. 1 Corinthians 9:1-14 The Message. Just listen as I READ. Either the Corinthians had asked another
question about Paul’s financial support or the issue of loving the weaker brother in chapter 8 had reminded Paul of this
issue. Perhaps he anticipated questions about his authority to speak about eating food offered to idols.
A couple of things to point out in this section – things that clear up other things we have seen or heard about. In verse
5, Paul mentions the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like other apostles AND the Lord’s brothers AND
Cephas. This reveals some things that are important to remember as we interact with our family and friends and
neighbors and co-workers.
There is a major religious group even here in our town that holds that Mary the mother of Jesus never had any other
children besides the Lord Jesus and remained a virgin her whole life. But here we see a reference to the brothers of the
Lord Jesus. We assume that Paul knew the word for “cousins” or “uncles.” He is not referring here to “brothers” like
Jewish brothers. This is a reference to literal physical siblings.
We see other references to the Lord’s brothers in the New Testament – in Matthew they are actually WITH Mary.
Not because they were distant relatives, but because she was their mother. The New Testament books of James and
Jude were written by physical siblings of the Lord Jesus – men who had NOT believed in Him when He was walking in
Israel, but after the resurrection could no longer reject the truth of what He had been proclaiming.
Also in 1 Corinthians 9:5, there is a reference to Cephas and how he traveled around preaching with a believing wife.
Cephas is the Hebrew name for Peter. It means stone just like Petros means stone – which is the Greek word Jesus
used as the new name for Peter.
Turn to Matthew 16:18. READ. The word for Peter is “petros” which is a specific stone or rock. When Jesus says
on this “rock” I will build My church, He uses a different word – “petra.” The word petra refers to bedrock or a rocky
crag. I am calling you “Petros” – you’re a rock – and I am going to build My church on this “petra” – bedrock. The
church is built not on Peter, but on Jesus – He is the bedrock, the petra.
OK – so what? Why are we talking about this? Peter was not the first pope – Jesus did not build His church on
Peter. To think Jesus was saying He would build His world-changing church on one man who proved over and over
his undependability – even late in his life (Gal. 2) – is foolish. And also, Peter was married when Jesus said this to him.
He had a mother-in-law, which we see in Luke 4. For a person to have a mother-in-law requires a marriage. And
here in 1 Corinthians 9, we see that Peter is still married and is traveling around with his wife preaching the Good News.
So the view that there is one man on earth who speaks for Jesus AND that he is required to remain single is a
misinterpretation of God’s Word. The part about Peter being married is a thing of interest. But the part about the pope
being Jesus Christ in the flesh on the earth is dangerous and wrong.
Paul’s MAIN point in this section is that he has every right to be supported by those to whom he preaches, but he
doesn’t want anything to detract from the message. So Paul makes tents while he stays in a town so that the issue of
financial and physical support can’t be thrown in his face by those who have trouble with his message. Paul says clearly
that there is nothing wrong with it – in fact the Lord Jesus even commands that those who proclaim the Gospel be
supported by those who respond (Matthew 10:10).
But Paul has determined to take that issue out of the line of fire. Read the next section. 1 Corinthians 9:15-18.
READ. According to Paul’s convictions about how he is supposed to serve, he’d be better off dead than for anyone to
be able to take the focus off of the message of salvation and righteousness in Christ. He can even boast about the
message he proclaims because it was not his idea – he received it from God Himself. He was obligated to share this
message – this message that we have seen earlier in 1 Corinthians is foolish to those who don’t believe it.
Let’s spend the rest of our time this morning on the last section of chapter 9. In verses 1 – 18, Paul says that he lives
carefully so as to not be enslaved to anyone but the Lord – no one has bought me in this life – no one can determine my
message for me because they contribute to my financial or physical support. It is ONLY the Lord Himself who, 6:20
and 7:23, has bought me and owns me and can determine for me how to proclaim the message HE HIMSELF gave me.
So because of who owns me, I can live differently. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. READ. Instead of being enslaved to
people BY people, God has made it possible for me to reach them by enslaving myself to them under HIS control.
Listen to how The New Living Translation puts this – 1 Cor 9:19-23. READ.
A natural question we might ask, then – should I go out and drink with drunks? Should I go out and do drugs with drug
addicts? Should I become a prostitute to reach prostitutes? Is this what Paul is saying we should do? We have to put
any passage of God’s Word in context with the rest of God’s Word before we develop a whole doctrine. Are we free
to go ahead and live in sin as followers of the sinless Savior? No – we were set free from that and we can live apart
from it by His power. We see that all over the Word of God – and nothing else.
What Paul is saying here is that our lives are meant to be useful to God so that we can reach any person in any
circumstance at any time. Reach that person with WHAT? The GOSPEL – the Good News of salvation FROM sin
and righteousness IN Christ. Obviously Paul would not sin to reach a sinner, but he would seek to identify himself with
and relate to sinners in ways that would allow him to proclaim the message of salvation and righteousness in Christ.
And then Paul puts the ball for this kind of living in our court. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. READ. How will you follow the
Lord and bring the message of the Gospel to others? Our efforts are not to merely survive or to exist. Our lives are
meant to count for eternity. What does it mean to “run in such a way that you may win?” What does “winning” look
like in the Kingdom of God?
We get direct information from Paul in these verses. Verse 25 says that running to win means exercising self-control.
Connected with what he just shared about his own life, he lived in such a way that he withheld himself from things in
certain circumstances and allowed himself to experience those things in other circumstances. And again, none of these
things would have been sinful – this is not a license to do any kind of sensuous or immoral activity. Paul says that
running to win means to exercise self-control.
In verse 26, he tells us that running to win means living on purpose – to not be aimless. There is a reason each of us is
here on earth – do we know the reason? Are we seeking to find out? If we know, are we doing what we’re here for?
As we continue in 1 Corinthians, we will get some good information about fulfilling our purpose – especially in chapter
12 and13. To live aimlessly would be to just go through life waiting for things to happen and not taking an active part in
seeking out the reason for your existence.
And speaking of, verse 26 also reminds us of that when it says that we are to expend energy on effective things – not
beating the air, swinging at nothing. Know what your pursuit is and pursue it. Don’t put energy into stuff that has little
or no eternal impact. Those who end up winning live on purpose and have pursuits they are aiming at – eternal aims.
The old saying, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” is true. But God’s call to us is not merely to aim at
anything – we are to aim at the things HE desires for us.
So, running to win also means disciplining the body and bringing it under strict control (verse 27). This is part of letting
go of your own rights and pursuing the good of others in love. It takes work – but, Matthew 11:30 – Jesus tells us that
His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Even though it is work to follow Jesus, it is easier than living without Him. Put
your life – even your body – under the control, the strict control, of the Spirit of God, and you will run in such a way
that you may win.
There is more we can see about what it means to win, but let’s turn to what it means for us right now. Paul says that he
does the things he does – becoming all things to all people – so that he may win and receive this imperishable crown
and to become a partner in the benefits of the Gospel. Let’s list a few benefits of the Gospel – the message of salvation
in Christ and righteousness in Christ.
(put up any on this list that people mention – I will try to get them all up there)
- people out of hell and into heaven
- sinners exchanged for saints (1 Cor. 6:11)
- Kingdom of Light overcoming the kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:12-14)
- sins forgiven (personal and all who come to God through Christ)
- restoration to God (personal and all who come through Christ)
- life to the fullest (John 10:10)
- truth ruling human life rather than lies
- this list will never end – time keeps us from continuing, but we could go on forever (not exaggerating) with the benefits
of the Gospel
How are you running? How are you boxing? How are you forcing your body into submission? Are you running,
boxing, disciplining your body to WIN? Are you trying to win the wrong contest?
- money - acceptance - appearance
- food - fun - career
- possessions - pleasure (sex, addictions, thrills)
What if you “win” in those things? What happens when this life is over? You may have had a “good” time. You may
have experienced stuff and fun and pleasure. You may say – to yourself or even out loud – “I don’t really connect with
‘heaven-talk.’” I want to win now and get the good stuff now – and waiting for heaven isn’t that exciting. Listen, you
may have missed one of the vital main points of the coming of Jesus and salvation if you think “going to heaven” IS the
point. That is only PART of the point – only part of “winning” as God explains it.
- John 17:3 - Matthew 5:13-16 - more in your
further study notes
Do you want to “win” by your own definition or by God’s? Both options are available to us – God allows people to
believe Him or not believe Him. BUT, if we “win” only according to our understanding, we actually lose. If we are not
involved with and connected to the reason(s) we are here – GOD’S reasons – we are running aimlessly and swinging at
nothing.
What Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 9 is the life of a Kingdom of God winner - a person who qualifies for what God
actually wants for people (v. 27). First, nothing in the way you live can take away from the importance of proclaiming
the message of God’s rescue through Jesus Christ. Paul chose to do this without requiring or asking any financial return
– BUT I’m grateful that it is allowed to earn one’s living from proclaiming the Gospel!
Second, winning in the Kingdom of God is becoming identified with others in ways that allow the Good News of the
rescue Jesus Christ made possible to be shared in ways they can relate to and respond to. And third, winning in the
Kingdom of God is doing life in a way that results in receiving the prize from God.
Are you running to win? We are to straighten up and fly right – and God’s desire is that we win the race He has put us
in. The benefits are amazing. The life He lives in us is powerful. The impact is eternal both for us and for others. We
get to see Him living in us and doing His amazing things through us right now. AND we DO get to spend eternity in the
presence of our Creator and Maker and Savior. Is winning here on earth worth missing that?