Jim Wilson's Blog, page 33

All Authority in Heaven and on Earth

 

In the history of the world there have been successive empires, including the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, Frankish, Mongolian, Muslim, Byzantine, Ottoman, Napoleonic and Nazi regimes. These had a few characteristics in common with each other:

1. Absolute authority

2. Required loyalty to the sovereign

3. Required absolute obedience

The leaders of these empires were not noted for humility, kindness, or love. Submission was largely out of a fear of the consequences. They used the weapons of this world. Although these men had great authority, their empires lasted an average of only 250 years (Napoleon’s and Hitler’s lasted much less).

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me” (Mt. 28:18). That is a lot of authority. He required obedience, but not out of fear. His leadership was one of love, humility, sacrifice, and spiritual power. Many of his followers have lived their lives and deaths in obedience to and imitation of Christ.

When an emperor gives a command, it is personally given to his generals. They in turn give it to all of their officers who give it to the common soldiers. In other words, the commander in chief’s orders are to everyone, not just to the generals. The generals alone cannot accomplish the tasks assigned.

So it is with Jesus Christ’s operational order. It does not apply to the apostles only. They could not do it all. Let us look at the grammar of the order:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Mt. 28:18–20).

The first sentence is the basis for the command: make disciples of all nations. The second sentence begins with “therefore,” meaning you have no reason to ignore or disobey the command to make disciples (recruiting soldiers for His army). Then He tells the apostles how to carry out this command:

1. Baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

2. Teaching them to obey everything He commanded

Number one is conversion. Number two is the sanctification of the believer. Each believer is to make believers and teach them to obey everything the Eleven were commanded. The Great Commission is to every Christian. If we are not participating in the evangelization of the world at some level, then we are being disobedient soldiers.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’” (Lk. 19:9–10).

“We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—I believe we are lost” (Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, trans. A. W. Wheen. Boston: Little, Brown, 1929).

The lostness of the lost! Unlike the soldier quoted above, the lost do not know they are lost. The saved also do not know, or if they do know, they do not care. If the saved do care, they either do not know how to help the lost or they are afraid to help.

 

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Great Purpose of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

 

As you read the Bible, I trust you will see that the great purpose of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the salvation of men and of all creation along with them. In this message, I have included a few passages of Scripture that will draw your attention to this truth.

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Tim. 2:3–6).

God is described as being our Savior and wanting all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Jesus Christ is described as the one mediator who gave Himself as a ransom for all men.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:9–14).

The work of the Father in our salvation and the work of the Son in our salvation are both described here. The Father qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light, rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. In the Son, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12).

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good” (Tit. 2:11–14).

This redemption is from all wickedness, and it is eternal.

The Holy Spirit gives that new birth without which we will not enter the Kingdom of God:

“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’” (Jn. 3:5–8).

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Battle Fatigue

 

God planned for normal fatigue when He put the lights out on earth every night. He also set one day aside out of every seven for additional rest.

Battle fatigue is extreme: long marches, little sleep, no Sabbath rest, fear, dying and dead comrades and enemies, separation from family, no showers, inadequate food, and maybe being defeated in battle or wounded. You might get relief in a rear echelon, or you might not. This is a fatigue beyond being tired and exhausted. Eight hours of sleep and a weekend of rest cannot cure this.

We are in a spiritual war here and now. This war brings battle fatigue just like other wars do. Some of the symptoms are the same. Missionaries come home burnt out, irritable, or with nervous breakdowns or marriage and family problems.

There is a major difference between the soldier in physical war and the soldier in the spiritual war. The first has battle fatigue because he has obeyed his commanding officer. The second has battle fatigue because he has disobeyed, often while thinking he was being obedient.

Some Christians are disobedient casualties, shot by the enemy. They are moral casualties, guilty of sins clearly forbidden by Scripture. These Christians know they are in sin.

Other Christian casualties think they are not in sin, but they are. These are the battle fatigue casualties. So how have they been disobedient?

They volunteer and think that is obedience. They say, “Here I am, I’m going,” instead of, “Here I am, send me” (Isa. 6:8b).

They use their own strength instead of God’s: “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:28–29).

They do not get enough sleep. There may be times when it is not possible to get enough sleep or observe the Sabbath because of Kingdom work. During those times, we do not need to get fatigued.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Is. 40:28–31).

They do not take a Sabbath rest.

They respond to challenges. A challenge is not the voice of God, but a temptation from the enemy. Remember, the devil appears as an angel of light. We should be able to recognize him for who he is.

They think that the Great Commission is primary. “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mt. 22:36–39). The Great Commission falls under the second greatest commandment. It is not the first.

They spend more time “doing” than “being.”

The list could go on and on. Prolonged rest is part of the solution for battle fatigue in physical wars. Confession of sin is the immediate solution for the spiritual war. This must include confessing moral sins like lying and confessing as sin the things that we do to “help God out.” Then we can begin to be obedient God’s way.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Spiritual War: Caring for Casualties, Part 2

The status of our spiritual army today looks bad, with many casualties and most of the rest not caring.

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:1–2).

There are at least two reasons for not caring for our casualties. First is the cost. If we commit ourselves to caring for a physical invalid, then we are attached. Our time is committed: we cannot forsake the ill person. We also anticipate that if we lovingly begin to care for a spiritual casualty, then we will be forever attached to him. If there is more than one invalid, all of our time will disappear. We are not willing for that to happen.

This thinking assumes that people will stay invalidswhen they are cared for. But if they are cared for in the right way, then they will not. Loving, gentle care restores them, and does so quite rapidly. They will soon cease to be casualties, and we can get back to the work of evangelism more effectively than before.

The second reason for not looking after casualties is our hesitancy to use spiritual judgment. The enemy has infiltrated the camp of the believers through a misapplication of this passage:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mt. 7:1–2).

Christians regularly say to each other, “Judge not!” The consequence of this peer pressure (which in itself uses the Word of God in a judgmental fashion) is to paralyze and intimidate the caring believers so they do not look after the casualties. They are led to pretend these casualties are not really injured at all. The results are obvious. Matthew 7:3–5 gives the context of the “do not judge” teaching:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

This passage commands us to get rid of sin in our lives so that we may remove the speck from our brother’s eye. That is loving, gentle care for a casualty. “Judge not” is a teaching given to keep unqualified people from trying to care for casualties. People who would make the situation worse are not to participate in the care. Paul says, “You who are spiritual” (Gal. 6:1), you who have removed the plank, you who see clearly—you are able to judge. When Jesus said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn. 8:7), He was keeping unqualified men from taking care of casualties. Then He took care of her Himself: “Go now and leave your life of sin” (Jn. 8:11).

When we quote these verses to each other, we stop attempts to care for those who are hurting, because we all have planks in our eyes; we have all sinned. We are not fit to be surgeons.

But we are Christians. God has made it possible for us to get rid of our planks, to get rid of our past sin. He expects us to be spiritual. He expects us to get qualified to care. “I say this to shame you. Is it possible there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?” (1 Cor. 6:5).

We are required to care. We could come up with the same excuses as the religious men in the story of the Good Samaritan. The casualty was there and could not help himself. The same situation exists today, and Jesus, commending the Samaritan, said to the expert in the law: “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10:37).

In almost every group of Christians, there are men or women who have become casualties. In many cases, a faithful church or a study group or an annual conference is the means of restoring those believers to full health and combat readiness. But there are situations where the wounds cannot wait for the conference. You who are spiritual should restore him gently. If you are not qualified, then call on someone who is. But do not do nothing.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Spiritual War: Caring for Casualties, Part 1

 

War has casualties. Taking care of them brings them back into the fight. It also increases the morale of the entire fighting unit because everyone knows they might be the next casualty. There are three kinds of casualties in physical war:

• Casualties from training (For example, during World War II, more planes and pilots were lost in training than in combat.)

• Casualties from drunkenness, drugs, and venereal disease

• Casualties from enemy action

There is no basic training or advanced training in the spiritual war. The soldier is in combat as soon as he is saved.

In the spiritual war, drunkenness, drugs, venereal disease, and other kinds of immorality which do not result in complete physical disability still cause spiritual disability and prevent effective evangelism. These casualties are to be disciplined by the church so they will repent and come back into action.

“But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” (1 Cor. 5:11–12).

There are physical casualties from enemy action in the spiritual war. The first death for Christ that Scripture records was Stephen in Acts 7:59–60. The second was the Apostle James in Acts 12:2. There were more people killed in the twentieth century for believing in Jesus than the total of such deaths over the previous 1,900 years. However, death is not our main problem. The main problem is the sin casualties. Christians who are spiritually sick are poor witnesses for Jesus Christ.

In the early part of the Vietnam War, I visited an officer at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He had been badly burned when his jeep hit a land mine. A Vietnamese soldier who was with him was also critically injured.

These two men were fellow soldiers. However, when they became casualties, a great difference suddenly manifested itself. The American went to a U.S. hospital and made a full recovery. The Vietnamese went to a Vietnamese hospital, where he almost certainly died. My friend told me how thankful he was to be in the U.S. army instead of the Vietnamese army. He had also been wounded in the Korean Conflict, so he knew what he was talking about.

The difference in that situation lay in the quality of care given to casualties. The American army put a priority on caring for casualties; the Vietnamese did not. In other wars, in other armies, there has been a still greater difference: no care at all! Casualties were left to die. Their deaths had a significant impact on the men who remained uninjured. They were not willing to risk themselves in combat when they knew nobody cared enough to rescue them if they were wounded.

The U.S. had to relearn that lesson the hard way with Navy pilots in the Southwest Pacific in early 1942. The Navy decided not to risk other planes and ships and the lives of more men for the rescue of one man if a pilot had to ditch because his plane was shot up or had run out of fuel. The decision was based on economy; but the morale of the pilots went down so far that the decision was soon reversed, and the next pilot in the water was rescued at the expense of several other planes. Rescue and care of casualties is given high priority in the U.S. Armed Forces.

After the First Battle of the Philippine Sea, Admiral Mitscher’s decision to guide his Air Groups home by turning on all the searchlights on all the ships of Task Force 58 was one of the great morale (and moral) decisions of the Second World War. He risked the lives of thousands to save the lives of a few.

I personally observed the priority given to rescuing casualties during the Korean War when, for three years, the U.S. Navy kept minesweepers and a rescue destroyer in Wonsan Harbor, in spite of the fact that all of the land around the harbor was held by North Korea. We were stationed there to pick up pilots who were forced to ditch in the harbor.

We Christians are engaged in a spiritual war that is far greater than World War II. It includes all people and nations everywhere. We have learned much about the conduct of war on the spiritual plane. We have learned about evangelism; we have learned about training and what is called discipling, but we have not learned about caring for our casualties. We have not learned about caring because we do not care. We have been taught to spend our time with the faithful few, not with the unfaithful many. The faithful few are a delight to be with, so the esprit de corps is seemingly high. But outside this group the casualties are many, and we cannot keep hiding from them. I cannot exist comfortably in an army where the overwhelming majority of the casualties are being ignored. I cannot maintain high morale in such an army. Such morale would be fake. Purporting to have it under those conditions is blinding oneself to reality.

This is because Christians are more than just an army; we are a body.

“But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor. 12:24b–26).

The healthy parts suffer, too, since they are part of the body. If they are not suffering and caring, it is either because they are not part of the body or because they themselves are not healthy.

(To be continued...)

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Priorities in Spiritual War & Evangelism

 

Cairo is dirty. It is a city of ten million people, many of them unemployed, and there is much poverty. Garbage is collected by fifty thousand people who recycle it and live on it. Many of these are little children.

Germany, on the other hand, is scrupulously clean. While I was there, I saw a truck with a mechanical brush scrubbing the white posts along the highway; then I saw a man scrubbing a stop sign.

In both of these countries, the spiritual darkness is oppressive. It forced me to modify my view that physical cleanliness was the result of being spiritually clean. I still think there is a relationship, but not one of direct cause-and-effect.

There seem to be two extremes concerning methods of evangelism: 1) Too much identification with the attitudes of the local church. 2) Too little identification with the culture of the local people.

Japan and Egypt are examples of the first. The church in those countries has a survival mentality rather than an attitude of “give me this mountain” (Josh. 14:12). In Japan, the culture is accepted as something the gospel cannot penetrate except in little ways. In Egypt, fear of the Muslims and fear of the government makes people hesitant to witness. When missionaries identify too much with the local church, they are also affected by these attitudes. Consequently, there are relatively few conversions.

Secondly, many missionaries depend heavily on dispensing the truth by mass literature distribution without taking time to love the people. In an endeavor to reach the whole, they take a shortcut. This truncates the truth by presenting it without the power that is part of the gospel. They trade quality for quantity, but there are few real conversions. 

A biblical example of the power of the gospel mixed with love is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:4–8:

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it.”

I have had much fellowship with people in mission work—everything from long-term missionaries involved in solid church planting to hit-and-run evangelists. Their biggest problem was not the difference in method, but the difference in relationships, mostly within missions and within families. I visited missionary children in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and France, and found much bitterness towards parents. As a corollary to that bitterness, I also saw some rebellion.

Many mission boards and the missionaries they send out think that the Great Commission is primary, that it is more important than personal godliness and more important than loving time with their children. Many of them also consider an American cultural Christian education more important than keeping the children with the parents. These two false priorities cause many families to be unnecessarily separated.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Cooperation in Spiritual War, Part 2: Unity

 

In reading different histories of World War II, we can learn how the British won the war, how the Americans won the war, how the tanks, submarines, destroyers, airborne divisions, bombers, etc., each won the war. We were all on the same team, but it was not always evident.

Unity is comprised of two things: primary loyalty to the supreme commander of all units and great love for all those who are under the supreme commander.

Think of this as an equilateral triangle. The two points at the ends of the base of the triangle represent two units: tanks and infantry. The apex represents the supreme commander. If the two units get far away from the supreme commander, the distance between the units themselves also gets greater. Likewise, the closer they are to the supreme commander, the closer they are to each other.

Here is Jesus’ prayer for His army in John 17:20–21:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” 

Jesus was praying for us who are Christians today. He was praying that we would be one with each other in the same way as the Father and the Son are one.

How are they one? Just as you are in me and I am in you.That is not competition, nor is it cooperation. It is much greater—it is interactive unity.

Why does Jesus pray this? So that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The greatest truth in the gospel is the deity of Jesus Christ, and our oneness is the way we communicate the truth of that deity to the world.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34–35).

We are not to be at war with other members of the body of Christ. We are not to be satisfied with co-belligerence, tolerance, cordiality, friendliness, or mere cooperation. All of these are less than the command to be one and to love one another. Jesus tells us to love other members of the body in the same way that He loved each member of that body. If we have that love for one another, all men will know we are followers of Jesus Christ.

Do not jump to the question, “How do we do it?” That is not a relevant question until you first want to obey, want to love, and want to be one with fellow Christians. The sins of sectarian factionalism must be confessed before you can begin to desire this oneness.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Cooperation in Spiritual War, Part 1: Love for the Brothers

 

Cooperation is working together with other units in the same army or with other nations against a common enemy. When we apply it to the spiritual war, there are two much stronger terms for it: love for the brothers and unity in the body. This love is a very strong witness to the lost.

Love for the Brothers

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34–35).

This is a major issue in evangelism. When the unsaved man looks at the fighting between Christians or Christian churches, why would he think we were followers of Jesus? Or why would he want to be a follower of Him?

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor. 12:13).

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:1–6).

If you do not love the brothers, fix that before you start evangelizing.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Spiritual War: Tactical Surprise

 

Tactical surprise is where a small group or a single person is caught by surprise. The object of surprise is to catch the listener with his guard down. We do not want to warn him that he is going to get hit.

It was December 31, 1949. I was in my senior year at the Naval Academy. I had been invited to give my testimony at an evangelistic dinner at the roof garden of the Hotel Astor in New York City. I gave my testimony and went back to my table.

Jack Wyrtzen, the evangelist, was preaching the gospel when a note was handed to me from across the table. It said, “If you look behind you at the next table there is a sailor. I am his sister sitting next to him. When Jack gives the invitation to receive Christ, will you encourage my brother to receive Christ?”

When the invitation was given, I turned around and started to talk to the sailor. He was obviously ready. He was convicted, he believed, but he would not call upon the Lord. I pressured him. I got him to talk with the members of the quartet who had sung that evening. He still would not receive Christ. Against his will, I got him to talk with Jack Wyrtzen.

Jack said, “Glad to know you, Frank,” and followed that up with, “What ship are you on? Where is your home town? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Frank was so glad to be talking about his ship, his home town, and his girl instead of Jesus Christ that he dropped his guard. In the middle of this, Jack grabbed him by the neckerchief and said, “Frank, what do you have against the Lord Jesus Christ!?”

Frank fell apart and received the Lord. That was an example of tactical surprise. You should not necessarily copy it, but should see the principle involved and copy that. Pray for opportunities to use surprise.

The defender must be kept ignorant of what you are going to do or say. You must also be led by the Spirit in what you do and say.

Years ago, I went to see a man who was divorcing his wife for another woman. He had his guard high. I said to him, “Do you think there is such a thing as a real Christian? A Christian from God’s point of view?”

He was surprised at the question. He said yes.

“Are you one of them?”

He said yes again.

Our conversation continued in a very open way. He dropped his guard when I opened the conversation in a way he did not expect. Surprise is a good thing. Use it.

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

All for the Glory of God

 

In 1 Corinthians 9 and 10, Paul makes a few amazing statements about himself and then says that we are to follow his example.

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings” (9:19-23).

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as l follow the example of Christ” (10:31-11:1).

Let me repeat a line out of each of the above paragraphs. “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” and “even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many so that they may be saved.”

We here want to follow Paul's example. It is a big order: all things, all men, all means, everybody, every way, all for their salvation.

Written in 1983.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships