The Cost of Unity

Paul is discussing the importance of unity and humility in the church. He explains that unity is emphasized throughout the Bible and that the church at Corinth was particularly ununified. Paul describes how God has formed the church and each individual into a unified body. He then discusses the context of 1 Corinthians 8, where he talks about freedoms and gray areas in the Bible. Specifically, he addresses the issue of eating meat that had been offered to idols. Paul emphasizes that unity is not because of the gospel, the ministry, or willingness, but rather because of a choice. He explains that he chooses to preach the gospel without charge and to not abuse his power in the gospel. We looked at the illustration this morning of Jesus Christ and humility and how it was illustrated for Him, and tonight in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, we're going to see an illustration from the Apostle Paul given to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and when you look at that passage of scripture, of course, when it comes to humility, the purpose of the humility was in order that we might have unity within the church, and so when we look at this unity, we know that the Bible over and over declares that we have unity, and Paul, it says that there is one body in Ephesians 4, 4-6, and there's one spirit, even we are called in one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. There's one Lord, one God, one faith, one baptism, and what He's doing is He is illustrating this idea of unity that we have, and so there's unity to be in the Bible. When you look at the book of 1 Corinthians, you find out that the church at Corinth was probably the most ununified congregation that there has ever been. Sometimes we think that we are sometimes bad or that maybe churches we know are bad, but I don't know anything that's probably as bad as what Corinth was at this particular time, and so Paul is writing to them, and later on in chapter 12, he describes how God has formed the church and each individual in it into a body, a unit of one that is there. And so basically we know God desires unity. He wants us to have unity, and so when you look at 1 Corinthians 9, in order to understand what we're looking at tonight, we have to understand the context of chapter 8, and Paul is laying out in chapter 8, talking about our freedoms. There's a lot of things in the Bible that it says we are not supposed to do. There's a lot of things in the Bible that it says what we are supposed to do, and then there's a lot of gray area that it just really doesn't say. It doesn't say you can't do it. It doesn't say you can do it. It's just a gray area, and you have to use discretion. You have to use the prayer, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and all of these things to know, and that's what he's talking about in chapter 8. And literally, in chapter 8, he is talking about eating meat that had been offered to idols. And so there were some people in the church that was offended by this. There was others that said, hey, it's no big deal. It's just meat, right? We kind of have that same idea and mentality in the church. Some people get offended by some things, and others, you know, well, it's just there, and that's kind of this gray area that is there. And so Paul comes, and he begins in verse 1-14 of chapter 9, and we're going to look at the second half of chapter 9 tonight. In 1-14, he tells about his freedom. He tells about everything that he has in Jesus Christ. And when you think about it, guess what? If we really believe what we believe as Baptists, that we are saved and always saved, then technically, we can go and we can sin and we can do anything that we want to, right? And we're still going to be saved. Right? We can't lose our salvation, right? But the problem is, is we don't want to, right? The problem is, is that desire shouldn't be there if you have the Holy Spirit living within you. But we could. And so that's the idea of Paul saying, man, in Christ, I have all of this liberty, I have all of this freedom, but yet, I also have another issue. I have to be unity and humility in Jesus Christ. And so now he illustrates this. And if you'll jump down in chapter 9, verse 15, he says, but I have used, in other words, after telling all of the things that he could have done, I'm a minister, I'm an apostle, I should have been paid, but I haven't asked for any money, I haven't asked for anything like that. All of these things that he could have had and should have had, but he didn't. And then he comes to verse 15 and he says, but I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me. For it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glory void. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach, not the gospel. So verse 16 tells us what it isn't. He says, though I preach the gospel, I have glory of. Why do we show humility? Why do we want unity and desire unity within the church? Paul says, number one, it's not because of the gospel. And you say, how is it not because of the gospel? Has any one of you or me done anything to make the gospel effective? No. Who made the gospel effective? Jesus Christ. He is the one that was sinless. He is the one that died. He is the one that rose from the dead. He is the one that offers salvation. And so when it comes to the gospel, the gospel is through Jesus Christ and Christ alone. Right? It has nothing to do with us. And so Paul is saying, guess what? I'm not doing this because of the gospel, because I don't have anything to do with the gospel. Right? I can't save anybody. I don't have that power. I don't have that ability. All I can do is share Jesus Christ with people. All I can do is share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that God has called me. So he says, it's not because of the gospel. And then he tells us there, he says, it's not because of my ministry. He says, and look at what he says there in verse 16 of chapter 9. See, I'm on the wrong page here. Page flipped. He said, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Notice what he says. He says, the necessity is laid upon me. And he says, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. What is he saying? He's saying that the message isn't the ministry of preaching. That's not the ultimate thing. That's not the reason that we are to have unity. Well, if it isn't the gospel, and if it isn't the ministry and the preaching of that gospel that is there, then what is the reason for having unity? Galatians chapter 1, Paul is saying that he was in his mother's womb, decided before he was ever born that he would be a minister of the gospel. In other words, Paul, if you remember the life of Paul, did Paul really have a choice in the gospel? Yeah, he had a choice, but in a way he didn't have a choice, did he? I mean, what is he doing in Acts chapter 9? He is heading to Damascus to do what? To kill Christians. When all of a sudden, what happened? Jesus Christ come down and appeared to him as a bright light, and all of a sudden he blinded Paul, and Paul accepted him as his Savior, and then he obeyed God, and from that point on, what happened? He was a minister of the gospel. It really wasn't him that chose to do that. It wasn't him that said, you know what, I'm going to be an apostle. I'm going to be a minister. No, Jesus Christ kind of chose that for him. And so he's saying it's not because of the gospel. It's not because of the ministry. And then he mentions in verse 17, it's not because of willingness. He says, for I do this thing willingly. Willingly. And so he says, for I do this thing willingly, I have my reward, but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. In other words, he's saying if I did this willingly, I should have a reward. But if I do it against the will and the dispensation, the stewardship of this ministry that has been entrusted unto me, he could say, alright, you're going to be rewarded for your being in the ministry. And I did it willingly. I did it for the reward. But that's not what Paul... Where did Paul end up? Was Paul rewarded much in his life for his ministry? He wound up in prison. He wound up losing his life. But yet, guess what? He made converts. He started churches. He did the ministry, but he didn't seem like he was rewarded with all of that. And so what is stewardship? The word dispensation that he mentions there, he says, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. It literally means stewardship. In other words, Paul was made a steward of the gospel. In other words, God put the gospel under his management and his care. It was his responsibility. The steward was not the owner. The steward wasn't the one that had things. The steward was the one that took care of what someone else owned. And so they were responsible. So when the owner comes back, then they would be able to show that they made a profit or whatever in that deal. And so when we look at this passage of Scripture, Paul says, none of these things. I'm not doing this. I don't give up my freedom. I don't humble myself. I don't come into unity with you because of the gospel. I don't come because of the ministry. I'm not doing it because of willingness, because God made me a steward. I'm accountable to Him. I've got to answer to Him. So why in the world, Paul, did you do this? What is the reason for this? And Paul mentions here that it's because of a choice. He made a choice. He made a decision, just like Jesus Christ this morning. You remember? What did Jesus do? He made a decision. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of himself what? Of no reputation. He took upon himself the form of a servant and of a man and humbled himself into the man. And so what did he do? He made a choice. He chose to do that. And so sometimes we think, man, when it comes to humility and to unity, do you realize that it is as simple as a choice? It's as simple as a choice. You can decide to be humble and you can decide to be in unity. It's your choice. It's your decision. Look at what Paul said in verse 18. He said, what is my reward then? Why do I do this? Verily that when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge. And notice this phrase, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. That word abuse means to not use at all. In other words, because of the gospel, we have a lot of power. Because of the gospel, we have a lot of freedom. Because of the gospel, we have a lot of blessings and a lot of reward. But Paul says, guess what? All of these things that I've got because of the gospel, it's not why I'm serving Jesus Christ. I'm serving Jesus Christ because it's a choice. Some people say that I have the liberty to do whatever I want to do. But you know, old Joe over here, he's a weak person. And if I do it, it's going to make him stumble. And so I wish he would hurry up and grow up and mature so that I can do what I want to do, right? That's not real humility. That's not real unity that Paul is talking about. Look at what he says in verse 19. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself, notice that phrase, I made myself. Here's the choice. I made myself servant unto all. You remember this morning the illustration of Jesus Christ with humility? What was He? He was God. He was the Creator of this world. You know, think about it for just a minute. Here He was God. And as a child, what did He do? He helped His father, Joseph, who was a carpenter. Can you imagine taking and working with... Some believe that He worked with wood, because I think we kind of have this Western mindset and carpenters in our world work with wood. Others believe that He was a carpenter and He worked with stone, because there wasn't a lot of trees there. There was stones and stuff. And I don't really know. I'm not a scholar on all of that. But He was a carpenter. He built things. But can you imagine whether it was wood or whether it was stone? Can you imagine the One that spoke all of that into existence? The Creator of it all, now sitting in a shop, taking what He created and working it into what He needs to do to fulfill a purpose. He could have just said, I need this. I want this. Right? That's how He created it to begin with. But yet, what did He do? He chose to be a servant. And that's what Paul is saying here. I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. I restrict myself. Even though I'm free, I'll become a servant if it means somebody is going to get saved. I'm not doing it for my benefit. I'm doing it for someone else's benefit. Why did Jesus Christ take on the form of a servant and a man? He did it so you and I could be saved. So He could die so that you and I could have eternal life. And so notice Paul did it to gain the more. He did it to gain the more. He goes through this list of these people that he does it for. He says, I do it to gain the Jew, in verse 20. And unto the Jew I became as a Jew that I might what? Gain the Jews. To them that are under the law as under the law that I might gain them that are under the law. So he did it to the Jews so that he might gain what? Those Jews to come to Jesus Christ. Those that were under the law, he became under the law even though he was what? He was free from the law. He's not bound to the law. How many times do we say the law is the Old Testament, right? So I can just murder someone, right? No. Not if I love them. Not if I want them to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. That can't murder nobody. And so he said, I put myself under the law that I might do what? Win those that were under the law, that look at the law, that realize the law. And then he said, I do it to gain those under the law. But notice what he said as he does that. He also says in verse 21, to them that were without law as without law. But notice the parentheses here, because he wants you to understand those that are without law. In other words, those people that do not regard the law, kind of like the guys that I go to prison and teach on Thursday night. You know, they are in there because some of them willfully just disregarded the law. They had no conscience. They had no ability. And so guess what? They did what they wanted to do, so they wound up in prison. But notice what Paul said, to them that are without the law as without law, but being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without the law. What was the law under God? The Ten Commandments. What was the law under Jesus Christ? Because he makes a distinction. He said there's the law of God. The law of God is what? Starts off that you'll have no other gods before me. You won't take the name of God in vain. You won't lie. You won't steal. You won't covet your neighbor's wife. Right? The Ten Commandments. And so that's God's law. But what is Christ's law? Christ said, God's law hangs under two laws. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, with all your strength. And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. That's Christ's law. God's law was don't do this to other people. Christ's law is do this to other people. In other words, don't do is God's law. Christ's law is to love. To love. To do something for other people. And so he says, I went under the law, but I didn't break the law. I didn't break the law. I did not do these things, but I also did. I loved other people. He loved us even unto death. The most quoted Scripture of all the Bible, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So he said, I was under the law of Christ. He said, I gave. I gave love. Not required to, but I did it willingly. And then he says, I do it to gain those without the law. And then he says, to the weak that came I as weak that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some. And so he says, I do it to gain the weak. Who are the weak? The weak are those in chapter 8 that were offended because they were eating meat from the idol. That was nitpicking stuff and saying, man, because you're doing that, I can't, that's not of Christ. That's not there. Well, does it say thou shall not eat meat from an idol? Not in the 10 Commandments. It's not there. So it's a gray area. Jesus Christ said what? That all things are pure, whatever you have to eat. He said, do what? Give thanks. Thank God for it. Bless it. That's the blessing. Thank it. And then do what? Eat it. Eat it. That's what God said. Everything is clean now if we give thanks for it first. So why was Paul doing this? He did it because not only for that, but for the gospel sake, the gospel sake. Look at verse 23. And this I do for the gospel sake that I might be a partaker thereof with you. He says, I do it for the gospel sake. In other words, a gospel that I cannot give, a gospel that I am not responsible for because Christ has already paid the debt for the gospel. He's the one that purchased lives. But yet, what did he say? He says, I give up all of my freedoms, all of my rights, and I do it for the gospel sake. That word partaker, he says, I might be a partaker thereof with you. That word partaker means a co-share. In other words, have you ever partook something with someone else? You shared in it. What do we talk about when we have the Lord's Supper? What do we do? We partake in it. In other words, we are co. Not one of us does the Lord's Supper and leave the other ones out. We do it together as co. We all take the wine at the same time. We all take the bread at the same time. We bless it. We eat it. We do it. We're co-taking it together. That's this word partaker, that we're co-shares. In other words, God wants us to be kind of like a family. He wants us to do everything together. And how do we do everything together? It starts with self-denial, back to Philippians. And so, how do we do this though? If we do it for the gospel sake, how do we do it? Well, he gives us the discipline of this freedom. How do we do it? If we're really going to limit our freedoms, if we're really going to not grasp a hold to the grace and the blessings that God has given us as the result of someone else dying and going to hell, then how do we do it? Well, it starts with self-denial. He says in verse 24, "...know you not that they which run in a race run off, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may obtain." Number one, he says, run that you may obtain. Run in order to win. That's our goal. That's our purpose. What is our purpose? We want to lead somebody to Jesus Christ. That's what we're called to do. That's the whole commission is to do what? To go into the world and what? Preach the gospel. Make disciples by preaching and baptizing and teaching them to observe. That's not the commandment to the pastor. That's the commandment to everyone that's in the church. Every one of us is members. It's all of our job. And it takes all of us. Sometimes it takes every single one of us with an individual before they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And so, all of us are involved, but we all run in order to win. But notice, the prize is not salvation. The prize is not salvation. What is the prize? The prize is someone receiving Jesus Christ. That's the prize. When someone comes and is saved, that's when we get our reward. And so what do we do? We live our life in humility. We put what our desires and what our goals and our stuff, we put it aside. We don't hang on to it, but we put it aside in order that we might win people. And the prize is when people are saved, when people are baptized and brought into our fold. Look at what he says there in verse 25. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Temperate in all things. What do we mean by temperate? It's under control. We play by the rules. We do what we have to do. We set our stuff aside in order that we might see other people. And so he's talking about running with discipline. Everybody who runs to win is temperate. They have to obey the rules. Right now we're getting ready and we're gearing up for the summer Olympics. I've been watching some of the pre-trial stuff of some of the different sports where they're trying out now to make the team to go to the Olympics in Paris this summer. Guess what? In order to do that, there's a bunch of rules that you have to abide by. And guess what? It doesn't matter if you are the fastest person in the world. Ask Michael Johnson. I think it was 1984. He set the world record and was the fastest man on earth in the 100-yard dash. Gave him the title and everything else until all of a sudden they found out what? He didn't play fairly. And so they stripped him of his title, of everything that he had. Why? He didn't obey the rules. And so he says we've got to be temperate. We've got to be temperate. We've got to obey the rules. Anybody that participates in athletics knows how this works. And even though it is true in everything, it is even more true when it comes to winning people for Jesus Christ. The end result doesn't relieve us from doing it properly in that. And then we not only run with discipline, but we run with focus. Look at what he says in verse 25. Not only are they temperate in all things, he says, now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. So I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as the one that beateth the air. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. Not as uncertainly. I want you to see that phrase. What is that not as uncertainly? It's mental focus. We've got to be mentally prepared. If you are going to be a servant, how many times did Jesus Christ get alone to pray and to be ministered to by the angels during His earthly ministry? That wasn't for His physical body. Do you know why He did that? For His mental attitude. Do you remember the night that He went up into the garden before He was crucified to pray? And what did He say? He asked Peter, James, and John, hey, would you come up here with me and pray for me? Because the physical stuff that I'm fixing to go through is going to be terrible. But there's a lot of mental stuff. I mean, I am God and these people are fixing to mock me. They are fixing to spit in my face. They are fixing to ridicule me. They're going to slap me. They're going to pluck out my beard. You know, we focus on the physical aspect of all of that sometimes. But have you ever just sat down and thought about the mental toll that would be? It would be bad enough for someone to treat me that way and I'm not God. But can you imagine being God who created these individuals and for them to turn around? That's the mental part. You know, that's the hard part sometimes about Christians. It's not the opposition from without the church that's the problem. A lot of times in pastoring, it's the opposition from those in the church. Those that are supposed to be Christians. Those that are supposed to love you. It's the mental aspect of that. That man, you know, you've sacrificed yourself and you've done and you've got. And so this mental focus and that's what he's talking about here. A man with no goal and no boundaries to the track runs with no effect. You remember the movie Forrest Gump? Run, Forrest, run. Where are you going, Forrest? He just keeps running. He had no goal. He had no boundaries. He just run. What's the purpose in that? That's great, ain't it? But there's no purpose in it. There's no reason to do that. And that's what he's talking about here. We need to know our goal. We need to know our purpose. How many times did it say that Jesus Christ was set for Jerusalem? He knew He was coming to die. Even at 12 years old. Remember when He left His mom and dad? They ended up three days outside of Jerusalem traveling and then they finally realized Jesus is missing. Right? So they go back to Jerusalem and where is He? As a 12 year old boy, He is inside the temple teaching the teachers. And His mom and dad says, Son, you're supposed to be with us. We're heading home. What did Jesus say? Mom, don't you know I have to be about my father's business? See, this physical stuff is temporary. But I've got something eternal that's got to happen. I've got some things that God requires me to do that is above the physical. And so the mental focus, because it would be easy to look at it and say, oh, you're right, Mom, I should have been coming, right? But even at 12 years old, He was focused on the goal. He was focused on the reason that He was here. Not only is there mental focus, but there's physical focus. Look at what He says in verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. He says, I fight, not as one that beats the air. That's the physical part. How physical is it to fight air? I win just about every time, if the round doesn't last more than two minutes. If I fight more than two minutes, I get winded and I have to give up and take my breath, right? But most of the time, I can win when I'm fighting the air. And so He talks about this physical focus that is there. Look at what He says. He uses it with running. Running with physical focus. He says, I keep my body, in verse 27, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now, I have absolutely no desire to run a marathon. I have no desire. I think it's Proverbs that said, only those that are running are running from the wicked or something along that line, right? I have no desire for a marathon. But you know, I've talked to a lot of people that run marathons. And in order to run that distance, you know what you have to do? One, you have to be committed that there is a finish line, right? And they tell me that about halfway through, or a little over halfway through, your body starts to cramp. Your body gets tired. Your body wants to wear down because it's not designed to run marathons. You have to train to do that. And so what they have to do is mentally start focusing. They have to start saying, well, it's only a short distance of time. I have trained for this. My body can do it. And when they get their mental focus right, then what do they do? They push through the cramps. They push through the hard stuff. And they take control over their physical body and say, you can do this. And that's why sometimes these guys are excited, not necessarily because they won the marathon, but a lot of them are just excited that they finished. Because why? The mental process and the physical process of being able to control that. And so that's why Paul is using this idea of a runner. This positiveness, this mental toughness. I'm going to keep going. My body is not going to give out. And sometimes you just have to think, one more step, one more step, one more step, as you continue to go. But then look at what he says again in verse 27. He said, I do this lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. There he uses a metaphor of the Isthmian Games there in Rome. When the games began, a herald would come out. We're close to Hot Springs. I've never been to the races, but I've watched a lot of them on TV. I've watched the big Triple Crown every year and everything else. What happens at the beginning of a race? The guy steps out first of all and blows the trumpet. He alerts everybody that what? The race is about to start. That's what they did at the Isthmian Games. They would blow a trumpet and the herald would say, the season to start. All of the runners come that way. Everybody start making your way to the track. And then as they got to the track, that same herald in that day and time would also explain all of the rules. This is how far you're going to run. This is the lane that you're running in. This is your responsibilities. They give them all of this and then the herald would tell them to get onto the starting line and get ready to go. And so they've been called, they've been given the rules, and now they are ready to run the race. And that's what Paul is talking about. Paul is saying, lest that by any means when I have preached, when I have heralded to others, I myself should be disqualified. In other words, if I'm calling people and challenging people for humility and unity and for the gospel's sake so that people can be saved and I am given all the rules and I'm given everything, I sure don't want to be disqualified myself because I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. And so listen, evangelism doesn't just happen by accident. And I think we've got a lot of churches today, if we'll be honest with ourselves, and we look at our church and we look at other churches, there's a lot of us that are grasping a hold of everything that we have been given in Christ. And we're proud of that. God has blessed Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church. We just finished celebrating over 200 years of existence as a church. That's great. You couldn't have done that without God. But when we grasp a hold of everything that God has done for us, and we forget about people, then guess what? We have forgot the purpose of everything. And listen, it's not about us. It's about others. And so God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a servant and became obedient as a man to death. Even the death of the cross. Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 says, you know what? I have all of these liberties and freedoms in Christ, but I laid all of them aside. I did it willingly. I made a choice. I determined that I wasn't going to do this for someone else's sake. The question that we're left with and that we have to ask is, are we attracting people to Jesus Christ? Or are we deterring people from Jesus Christ? Remember this morning when people saw Jesus Christ, what did they do? They recognized Him. Not condescending that, oh man, they're coming down to me. You know, sometimes the world gets that way. Well, here comes them religious folks again. Here comes them church. Are we on special times and occasions? Do we want to affect somebody's life? But they looked at Jesus Christ and what happened? He showed humility from the time that He was born until the time of His death. And what did He do? Because of His humility, He attracted people. People want to be around people that don't care for themselves, but care about you. I like to be around people that care about me. Right? I like to be around people that want to hear what I have to say. I want to be around people that care when I'm hurting. Care when I have a problem. That don't just want to say, be warm and feel, preacher, but to say, hey preacher, I'm praying for you. And you know, if each and every one of us in the church was living like Christ, and giving up things like Paul, guess what? We would be attracting more people. But when we set ourselves up and say, man, I am saved and I am going to heaven, and I can't wait to get to heaven, we're talking about end times and stuff, and man, we look forward to that stuff, and we're talking about it on Wednesday night, and we get excited and we look forward to that. But if we're focused on that, and we're not focused on people, we've lost the purpose. Christ came for people. And He left us here for people. I've said it a million times, if Christ saved me to go to heaven, I'd miss the boat. I should have already been there. But salvation is not for heaven. Salvation is to be a witness here on earth of what God can do for a sinner to repent and give their life to Him. That's what we should be living. It's for others, not for ourselves. As we stand and have a verse of invitation tonight. Are you attracting people? Or are you turning people away?