All For The Gospel’s Sake

There are certain things that are worth making adjustments for. Most of us will make adjustments and accommodations for someone we love. Relationships with our boyfriend or girlfriend, our spouse, our children, our parents, even our friends, usually involve constant trade-offs and negotiation.

We do the same when a lucrative job offer comes along. We might even move to a whole different area of the country (or even the world!) for the right work at the right price. And at the very least, most of us regularly adjust our weekly schedule to accommodate the demands of our workweek.

Our health is another of those things we make accommodations for too. If we discover that we have a disease that requires a dietary change, or a schedule change to work with a treatment plan, well, of course we do that! Our health is on the line!

Paul, the apostle, mentions something else — something very important — that he was willing to make accommodations for. And that’s the gospel. Because it was so important to him that as many people as possible hear and know the gospel, Paul was always willing to make adjustments so that he could put himself in a position to teach the gospel and win as many as possible to faith in Jesus Christ.

How about us? Are we willing to make the same adjustments Paul was so that the gospel can be taught? Are we prepared to consider accommodations in our own lives so that more people can be won for Christ and saved for eternity?

Are we willing to adjust our budget so that we can give more to the Lord and his kingdom work?

Are we willing to adjust our schedule to accommodate a growth group or Bible study?

Are we willing to adjust our hearts and make ourselves available to serve in our church so that God’s vision for our church can be fulfilled?

And most of all, as Paul says to the Corinthians, are we willing to adjust our attitudes toward people so that we fit ourselves to them and meet them where they’re at? Are we willing to put ourselves in their shoes, and accommodate to their “style”, so that we can be in a position to share Christ with them?

Why would we want to make all those adjustments and accommodations? The answer, Paul says, is simple.

It’s all for the sake of winning people to faith. It’s all for the sake of the gospel.

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made 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 people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, NIV).

Lord, give me the same willingness Paul had to make adjustments and accommodate people for the sake of the gospel. I want more and more people to know you, Jesus, as their Lord and Savior. Use me, as you used Paul, to be an evangelist to lead people to Jesus.

Our Bible reading for August 15, is 2 Chronicles 2:1 – 5:1, 1 Corinthians 9:19 – 10:13 and Psalm 97:1-12.

Header image based on "Gospel Graffiti II" by Peat Bakke, CC By 2.0