But if you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do this morning, you can join me in 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. We began a brand new series last week when we were together, and we had come out of our summer series. And so we began this brand new series entitled Not About Me. Not about me.
And I know you're all encouraged to hear about that life is not all about you, right? And you're like, man, I came to church to be encouraged, not discouraged. But no, sometimes we need to realize that there is more to this life than what we want. And there is more to this life than what we desire and that what we prefer and the different things. And so you were made for more.
And that's what we learn from here in 1 Corinthians. And so last week we were in 1 Corinthians chapter number 8, and we find the Apostle Paul was answering some questions that the early church was having, that specifically the church at Corinth was having.
Now, just contextually, I want you to remember that we talked about this that about five years before the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church at Corinth, about five years earlier, is when he started the church there. And so many of the believers there in Corinth were somewhat new to their faith, and they were growing. And they were asking questions, and they were asking really good questions. And by the way, I said this last week: that church is the best place for you to ask questions. And here's what I will tell you.
I mean, growing up in church and being a part of church my whole life, it was almost like you don't ask questions, you just do what you're told and assume you have it all together. But one thing that I love about church is this is an opportunity for you to ask real questions. And that church is made up of a bunch of people who are saved by the blood of Jesus. But here's what I will tell you: we are all on different stages of our spiritual journey. And that is okay.
And that is what you find here at the church at Corinth. They were extremely diverse. Many of them were Jews, many of them were Gentiles. And so, for this reason, many of them were saved out of what I would call a pagan Roman kind of culture there. And so, they're asking some real questions because of what they were saved out of.
And they're asking just real questions.
So, last week, we looked at chapter number eight, and they asked this question: Can we eat meat that is sacrificed to idols? What was happening there is in the Roman temples to the different gods that they would worship there in and around Rome, what they would do is they would kill an animal and then they'd take it to this pagan temple, not a Jewish temple, and they'd take it to a pagan temple and they would sacrifice the fat of the animal. And what they would do is they would take the rest of the animal of this animal that was sacrificed to idols and they would take it out around Rome and to the meat markets and different things like that. And so there was a lot of Christians who had been saved out of those pagan practices.
Now they're in the church at Corinth and they're saying, hey, listen, can we eat this meat? Can our families eat this meat that is sacrificed to idols? And many of the church was saying things like, absolutely, no problem. It was offered to a false God that doesn't even exist. It does not matter.
It's not going to affect one thing in the world. And then there were other ones who were saying, absolutely not. Our standards are higher, and there's no way we're going to do this. And so they're asking this question: who is. Who is right?
And the Apostle Paul comes back and he gives some principles that we looked at last week about Christian liberty and the freedom that we have as believers in some of these areas that he doesn't specifically give us a scripture reference in verse 4 and how we are to handle those situations. And the theme of last week was this: it was others over self. In other words, you should love your brother or your sister in Christ more than you do a freedom that you want to enjoy and more than the right that you have to your freedom. In other words, you should be willing to lay down your freedoms, lay down your rights for the sake of your brother and sister, and for the love of your brother and sister in Christ.
So it was all about others over self. And then in chapter number nine, as he continues this same conversation with the church at Corinth, we see this theme that comes about. It is gospel over self.
So, week number one of our series, it was others over self. And now, what he's going to say is: not only is it about other people over yourself, it is now gospel over. Over self.
So, in chapter number nine, and there's a lot in chapter number nine, there's 27 verses, and I'm not going to read it all. We're going to read here in a moment from verse 19 through 27, but I do want to kind of catch you up to speed on verses 1 through 18 because it does matter to what Paul concludes this chapter with. And so, he continues in verses 1 through 18 of chapter 9, he continues the same topic of conversation with the church about freedom. And about those freedoms that we can enjoy in Christ, and what do we do with these middle ground issues that the Bible might not say, hey, here's the scripture in verse on, and things like that. And what he uses to kind of drive home his point.
is his personal testimony. And not his salvation testimony, but really just his testimony and how he has seen in his own life gospel over himself. And in verses 1 through 18, there was, you'll see this, and we're not going to look at it. It's a lot of deep stuff.
So I'm going to give you a little commentary on what he's saying. But many in the church at Corinth were questioning the Apostle Paul's apostleship. They were questioning his apostleship. And we know this, some of this is because of his background and different reasons. And when you say, what does that matter?
Here's why that matters. And you see it, he talks all about this in verses 1 through 18 of chapter 9. The reason they were questioning it and why it matters is because they were asking this question: Do you have the authority? To tell us what you're trying to tell us. And so the Apostle Paul writes back to them in this letter, and he's proving that he is an apostle, that he has seen the risen.
Christ, and he begins to use his personal example of his freedoms and his rights. And here's what he says in verses 1 through 18: is what he's talking about is this: he says, Hey, I have the right. To take money from the church as a source of income because I planted the church. In fact, in verse number 14 of chapter number nine, he says that those who preach the gospel should hereby live. By the gospel.
In other words, that those who are pastors, those who are preachers, they should be supported by their churches for ministering and shepherding the flocks that God has led them to. And that is very what we have here. And I'm grateful for this. But Paul, he begins to talk in chapter 9 about this idea: I have the right to take money from the church as my source of income because I'm a church planner. But because many in the church were questioning his apostleship, he begins to say that he laid down his right.
Of receiving money from the church because it was gonna hinder his ability to share the gospel with some of the people. in the church. And so he even says that him and Barnabas forsook receiving any money from the church at Corinth that they were trying to give him because there were people there that were questioning his apostleship. And so what he's saying is this: we laid down our right to receive money from the church. For the sake of the gospel.
Now, let me tell you this: as a pastor, he's way more spiritual than I am, okay?
So I know you're thinking, like, why don't our pastor do this? But the Apostle Paul begins to say that me and Barnabas, we care more about the gospel than what we have here, but he's saying this: we have the right to receive it. We have the liberty to receive it. We have the liberty to partake in this, but Gospel and the furtherance of the gospel is way more important to us. than what we receive, than our liberty or our right To do this.
So, what he's saying is: is this: I lay down my right and my liberty. Because it is hindering the work of the gospel, which takes us to this theme: it's gospel over ourselves. It's gospel over your personal preferences. It's gospel over your liberties. It's gospel over your freedoms.
It's gospel over your rights. And that's what he's saying here in 1 Corinthians. And he summarizes it with this. Look at verse 19, and we'll read through the end of the chapter. He says this, verse 19: For though I be free from all men.
Yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the Lord.
Now, I want to stop right there. I'm going to give you a little bit of commentary through this because this is so good and this is so practical.
So, if you're kind of a practical thinker and you're kind of showing up to church and you need something to take with you, this is it. What he's saying is in that verse, in verse 19, is that he is free from everybody. And here's the good news of the Christian life. We do not have to live our life to please anybody else in this room. Like, I'm grateful for that.
Like, you might do something different in your family. You might do something different in your life. You might do whatever. You might listen to something different or whatever. And you come share that with us.
But here's what I want you to know: and I say this with such freedom. I do not have to worry about pleasing you. As a pastor, my job is not just to please you. Right? And what he's saying is we are free from that.
We are free from that. And a lot of pastors, I'll be honest with you, I talk to pastors all the time, they are constrained by a congregation because the congregation thinks their church is all about, hey, please us, please us, please us, whatever we want, you will do, that kind of thing. And I'm like, that is so far from the New Testament church. And Paul is saying this, I am free from all men. I am I'm not bound by anyone.
But he said in his spiritual maturity, and that's the whole thing that he's talking about here in this text that we've been looking at: in my spiritual maturity, I've also become a servant. To all.
So I'm free from all, but now I'm a servant to all. Why in the world? Like, what in the world? Isn't that contrary? And there is some tension there.
Like, I don't have to please you, is what he's saying. I don't have to please the church at Corinth, but he's saying this: because for the sake of the gospel, to win as many people as possible with the gospel, I will become a servant. to everyone.
Now that takes quite the humility doesn't it? To be able to say that, and to be able to do that. And so Paul is saying this: that the gospel means more to me than the differences that we might have. In verse number 20, he goes on and he expounds on what he means. He says, and unto the Jews I became as a Jew.
that I might gain the Jews. to them that are under the law. As under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. And now, here's what I want to tell you: fundamentally and culturally. Paul was Paul was a Jew.
And so, but what he's saying is, after he came to faith in Christ on that road to Damascus, he's saying that after his conversion. He still would participate in some of the Jewish. Festivities, probably what he's referring to as the feast and some of the rituals and different things like that. And that's what he's saying. I became a Jew.
Culturally, I was one, but after Christ, I didn't just forsake all of my Jewish heritage. I didn't just forsake all of those things. No, I actually became that. Why?
So that I could win more Jews.
So that I could win more Jews with the gospel. In other words, like he's not bound by the law, but he's going to try his best to keep as much of the law as possible in front of the Jews because he knows it means something to them.
So in other words, what he's saying is I am going to be ultra conservative and ultra strict in order to win the Jews who were very conservative and very strict. And I'm willing to do that. I have the right to do some other things. And I have the liberty to do some other things, but I am going to be a Jew in order to win the Jews. Then he goes on, verse 21.
But to them that are without law. As without law. In other words, those who are not Jewish. Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. He goes on, verse 22: to the weak.
Became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I made all things to all men that I might by all means Save some.
So, what is he saying? The Gentiles didn't believe in the law and all these different things. And so, what he's saying is this: when I was with the Jews, I wanted to win as many Jews as possible.
So, I became Jewish. I became them and I lived like them. I went to the rituals that they would go to. But when I was with some of the Gentiles, I would exercise some freedom so that I can win them as well.
Now, I want to be very clear that he specifically says being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. I want you to understand that when he's saying that I became weak or I became like one of the Gentiles that were not under the law, he's not saying that he did anything that would dishonor Christ. He's not saying that I'm willing to do some things that would dishonor the name of God. He's not sacrificing godliness. He's not sacrificing godliness for worldliness.
But he's saying that he became culturally. Relevant. And here's what I'll tell you. In churches, this is a major battle. This is a major battle.
It's like, how in the world do we become that? Because we have people on both sides who will say that being culturally relevant or whatever means that you have forsaken Godliness. But that's not what Paul's saying. Paul is saying that here, and this is the way that I think about it in these verses. It's about connection.
Not compromise. It's about connection. Not compromise. In other words, when he's with the Jews, he's going to do some things that they are going to do out of respect for them so that he could connect with them, so that he could relate to them, so that at the end of the day, he can win as many Jews as possible. But now he goes to all these other people who don't live by the law and different things, and he's saying, Hey, listen, I'm going to do anything short of sin.
To relate to them.
So that I can win. I can win them. And so where do we fit? He's saying this, that the gospel is the most important thing in my life. It's more important than my preferences and my religious tradition, but it's also more important than my freedoms.
The gospel should be the central thing in all of our lives, is what he's trying to say. And then here in verse number 24. He concludes this chapter. By paralleling that this gospel work. that we're called to is like a race.
It's like a race. And Paul, you know this, he was a sports guy. You can tell this from here. He would have probably amened the college football comment that David made if Paul was sitting in the room. He loved sports.
He uses the analogy of racing and the analogy of the games and different things all the time throughout his writings. And here he begins this journey of gospel over self. He begins telling us that it's almost like this journey of gospel over self. It's like a race that we will run. Which leads us to really to this last part.
He says in verse 24, he says, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all? but one receiveth the prize.
So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be. should be a castaway. Here's what he's saying.
So we have this theme of gospel. Over self.
And what he's saying here is really this big idea. As he summarizes everything about this idea of gospel overselves, it's this. Run, and this is your challenge today. Run for the gospel. Not us.
Run for the gospel, not ourselves. Run for the gospel, not your preferences. Run for the gospel, not even your liberties. Run for the gospel, not your freedoms. Run for the gospel, not your preferences.
Run for the gospel, not your hobbies. Run for the gospel, not people. Run for the gospel, not your career. Run for the gospel, not money and financial gain. Run for the gospel, not.
Us. And what you have here is this theme that it is gospel. Over Us. And I want to give you a couple of things that I think 24 to 27 of why, and some things that I think we can practically take with us about this text.
Now, I told you this last week. These passages are so uncomfortable to church people. I've been in a Baptist church my entire life. I told you some of my story last week about how I was raised. I was raised in a very strict environment.
Couldn't go to movie theaters growing up. I couldn't listen to any, obviously, no secular music. I couldn't listen to contemporary music growing up. It's kind of what I did. You dressed a certain way to church.
That's just what I was taught. That's what I was raised. We had a lot of different rituals and different things that we were engaged in that my family did. And there was, I mean, I always joke with my parents today that they had rules for their rules. Like we just rule, I mean, there were so many rules that I cannot even begin to tell you about our life.
A lot of the things my friends could do, I could not do. And that's how I was raised.
So when I got older, here's what I found.
Okay, I 100% respect where my parents were at. 100%. And they raised me the way that they fell and the conviction that they had. And that's what Paul said last week. They raised me according to the conscience of which they were going to raise me.
So, kids and teenagers, I want you to understand this, and I'm just going to speak to you for just a quick second. If you're in here today and you're like, oh my goodness, my parents, like, he must have parents like mine. Like, you're sitting there and just like, man, my parents are the most strict people ever. I promise you, my parents were more strict than yours.
Okay, and here's what I will tell you, or whatever. They mean well for you, and they want what's best for you. And they're leading you based on their personal conviction. It's not a matter of right and wrong. It's a matter of their personal conviction.
And as parents, they have a right. to lead you with the convictions that they have. And one day, you're not going to know it now because I fought with my parents growing up like crazy about the rules. When all my friends were leaving and going to a movie and I couldn't go, think about how that went in the house. I was just like, I mean, it was not pretty.
I was ugly and disrespectful. And here's what I'll tell you: I didn't understand it as a child, but as I've gotten older, I've respected how they raised me. But here's what I will tell you that I've learned as an adult. Or whatever, it was based on their conviction it wasn't right or wrong.
So when I got older, I used to think movie theaters were wrong. If you dress more casual to church, you're not as spiritual. Right? And all these different things. It was hard for me because I viewed it as right or wrong.
But what scripture is saying is these things in the middle was a matter of conscience. Music and all these things that are in the middle, it's a matter of personal preference, it's a matter of personal conviction. And when you see that, as I got older, I realized some of those things and I respect where I'm at. But now I've been able to adapt my own personal convictions based on my own conscience and the Holy Spirit's leading to lead my family in some ways different than the way that I was raised. And here's what I want you to know.
And grandparents, this is important for you.
Sometimes you think of the way your kids are raising their kids, your grandkids, and you think that the way they're raising them is wrong because it's different than the way you raised them.
Okay, am I being a little too personal right now?
Some of you are like, oh my goodness, has he like bugged our living room? This is exactly what we're talking about, right? And so, but here's what I want you to know: for this, is this: when it comes to these middle ground issues, it's not different. It's based on your personal conscience and your liberty and your freedom. And that's what we have to understand.
And so here we find that Paul is talking about that. And he's saying that it's a race. And he's saying, run for the gospel, not your... Personal preferences, not your rights, not your liberties, not all these types of things.
So, a couple things. He says this, and I hope this is super practical. He says in verse 24 to 27. Run to the middle. to win people with the gospel.
It doesn't get more simplistic. than that. It doesn't get more simplistic than that. And he's talking, remember, to the church. It's not just to pastors.
This is to the saints. This is to every person who showed up at the church at Corinth. This is who he's talking to.
So, for you that have shown up as the church, this is to you. This is to you. And so I want you to personalize this and make this personal for you. He's talking directly to you, and he's saying this: Know ye not that they which run in a race, us, right, run all, but one receiveth the prize.
So he's likening what we get to do in life and the purpose of our life to this guy, this athlete running in a race.
So he tells us, So run that ye may obtain, verse 25. But every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. He's saying that this race for the gospel, there's a prize at the end of it, verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. In other words, I'm not running to please anybody else, I'm running to please him and nobody else. Does everybody get that?
I'm not running just to keep up with the Joneses or to make sure that everybody thinks of me a certain way and to impress everybody else and stuff. No, I'm running for him and nobody else. Verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it. into subjection, lest that by any means which I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.
So run to win people with the gospel. What's he saying here? First of all, Christianity is not a spectator sport. It's a race that we all run.
So, when you talk about running for the gospel, this is not something for just the pastors. This is not just something for the deacon board. It's not just something for your Bible fellowship teacher, whatever. This is for you. And he's saying that you should run for the gospel.
All of us should be involved in this race. We shouldn't sit in the stands. And here's what I will tell you: there's a lot of churches filled with a bunch of spectators. There are a bunch of spectators. They just come and they sit and they listen to a sermon and they feel really good, and then they go back to their house and they never invite people to church.
They never talk to people about the gospel. They don't serve. They're not a part of the mission of the church and things like that. Here's what he's saying: you are nothing but a spectator. You're somebody that's just on the sideline at a game watching the players play the game or watching the runners race.
And what he's saying is that all of us must get involved in this race, run to win people with the gospel. And he says two things about this that are really interesting. That if you're just reading this straight through, you might miss. But in verse 25. He tells us to run with self-control.
It's very important. It's very practical too. Run with self-control. Look what he says in verse 25 again. Every man that striveth for the mastery.
So he's talking about this athlete. Is temperate in all things. The word temperate can mean. Self-control. In other words, think about an athlete.
I love sports.
So when I look at sports, I'm always interested in guys like Tom Brady, right? Like how in the world does Tom Brady do what he did at the age he was? You look at guys now. I know some of you are going to hate this, but like a LeBron James, like, how in the world do you become 40 years old and you're still playing to that type of level? Here's why that is: is because guys like that are super, and you can see, and there's stuff online about guys like a Brady or guys like a LeBron James or whatever.
Here's why: is because they are super controlled with their body. Like the amount of control that they have, every food that they eat, every snack that they eat, that from morning until they go to bed at night is 100% just like the most organized day that you could ever, ever imagine. And so, what he's saying is: these athletes. For whatever they're doing, if they're racing or if they're playing a sport or whatever, they have to be super self-controlled with things. in order to run or in order to compete.
So when he's saying run for the gospel, he's saying run the same way. You need to be temperate. You need to be self-controlled. Here's what you say, what does that mean? What does that look like from day to day?
I was thinking about this. There are some things in life We are going to say no to for the sake of the gospel. Flip side. There's some things. that we're going to say yes to for the sake of the gospel.
And so, when we talk about self-control, there's some things that we are going to say no to. For the sake of the furtherance of the gospel. And then there's some things that we're going to lean into, if it's working for the sake of the gospel and it's not sin and it's not worldly, we're going to lean into that a little bit so that we can reach more people with the gospel. Very practically. There's some preferences we're going to lay down.
Right? Because the gospel should mean more to us than our preferences. But then there's also some rights that we have as followers of Christ that we're going to also lay down for the sake of the gospel. In other words, it's all about self-control. It's being able to live in the middle and say, I might have the liberty to do this, but it's not going to help my witness for Christ.
So I'm going to refrain from it. And then there's also the flip side, more the Jewish side that believed everything almost was wrong. And they would say, you know what? The Bible doesn't say specifically: if the gospel's being proclaimed and the gospel is still saving people by doing something that I prefer not to do, then I'm willing to lay down my preference for the sake of the gospel. That's what it means with self-control.
But then he says run with discipline. Verse 27, he uses an interesting word. He says, But I keep under my body. What in the world does that mean? And I bring it under subjection.
You you read the word keep and you're kind of like, what does that mean? What was the Greek Word for that because I don't understand what that means.
Well, when you look it up in Greek, here's what it means: to strike. In other words, he's like saying, I strike my body and I put my body under subjection. Like, what in the world does that mean? He's talking about an athlete. He is talking about the discipline that an athlete goes through in order to be good at what they They do.
I mean, think about Michael Phelps, right? The reason why he was so successful. I can't remember the number, but I'm pretty sure it was 20 miles or so a day that he would like swim growing up or something. It's outrageous. And you're kind of like, what in the world?
It's because he was disciplining and training his body so that when he went out and raced, he was prepared for something like that.
So he's saying that we need to run in the race for the gospel with discipline. What does that mean? We run as like a slave, if you would, or a servant to our body. Here's what he's saying: it takes discipline. Take it seriously.
When you think about the gospel, have a plan, set a goal, work on your gospel witness, invite others to church, become relatable, get into your community. Right? Like some of these kind of things are so important.
So when you think about your gospel witness and how you're doing in this race for the gospel, a lot of it is going to be dependent upon the discipline that you take with you. In other words, like some of you live in a community and you have neighbors around you. Do you even know their names and do you even know if they're Christians?
Some of you play at a ball field all the time. You think God just put you there because you love sports? No, He puts you there to be a gospel witness and to run for the gospel. And what he's saying is this: some of you have no friend outside of Union Grove. You don't talk to anybody outside of Union Grove.
And what you need to understand is this discipline means, man, I need to get out and start meeting people and relating to people so that I can win more people with the gospel. That's what he's trying to say. And so, for some of us, we need to discipline ourselves and rearrange our schedule to really get out and about and get into our community so that we have people in our circle that we can relate to and that we can invite people. Two. You get the sense here that Paul, yes, he was a church planner, but he was also with Jews and Gentiles.
He was out and about in his community. He was hanging out with different types of people all of the time.
So that he could win. More people. That's what it means for us. And then, number two, and I got to finish, but he says, run for the prize that awaits. There's a prize.
In verse 25, he talks about this. He says, every man that striveth. It's temperate, self-controlled, and all things. No, they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. In other words, we are running for.
there for heaven. I mean, Philippians 3, Paul says, I press toward the mark. For the prize of the high calling. There's a prize in heaven. The prize is heaven.
The prize is a relationship with Jesus. And so he's saying we run for there, not here. In other words, a lot of us. When we get to heaven, you're gonna really probably remember, and I don't know how this is gonna look. But You're going to realize you spent your whole life running for you and running for this life.
And what Paul's saying is, I'm not running for this life, I'm running for heaven. That's the most important thing. That's the prize. And so I'm while I'm here, this short 70-year or however long I'm going to be here, I'm going to spend my life. Running for their not.
Not here. Here's what this means for us as a church. We need to do whatever it takes. Short of sin, like the Apostle Paul, that's from him, not me. to reach people with the gospel.
And here's what I mean, and let me speak very pastoral, so don't get mad at me for this, okay? But I'm going to tell you something that I hear about as a pastor. I go to little pastor things from time to time. And here's what I will tell you. And I want you to hear me correctly.
Okay, I'm not talking about worldliness, I'm not talking about ungodliness or anything. There's a lot of churches. All over the world. that are dying. Or they have already closed their doors.
Through the years. Because, here's what I'll tell you. because they prioritized. tradition over the gospel. It's true.
And deep down you know it. And you might really feel uncomfortable when we say that because we're like, man, I love my tradition. Hey, guess what? We all do. Every single person in here has a tradition, and we all love tradition.
And here's what I'll tell: I can relate to you. I don't like change any more than you do. But you know, as a pastor, here's what I get asked all the time about young people and stuff in church, and why aren't young people coming to our church and different things? I get asked all the time, or whatever. Here's what I'll tell you.
We have to get real comfortable. We have to get real comfortable. With that group of people that are coming up, and here's what I'll tell you: we can't start dying or losing people because we're holding to a tradition. overholding reaching people with the gospel. And what I'm afraid of if we're not careful That can happen.
And that's happening in churches all around. And some of them, they're not like far off, they're right here in our community. Because they're holding to a tradition and stuff. And so, for me to be real, I'm just going to be honest with you. I want Union Grove Baptist Church.
We're not talking about changing things, we're not becoming ungodly and worldly. And so, you've got to understand the difference of what we're talking about.
So, don't go to the far-out extremes and stuff like that. But we are talking about some things in the middle that we might need to be comfortable with so that this could be a place. That your children and grandchildren will want to come to when they graduate. Isn't that what you want? But you know what?
Let's go back to what I said earlier. Whatever. A lot of those churches that I was talking about. Let's be very practical. They prioritize preferences.
over the salvation of their kids and grandkids. You see what I'm saying? Like, I grew up with music. That if it wasn't in a hymn book, it was wrong, you know? That's how I was raised.
I mean, really, I was. And so, you had, I mean, and we were so hardcore, there was a red hymnal that was a thing back in the day. I don't know anything about that. But that's what I was raised with. And if it didn't come out of the red hymnal, I'll just tell you right now, it was not right.
And we better not be singing it because that's the first step to compromise. That's all I heard growing up. Everything I went to, I was like, man.
So when I got out and I started looking at this, I was like, man, that's a really good song. It honors Christ. But what I was taught, and I realized, like, it's just a conviction. And that's a conviction that's okay. And if you have that conviction, that's fine.
That's fine. I am not at all harping on that. I respect that. And a lot of my heritage was around that. But if we hold to a tradition like that, that's not a right or wrong thing, but we're saying, hey, this is where we're going to stand or whatever, we have to understand what you are sacrificing by standing on that.
And I don't want to be a church. I don't want to be a church that prioritizes traditions over gospel. I don't. I want to be a pastor that is willing to do whatever it takes. To create that thing in the middle that we're all longing for.
And remember, we're not talking about sin, we're not talking about ungodliness, we're not talking about worldliness, but I want to do anything short of sin. In order to reach more people with the gospel, that was the Apostle Paul's priority. That was what he did. And listen, I get it. That's uncomfortable.
Some of you are frustrated. You're like, man, I don't like the sound of this. I don't like the tone of this or whatever. And here's all I'm saying: we should be a little uncomfortable when it comes to this. We should be a little uncomfortable in the middle.
with our liberty and with our preferences. But here's what he's saying. Gospel. Should be the number one priority, and the gospel should be more important to us than. ourself.
Then our liberty? Or our preferences. Does that make sense? And that's what he's trying to do. Can we bow our heads for prayer?
