DEVOTION – DAY 236

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 “Being Sensitive To Others”

 

1 Cor.9:22-23 “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, that I may share in its blessings.”

 

The apostle Paul was active in trying to share the gospel with Gentiles or non-Jews. So, in trying to reach Gentiles, Paul would at times conform to the culture of Gentiles when that did not go against the teachings of the Jesus Christ. And when Paul was in the company of Jews, although he knew he was free to eat meat that had been offered to idols since he was a Christian, Paul would choose not to eat the meat so that his actions would not offend Jews. Paul was being sensitive to the people he was with so that his actions would not stumble others and that his actions would not turn people away from the gospel. In doing so, Paul wanted to help convert people to Christianity so that one day, he could rejoice in the many blessings arising from being used by God to bring Gentiles into God’s Kingdom through his sharing of the gospel to them.

 

The gospel message should always be shared with sensitivity to the needs and feelings of the people we want to reach for the Lord. Insensitive sharing and actions could turn people away from the gospel message. Sometimes, we need to exercise restraint in not doing what we would like to do, in order to help unbelievers know about Jesus.

 

Recently, there was some debate over the actions of a group of young missionaries. They had gone to Poland to do mission work amongst the Ukrainian refugees in the border areas. After their mission work was over, the group boarded their EasyJet flight to fly home to US. As they boarded, they sought permission from the flight crew to “entertain” the fellow passengers during the flight over Europe. The flight captain gave his permission. After the meal was served and the passengers settled down, one of the missionaries stood up with his guitar and started playing the guitar. His fellow missionaries also stood up wherever they were in the cabin and they all started to sing worship songs to the Lord. Many fellow passengers also recorded what was happening on their handphones and posted the singing onto social media platforms. The reactions of the fellow passengers were divided. Some were happy to be entertained. Others were offended by the actions of these young Christians as they did not want another person’s religion thrusted onto them especially in the confined space of an airplane cabin. While the young missionaries had good intentions, they had forgotten what Paul had said in these verses about the need to be sensitive to people.

 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, please help us to be sensitive to others especially when we want to reach them with the gospel message. Please help us to guard our actions and words. We humbly ask this of you in the great name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Questions

  1. What are some of your actions or words that might offend non-Christians and put them off the gospel message?
  2. How will you change such potentially offensive words or actions in order not to drive non-Christians away?
  3. Why must Christians forgo some of their rights for the sake of others coming to know the Lord?
  4. Do you think the group of young missionaries in the devotion’s example were right in what they did? Discuss.