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Tips For ‘Wanna-Be’ Evangelists (And You
Know You ‘Wanna Be’!) From Paul
by Major
Stephen Court
Most people (who do things like this)
would put the apostle Paul high up on a list of all-time
evangelists (not that there is anything wrong like that). He
gives us a glimpse into his motivation and approach to
evangelizing in 1 Corinthians 9. As our text, we are offering
an alternative rendering (complete with notes of Greek
definitions) to highlight Paul’s perspective on evangelizing
here in hopes of revelation and expectation of edification.
1 Corinthians 9:16-27.
Verse16
16 Yet when I evangelise I cannot
boast, for I am compelled to do it. I’d be miserable if I
didn’t proclaim God’s good news.
Notes: euangelisomai = announce good
news (evangelise… proclaim God’s good news); kauchema –
Strong’s – boast, glory, matter or ground of glorying (boast);
epikeitai = lie on, rest upon; + ananke = necessity =
(compelled); oaui = alas! Woe! (I’d be miserable- as Phillips)
sec- So, a few things: Christian are
compelled to evangelise. I heard my comrade opine that since
Christians evangelise, if you aren’t evangelizing…
(this is where some readers respond,
‘ouch’, and get down on their knees in repentance);
You can’t boast about evangelizing, any
more than attending the holiness meeting Sunday morning, or
reading the Bible every morning before you head to work, or
praying through your intercession list before breakfast, or
meeting weekly with that younger Christian you are
discipling. It’s all a part of what William Booth called
‘Salvation Life’ (we’re bringing that term back; stay tuned
for a book title some time in the next decade or two, probably
[just need to pray it up, recruit a co-author, write it…]).
I guess a related observation is that
you can’t boast about those other things, either (your
worship, prayer, Bible reading, Bible memorization, fasting,
etc.).
What compels us? Not the rules, not
the obligations nor expectations. The love of Christ compels
us. At least, that’s the point.
And if we’re not evangelizing it is
because we’re not compelled to evangelise. And if we’re not
compelled to evangelise, it is because the love of Christ is
not compelling us. And, is it fair to continue (?), that if
the love of Christ is not compelling us, then there is some
disconnect between the love of Christ and us. And, that gets
us back to my comrade’s opinion (above), and if you aren’t
evangelizing, you aren’t a Christian…
(too harsh? Read on)
Paul admits he’d be miserable if he
didn’t evangelise.
Can you empathise?
What makes you miserable? (if
anything) Is it when you don’t get your way, when the weather
turns against you, when you are inconvenienced by traffic
delays, when your team loses the big game?
Paul’s miserable when he doesn’t
evangelise. (actually, we shouldn’t slime him. He doesn’t
say that. He guesses CONDITIONALLY that he WOULD be miserable
if he didn’t evangelise. I infer from this that he DID
evangelise consistently, faithfully, boldly, compellingly and
so wasn’t miserable, at least from not evangelizing [he did
get shipwrecked, beaten arrested, flogged, and heaps of other
inconveniences that might have brought on symptoms of misery)
Verse17
17 If I choose to practise this
vocation, I get wages; but it isn’t a matter of choice, it’s a
stewardship entrusted to me. 18 So what’s in it for me? I
get excited about propagating God’s good news for free, not
demanding privileges.
Notes: prasso = to do, practise;
Strong’s – accomplish, perform (practise); ekon = of one’s own
free will, voluntary (choose); misthon = wages, hire (wages);
akon = unwilling (isn’t a matter of choice- Phillips);
oikonomian = stewardship, administration (stewardship);
pepisteumai = believe, trust; Vine’s – be persuaded of, place
confidence in (entrusted to)
misthos = wages, hire (in it for me);
euangelizomenos = announce good news (propagating God’s good
news); theso = place, play, set (propagating); adapanon =
without expense (for free); katachresasthai = make full use
of, overuse; Vine’s - abuse (demanding); exousia = power to
act, authority, privilege (privileges)
sec- Evangelising is a stewardship
entrusted to us. That explanation raises the stakes
considerably for many, we expect. And Paul gets exciting
about evangelizing for free. (Now, there are some readers –
officers - whose vocation is to ‘live to win souls’ and ‘make
their salvation the first purpose of my life’; and you,
technically, aren’t doing it for free. And since that
vocation seems to be 24/7, you will have difficulty
empathizing with Paul in getting excited about evangelizing
for free [to clarify, you [we] can get excited about
evangelizing, just not evangelizing for free]. This is an
advantage soldiers have over soldiers who are officers – they
can get excited to evangelise for free!)
Verse19
19 Although I am no one’s slave, I make
myself everyone’s slave so that I can see more people saved,
and into a fuller salvation.
Notes: eleutheros = free (no one’s
slave); edoulosa = to enslave, bring under subjection; Vine’s
– bring under bondage (make myself… slave); kerdeso = to gain;
Vine’s - win (see… saved); pleion = more in quantity, number,
or quality; Vine’s – excel, more excellent (more people…
fuller salvation)
sec- Of course, this is the opposite
approach to the world, in which people typically insist on
their rights and push their way to accomplish their purposes
and look out first (and often exclusively) to their own
interests. Paul subjugates all of that – all of him
(reminiscent of his testimony in Galatians 2:20 of being
crucified with Christ!) – so that he can see to other people’s
deepest needs, salvation and full salvation (if you’re newer
to the salvos, ‘full salvation’ is one of the nicknames that
we give to the experience of holiness)
(speaking of holiness nicknames, one of
them is ‘perfect love’ as used by John. In 1 John 4, he
teaches that perfect love drives out fear. We can substitute
out the nickname and say that holiness drives out fear. And
if fear is driven out, then we’re fearless. Look what we just
did! ‘Made up a new holiness nickname – fearless!
Caveat: it can be operationalized
incorrectly so just be sure that fear is being driven out by
Jesus and it doesn’t become a factor of braggadocio or stupid
stubbornness)
This is a possible resolution for any
who are late to the new year’s party: “More people saved, and
into a fuller salvation.”.
Verse20
20 To the religious, I behave like a
religious person in order to win religious folk.
For those who subject themselves to
strict rules and religious law I subject myself to strict
rules and religious law (though I am not bound by them) so as
to win those who subject themselves to strict rules and
religious laws.
Notes: kerdeso = to gain; Vine’s - win
(win)
sec- we riff on ‘win’ in the intro to
GO FOR SOULS: A guide for the Salvationists soul-winner, so we
won’t go into it too much here, except to note that Paul is
indicating that he wins souls (yes, only Jesus saves, we get
it; we’re just quoting Paul).
So, how does this look for us
today? There are a few kinds of religious folk who need to
get saved in my sphere these days: Muslims, Jews, and
‘Christians’ (I used quotation marks because real Christians
don’t need to be saved, but these folk are caught up in the
religiosity of certain Christian rules and traditions and lack
a relationship with Jesus). Paul doesn’t blow up their
worldview.
That’s what some of us (including me)
might be inclined to do – let’s show them liberty in
Jesus! (I’m not saying that is always wrong; just noting that
it wasn’t Paul’s approach). Instead, Paul showed respect for
their devotion by matching it. Maybe in doing that, it was
easier for them to see the difference in Paul’s life that Holy
Spirit made from their status quo?)
Verse21
21 Among those outside the framework of
religious law I put myself in the position of someone outside
the framework of religious law, (although I remain submissive
to Christ’s law) in order to win those outside the framework
of religious law.
Notes: anomois = lawless (outside the
framework of religious law); ennomos = legal, subject to
(submissive to); kerdano = gain; Vine’s – win (win)
sec- How do you pull of v21 at the same
time as v20 without being spiritual schizophrenic at best and
hypocritical at worst? We’re guessing that these might have
been seasons of life for Paul. When in v20 context, he acted
v20. When in v21, he v21’d.
Verse 22
22 With the fragile I share their
fragility to win the fragile.
I have, in short,
become all things
to all people so that
by all means I may
save each one.
Notes: asthenesin = without strength,
weak (fragile - synonym); kerdeso = to gain; Vine’s - to win
(win); pasin = all, every (all); panta = all, every (all);
pantos = altogether, by all means (by all means); sozo = save
(save); tinas = certain one, someone, anyone (each one)
sec- The first bit with ‘the fragile’
suggests Paul’s compassionate empathy. Good example. And
good correction for those who read Paul in general and Paul in
this evangelist passage as merely a hardcore, Bible-thumping,
offensive rabble-rouser.
And then the ‘money’ quote. We alluded
to Paul’s testimony in Galatians 2:20 above, and it is
probably worth looking at the whole verse here: I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ live in
me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave Himself to me.
This might explain the challenges we
addressed in #5 and #6. It is CHRIST doing it all. If we are
crucified then we are totally available for Jesus to do
whatever He wants in and through us.
Verse 23
23 I do it all for the sake of God’s
good news and for the rush we share in evangelizing.
Notes: euaneglion – good news (God’s
good news); sunkoinonos = partaking jointly of, co-participant
(rush we share)
sec- The ‘rush’ is normally Holy
Spirit, as promised in a few places in Acts when we confront
the enemy in battle conditions. And Holy Spirit ‘rush’ should
be high on the list (below ‘the sake of God’s good news’,
Christ ‘compulsion’, love for lost people…) of motivating
factors.
Verse 24
24 Now, you see that in a race everyone
runs but only one wins. Race to win.
25 All contenders exert power over
their faculties focussed on taking the crown – one that lasts
until next season - but we do it for a victory never outdone,
never out of date.
Notes: eido = see (see); trechontes =
to run (run); stadio = stadium, certain measure of distance;
Strong’s – space or distance of about 600 feet (race);
lambanei = take, receive; Vine’s – accept; +brabeion = prize,
award = (win); katalabete = lay hold of, seize, take eagerly;
Vine’s – to appropriate (race to win)
agonizomenos = contend for a prize,
struggle; Vine’s - fight (contenders); enkrateuetai = exercise
self-control, self-restraint; Vine’s – to have power over
oneself (exert power over their faculties); labosin = take,
receive (take); phtharton = perishable, corruptible (lasts
until next season); stephanon = that which surrounds, chaplet,
crown (crown); aphtharton = undecaying, imperishable (never
outdone, never out of date)
sec- Ah, the competitive juices of some
readers starts to run in these verses. Our brief highlight
here? ‘We do it for a victory never outdone, never out of
date.’ Hallelujahweh!
Verse 26
26 My runs aren’t wandering afternoon
strolls.
My boxing isn’t about giving the air a
thrashing.
27 With head shots and body blows, I
torture and discipline myself so that having recruited all
these others into God’s good news race, I won’t be rejected.
Notes: trecho (run); outos = in this
way, thus; +adelos = uncertainly = (aren’t wandering afternoon
strolls); pukteuo = to box (boxing); deron = to skin, thrash
(thrashing)
upopiazo = strike under the eye (head
shots); soma = body (body blows… body); doulagogo = enslave
(torture and discipline); keruxas = be a herald, proclaim
(recruited); adokimos = not standing the test, rejected
(rejected)
sec- Ah, Paul rips it all down from the
clouds to the daily, the practical. This is the
behind-the-scenes preparation for the fight. How does it
look?
Well, if you are all fasted up (living
a fasted lifestyle, engaged in regular fasting), then you are
ready to confront the enemy and don’t have to beg off to go
and get ready.
If you are consistent with your
rations, spending time with Jesus every day, then you are
typically armed and ready for conflicts that fill your day.
If you are experiencing the ‘fuller
salvation’ (‘fearless’, holiness) Paul is aiming for up above,
then you lack the chinks in your armour that will expose you
when attacked.
If you are engaged in the other
spiritual disciplines and means of grace, you will be ready.
Last takeaway? Paul has ‘recruited all
these others into God’s good news race’… That will be a
wonderful report for each of us to be able to give. God grant
it.
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