Sunday Message- going out...

It had been a few months since I had entered the Corner Pocket Pub, just down the street.  The last time, to my shame, I was a drunk.  I won't go into it, but it was probably one of my top ten lowest points.  Friday, I re- entered.  I had a couple beers, played pool, acted like a human being.  I had learned that lesson.  But was it the whole lesson?

Stay tuned, I'm not exactly preaching temperance here.  The real lesson came that night as I listened to the radio and a preacher asked if, when we invite Jesus into our hearts, our intent is to put Him " in a little room in the back" and tell Him to only come out on Sunday.  I realized quickly, that is not MY problem.  Like everything else when it comes to my perception of OUR relationship- mine and Christ's- I had to "flip it".

My problem was that, while I gave Him "the run of the house", I often went OUT alone, telling Him, "stay right here, I'll be back in a bit."

As I type this, I haven't really looked into all the ramifications of this.  Whenever I come to one of these personal epiphanies, I need time for the meaning of the lesson to sink in.  So as I listened to Pastor Fish this Sunday morning, I began to think about reaching out with an entirely different lesson- but in the midst of this lesson, Pastor Steve got me to flip something else.

You see, he was in the section of First Corinthians where Paul was defending himself against various charges the Corinthian church had thrown at him- and one there was that I never understood in the right way.


1Co 9:6  Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 
1Co 9:7  Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? 
1Co 9:8  Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 
1Co 9:9  For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 
1Co 9:10  Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 
1Co 9:11  If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 
1Co 9:12  If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 
1Co 9:13  Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 
1Co 9:14  In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. 
1Co 9:15  But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 

So I always wondered, why were the Corinthians busting Paul's chops for taking a living from the Gospel?  Did they look at preachers as parasites, blowing out hot air to make a buck?  Even after His testimony LED them to salvation?  For certainly, if you look at today's world, that's the first thing that you were aiming at.

But Pastor Steve explained that there were lots of itinerant philosophers in Greece back then, using philosophy-as-entertainment as a way of life.  And you made that living in one of four ways:

1- You were good enough at it people would pay to listen- and so you charged admission.

2- You had someone wealthy who became your patron, either because they agreed with you wholeheartedly, or as an investment;

3- You went begging, like the buskers who show off their skill for donations;

4- You had "a daytime job", like Paul and Barnabas, who worked for tentmakers.

So it wasn't that the church was accusing Paul of being a parasite- they were wondering, since only the "lowest on the food chain" speakers had to work for a living, why was Paul?  Their question wasn't an accusation, but a COMPLIMENT.  "Gee Paul, there are a lot of us who would PAY to listen, or support you.  Why do you work?"

His answer, "For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. "  And here again you have to flip the story.  Because, he wasn't boasting in his ability- if he were, we would have accepted nothing but the highest fees, the greatest patrons.  Kinda like our retired politicians, right, Bill, George?

His boast was that Christ took a no one- the worst of sinners- and made him a someone, but only in Christ.  He was driven to the extreme to be a servant of all for Christ's sake.  And he was also explaining that this did not mean that others- like James, Peter, or John- couldn't make their livings by support, it was just that he chose NOT to.

He humbled himself for Christ.  How unlike me, who tells Jesus He isn't good enough to "come out with me."

I am becoming better at this, not to boast.  Because I know it was only through an act of obedience that I began to improve, my own little "tentmaking" moment.  But it brings me to mind the old WWJD wristbands.  It makes me wonder how many people who wore them did so to show membership in a club- and how many did it as a tangible reminder to "invite Jesus out with them".  How many people go to a physical church to "tick off the weekly box" and not to worship and show obedience.  How many of my prayers are "part of the job" and how many are genuine communication.  Yes, I have become better over the last few months.

But I still need to flip the keys to Jesus and say, "C'mon, we're going out."