Introduction
What would you change about your condition if you could? You know that if you changed, then you would be able to get closer to God and to serve him better. Would it be your job? Getting out of school? Perhaps you would like to change your very body – be taller or shorter, heavier or thinner, healthier perhaps. Perhaps if you could be married or single again or married to someone else. If only your condition in life would change, then you could do something worthwhile. That premise is what our text addresses today.
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Let’s review. There are those who are married questioning if they should remain married. Now that they are Christians living in the new age of the Spirit, should they not put away what remains of the old life? If married, they could at least refrain from vulgar sexual relations. No, no, says Paul. Those are appropriate relations in marriage. What, then, about those who have lost their spouses? Should they seek marriage? One may marry, but it is good to remain single. If the single life is so good, what about ending a marriage? No, marriage is not to be broken. But what if one’s spouse is an unbeliever? Surely, then it would be okay to separate. No, try keep together for the sake of the spouse and the children. So, hold on to an unequally yoked marriage at all costs? No, not at all costs. If the spouse leaves, don’t go through undue measures to hold onto him or her.
What is it then that Paul thinks is most important? He seems ambivalent. Is it better to be married or single? Should one hold on to a marriage or let it go? Are sexual relations good to desire or not? What do you want, Paul? He wants each Christian to contentedly lead the life given: Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
Paul then gives a couple of “for instances.” Before we look at them, let’s get clear about the first sentence, because both the ESV and the NIV can lead to a misunderstanding. Paul is saying that each person should lead the life that the Lord (i.e. Christ) has assigned and in which God has called him into salvation. Each person should live out his calling as a Christian in whatever circumstance God has placed him. By “calling,” therefore, Paul means conversion, becoming a Christian.
Do you understand the issue? There is a sense in which we can speak of God calling us to live under certain conditions. We can be “called” to be married or single, “called” to live in a particular city or country. But in this passage and epistle, Paul means being called to salvation. Thus, in 1:2 he addresses the Corinth believers as those called to be saints, i.e. Christians. Later in verse 9 he notes that they were called into the fellowship of… Jesus Christ. In verse 24, he identifies Christian believers as those who are called.
I take time with clarifying this to sharpen the focus on the lesson, which is this: it is our status in belonging to Jesus Christ that identifies who we are and which gives purpose to our lives. Let’s follow Paul’s teaching.
18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
The matter of circumcision does not appear to be a big issue in Corinth, but it was in many other churches. The letter to the Galatians was written because of this very matter. Some Jewish-Christian teachers (the Judaizers) taught that to be saved, Gentiles must essentially become Jews by obeying the regulations of the Law. You can see their reasoning. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah come to save his people, which by definition were the Jews. Paul writes a scathing letter condemning such an idea. The very fact that he seems unemotional about the practice in this letter indicates the practice was not being promoted. Anyhow, circumcised or not, what matters for any Christian is to be obeying God’s commandments to love him and one’s neighbor. To put it another way, a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter (Romans 2:29).
Therefore, 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. He should not feel compelled to get circumcised or reverse his condition. It is not the condition that affects his calling to be a Christian; rather, it is his calling as a Christian that affects how he lives as a circumcised or uncircumcised individual.
Paul then gives another illustration. 21 Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
Here Paul gives a situation that was certainly relevant to the Corinth Church, for its membership did contain slaves. They would be reasoning thus: In Jesus Christ my status is raised to being a son (or daughter) of God. I am an heir of God’s kingdom. My slavery makes a mockery of my true status. Thus I should do all within my power to escape from my condition. Paul’s response is as follows: It is fine to accept freedom if the opportunity is presented (in this case by one’s master). But understand that your outward condition of slavery does not affect your life as a Christian. You can glorify God by showing your freedom in Christ even as a slave. For that matter, those of you who are free, can glorify God by showing that you are slaves of Christ, i.e. that he purchased you with his blood and brought you into his service.
Note the latter phrase: do not become slaves of men. That is an interesting comment. Paul does not mean becoming slaves literally, but rather in spirit. Here is an example. Can you recount a time in which you stopped doing something you liked because of peer pressure? Perhaps you liked a certain music; maybe it was a favorite piece of clothing; or perhaps even a Christian activity like attending a fellowship group or visiting in a nursing home. But your friends, or not even friends, but the “cool” people made it clear that cool people don’t like those sorts of things, and so you quit. Indeed, how much of what you do or don’t do today is due to the expectations others place on you. Living according the expectations of others is a form of slavery.
Paul’s point is that you are only a slave if you are one in spirit. You can have chains on your feet, but if you are living as though Jesus Christ is your master, no one else can really have a hold on you. You are free. But if you cave in to what other people expect of you, and is not what Christ expects of you, then you are a slave indeed. Note carefully, the point being made is not that you are to be your own person, but that you are to be a person who belongs to Christ.
Paul then summarizes his message: 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. Don’t think that you must get out of the condition you were living in when converted in order for you to really serve God or really be spiritual. In whatever condition you are, you can be with God.
Think again what was going on. Married people were thinking they needed to forego the sexual relations of a marriage or even get out of marriage altogether in order to be more spiritual. Single people were thinking they needed to get married, especially now that they are Christians and nonmarital sex was off limits to them. In each case, the thinking was that they must change their condition in order to better serve or relate to God. Paul’s answer is that they may serve God well in whatever condition God has so placed them.
Lessons
This is certainly a relevant message for us. How many of you even now are in a waiting mode, thinking that when your condition changes then you can really serve God? Perhaps you are single and thinking that when you are married, then you will be more able or in a better frame of mind to serve the Lord. Perhaps you are married and wishing for the old days when you had more time to be attentive to your relationship with God.
Perhaps you are a child or student, and you think that you have to wait until you are older or out of school before you can make a real difference is serving God. Or you may be long out of school, wishing your job was not so demanding or stressful or boring, so that you could have more time or more energy to serve God. Perhaps if you only had a different job or one that paid better. Perhaps some of you have thought it would be wonderful to have a full-time job in ministry; then you could really serve the Lord, and besides, to work with Christians, what could be more wonderful?
Here is God’s message to you. Wherever you are right now; whatever you are doing right now; whatever condition in which you live; right now is the best time you can serve God and you can be with God. Today, not tomorrow; here, not there, is the time and the place God wants you to live fully to his glory. Your condition cannot diminish your ability to glorify God, because God is to be glorified at all times and in all conditions. The only exception to this rule is if you have chosen a sinful condition. Then, of course, you need to change.
Having said this, we are not being told that we must remain in our present condition. You may be that you ought to change jobs sometime, or that you ought to live somewhere else. We all go through stages in our lives that requires us to change. Perhaps you are in your present condition because of mistakes you’ve made, and you need to work your way out of it. Perhaps your Christian commitment is leading you to make changes. That is find. Just don’t put your Christian commitment on hold until you make the changes.
Perhaps you are to become a missionary. Great. Meanwhile, do the work of a missionary in your neighborhood. Perhaps you are looking forward to retirement or some other way to decrease your workload so you can do more ministry. That’s good. Meanwhile, minister in your workplace to the people you work with or serve. One principle that Jesus taught was that it doesn’t matter how much you are able to do or give, but how well you make use of what you have. Thus, he praised the poor widow for the few coins she gave as though she had given a great treasure. In the parable of the talents he teaches that God rewards those who prove themselves faithful with the small gifts they are given. What are you doing with what you have? How are you serving God in the job you have or the school you are attending? In the house or the apartment or the dormitory you live in? What are you doing now to serve God as a young person or an old person; as a short person or a tall person; as a healthy person or sick person; as an extrovert or introvert; as the oldest or the youngest? What are you doing with what you have been given? What are you doing with the time you have now? That is what matters to God.
By the way, note the assumption being made in this Scripture? It is that you want to serve and relate to God. The Corinth Christians think their present condition interferes with their service and relationship to Christ. That is what concerns them. Does it concern you? Are you thinking each day, “How may I serve the Lord today? What will God teach me today?” May you should put those questions on your refrigerator door or computer screen or bathroom mirror, wherever you are sure to see them each day. If we are honest with ourselves, our problem is not that we don’t have opportunities to serve and be attentive to God, but that we don’t think about these things. We think about getting through the day, finishing a project, coping with everyday struggles, and so on.
Look, we live in this world and are to be involved in it. But our challenge is to live in this world with the kingdom of heaven mindset of glorifying God. That is what the Corinth Christians were trying to do. They were making their share of mistakes, but at least they had the right intention. Do we even have that right?
Let’s go back to the subject of serving and knowing God in our present condition. We trap ourselves by getting stuck on the ways that we can serve. Say you are in a workplace where you are not allowed to “evangelize.” You say to yourself, if only you be working in a company that allowed you to witness to your colleagues; then you could serve the Lord. But does your company prevent you from befriending your colleagues? Does it prevent you from showing the values of Christian love and trustworthiness? Are you not allowed to invite colleagues to your home or to meet after work? It is not difficult in any work environment to indicate that you are a Christian. If that is communicated, then your work behavior and relations will witness for you. Indeed, it may be that you are the only Christian your colleagues know. If you were to leave for another job where you could be freer to witness, you may take away the only witness for these people.
The best book I have read that taught me this lesson is The Hiding Place, which tells the story of Corrie ten Boom and her sister Bestie. There is one scene in particular that drives home the message that wherever you are now is where God wants you to serve him. The two Dutch sisters had been sent to prison by the Nazis for hiding Jews. After several months, it appeared that they were to be released. Instead, they found themselves
being sent to a concentration camp. This excerpt picks up at their in their new camp. On the way to their barracks, they are given a tour of “the bunkers.”
“The bunkers,” the girl began in the bored voice of a museum guide, “are for the accommodation of those who fail to cooperate with camp rules. The rooms are cozy, if a bit small: about the size of a gym locker. To hasten the educational process the hands are tied above the head…”
Even as the horrid recital continued, two guards came out of the bunkers, carrying between them the form of a man. He was alive, for his legs were moving, but he seemed to have no conscious control over them. His eyes were sunken and rolled back in his head.
“Not everyone,” the girl observed in the same detached drawl, “seems to appreciate the accommodations at the bunkers.”
I seized Betsie’s arm as the command to march came again, more to steady myself than her…. Such cruelty was to much to grasp, too much to bear. Heavenly Father, carry it for me!
We followed the officer down a wide street lined with barracks on either side and halted at one of the gray, featureless sheds. It was the end of the long day of standing, waiting, hoping: we had simply arrived in the main camp at Vught.
The barracks appeared almost identical with the one we had left this morning, except that this one was furnished with bunks as well as tables and benches. And still we were not allowed to sit: there was a last wait while the matron with maddening deliberateness checked off our documents against a list.
“Betsie!” I wailed, “how long will it take?”
“Perhaps a long, long time. Perhaps many years. But what better way could there be to spend our lives?”
I turned to stare at her. “Whatever are you talking about?”
“These young women. That girl back at the bunkers. Corrie, if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love! We must find the way, you and I, no matter how long it takes…”
She went on, almost forgetting in her excitement to keep her voice to a whisper, while I slowly took in the fact that she was talking about our guards. I glanced at the matron seated at the desk ahead of us. I saw a gray uniform and a visored hat; Betsie saw a wounded human being (pgs 174-5).
What do you see? Where you are and who you are right now, what do you see? Do you see what you can’t do or what you can do? And are you even looking? In the barracks Corrie could only think about how much longer she had to stand up before lying on the bed. Betsy misunderstood her, because her mind was on how she might be used of God to serve him. What is today going to be for you? Have you thought about it? How are you going to serve God?
Remember, today, not tomorrow; here, not out there somewhere; as you are now, not as you hope some day to be; now is the time to serve and to know your Lord.
