MPC, 16th June 2002.1 Corinthians 8-10 - "Follow Me"
Phil Campbell MPC, 16th June 2002.
If I were to ask you to name the world's most imitated man, I wonder who you'd say?
I mean, there's probably no way to actually measure it. But my guess is one of the top contenders is someone you haven't even heard of.
But there's every chance the world's most imitated man is a guy called Amitabh Bachchan. The most popular actor… in the second most populous country in the world. Amitabh Bachchan is India's pin up boy. Amitabh Bachchan is a superstar.
The Times of India says this: "Amitabh is the superstar of the millennium. A one-man industry. Amitabh is the most recognisable face in the country. Amitabh Bachchan is loved by A billion people. And his actions, says the Time of India… his moves… his smile… his dance… his speech. everything… is imitated.
Everyone… wants to follow his example.
Now maybe you were hoping the world's most imitated man would be someone else. At least someone you'd heard of.
Maybe you kind of hoped someone did a study and it turned out the world's most imitated man was jesus christ. Which would be a fair thing to hope, considering so many people want to count themselves as Christians. And if you keep in mind our key verse for today, it's not unreasonable either. Because for Christians, that's exactly what we're meant to be doing.
1 Corinthians 11 verse 1. Where we finished the reading this morning. It's there in black and white. The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, and he says it to us, follow my example… as I follow the example of Christ.
He says watch me. And do what I do. Because I'm following the example of Christ.
Not talking so much about his smile or his dance moves. But something practical things that are actually much tougher to get right.
Follow my example… as I follow the example of Christ.
And I want to suggest as he says that, Paul's actually summing up some practical threads that run right through chapters 8 and 9 and 10. Three chapters where Paul is showing in a very concrete way what it looks like… to be a follower of Jesus. Which he says is not about being right… but being loving. Which is not about standing on my rights… but about serving. Which he says is not about his own preferences and comforts… but about putting others… ahead of himself.
Now don't you just love it in an argument when you're actually right? I mean, it's great when you've got someone going out on a limb, they're insisting they're the expert and you're not. And yet you know… you just know because you've been reading that page of the Encyclopedia Britannica just that morning, and you know for a fact you've got it right. You'd bet the house on it.
And you get that smug look on your face, and you hold your head a bit higher; because you know it. And you know you know.
It's a devastating thing when you come back to 1 Corinthians 8; and you find out that if you want to be like jesus, being right isn't quite as big a deal as you thought it was. In fact, knowing you're right can put you absolutely in the wrong.
Which is exactly the situation in Corinth. Where there's an issue that maybe seems a long way from where we are. But back then was divisive.
Maybe not so far. Take a drive into Brunswick Street, and you go into McWhirters Building, and you'll see a butchers shop. Budget Halal Meats. Meat for Muslims. Where they guarantee that when the animal was killed they said a special prayer to Allah, exalting Allah as the great God.
If you're Islamic, that's the rule. You can only eat meat killed exactly the right way. From exactly the right butchers shops.
Corinth, it's similar. You go down to the butchers shop in the market place and it's got the red carcasses hanging there, and sliced rump steak and the rissoles… and there's only one catch. All the meat's come from the temple next door. Where they were this morning's sacrifices. To the local gods. That they were blessed and killed – in the name of Artemis. Or Asclepius.
And there's more. You want to go out for a family night out at Sizzler? Well, in Corinth you go down to the temple for the idol feast. Cooked on the premises. Not sure about the salad bar, but the meat was delicious.
So what's the issue?
The issue is, can a Christian eat that stuff? Or not? Can a Christian go to dinner at the temple of sarepus? Or not. And in Corinth, as you'd expect… you've got some who say yes. And some who say no. You've got some saying, don't be silly of course we can go. Idols are nothing. Just blocks of carved wood. And others who are throwing their hands up in horror… at the thought that a Christian would eat food… that's been offered to an idol.
Now take a good look at what Paul says here. Because it's a good model… in lots of ways. Of the way to handle disputes. And it's all about following the example of Jesus… even in your eating habits.
And it's interesting how he sets the issue up in the first three verses by saying being right isn't the main thing. You need to know that there's something more important than knowing.
Because there's one bunch of Christians in Corinth who know they're right. Who know… that idols are just carved bits of wood and stone that can't hurt anyone. Who know it's almost superstitious to worry about whether your sausages have been in the temple that morning. They know they're right. And the fact is, they are right.
I wonder what you and I are right about in the same way?
Because Paul says this. He says, verse 1
Now about food sacrificed to idols. We know – that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge… puffs up. But love… builds up.
Which is all the difference in the world. knowledge wants to say, I'm right and you're wrong. And put you down. Love wants to say, I want what's best for you. And build you up.
If you think you know best, says Paul, watch out. Because you're in danger of missing the point. And on he goes to explain it. Verse 4 to 7. He says you're absolutely right. Idols aren't Gods at all. Idols are nothing. There's only one god. one lord. Your theological knowledge is first rate.
But what are you doing to your Christian brothers and sisters who are convinced you're doing something profoundly wrong? What if someone with a weak conscience, someone who's not quite as well informed… what if your being right… makes them stumble and fall?
What if someone sees you eating there in the idol temple and they think, gee I thought that was the wrong thing to do but it must be okay… and they walk straight back into their old ways? They over-ride their conscience and do what they think is wrong.
What if they're sucked back in to the life they've left behind? Just because you insist on being right.
Now here's the example of being like Jesus. And it's there in verse 11. Where you've got to see the incredible contrast between what Jesus did. And what the Corinthians are doing. That Jesus… though right in every way… made himself nothing and died to save that weak brother. While you… just to push the point… insist on being right. And cause him to stumble. And be lost.
"So this weak brother," verse 11, "for whom Christ died… is destroyed by your knowledge."
You want to be like Jesus? Paul says, he was prepared to be counted wrong… to save the weak. Whereas you want to insist on being right. In a way that destroys them.
So Paul says in verse 13, if a little thing like what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again… so I won't cause him to fall.
I mean, I love a good barbeque. And I'll bet Paul did as well. But he says, when it comes to the issue in Corinth, even though you're right… even though you've got freedom… he'd rather put the freedom aside. Put his rightness aside. If it's going to cause a problem for a brother. Which I think… is actually a big sacrifice.
I mean, think of something you really enjoy. The beautiful smell of the sizzling steak. And ask yourself… would I be prepared to give that up… if there was a risk it would cause my brother to fall?
If that sounds like a tough call, remember Jesus gave up his whole life. At the cross. For exactly that brother. Which means imitating Paul's example here… as Paul follows Jesus… might mean being prepared to bite your tongue when you're right about something. Instead of making an issue of it. When you know you've got a freedom to do something… might mean not doing it. For the sake of building up your brother… instead of tearing him down.
I walked into the video shop the other day just as they were playing my favourite movie scenes from the movie Shrek; it's an animated kids movie. And it's the scene with the pretty little bluebird. That sings so high and so sweet that it's chest swells out further and further until it finally pops. Full of its own importance. Knowledge puffs up like that. Knowing that you're right. But love builds up.
Which is an idea Paul goes on to develop in chapter 9.
And the heart of the chapter is in verse 19. Where he says this. Here's the model we're meant to imitate. Here's our example. Remember, here's the guy who says, follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. And here's the example:
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself A slave to everyone… to win as many as possible.
My friend Geoff Piggott, we were at uni together. And Geoff had a van. Not a huge van. Just big enough to pack in a wardrobe, a dining table, a few chairs, a TV. In other words, ideal… if you were a student and you wanted to move house. And our church was full of uni students. Who were just about always moving house. Either from them. Or their friends. Who they'd pass the news on to. Of this mate. With a van. Which meant Geoff's phone was always ringing. With someone else who was just wondering if he'd mind giving them a hand on the weekend.
And so every Saturday… Geoff would be off at the crack of dawn with his van. Helping somebody else move house.
Now are you the sort of person, when someone takes advantage of you, you see red? I said to Geoff one Saturday, I said, Geoff, this is ridiculous. I mean, you haven't had a Saturday to yourself in months. Every week it's somebody else. Just wanting to take advantage of you.
To which Geoff said this. And I've got to say it's a lesson that's stayed with me ever since. Geoff said, "If they're taking advantage of me, that's not my problem… that's their problem." He said, I'm just here to serve.
You want to see someone getting serious about following the example of Christ? Paul says in chapter 9 – you can trace it quickly from verse 1 – he says, "Am I not free? – of course I am. Am I not an apostle? Of course I am." Verse 4; "so don't we have the right to be looked after? To be fed, to bring along a wife?" He says, "isn't it fair enough that an apostle like me has the right to be supported?"
But verse 9, he says, "I'm not interested in rights. We didn't use the right. On the contrary… we put up with anything… rather than hinder the gospel of Christ."
If someone wants to use him without paying; that's their problem. He'll put up with anything… rather than get in the way of the gospel.
Same in verse 15. I have not used any of these rights. End of verse 18; the same words. He says when he came preaching the gospel to them, he did it free of charge. As we should. And so not make use of my rights… in preaching it.
And so here's what he does. Apostle Paul. From verse 19. Though he's free, he makes himself a slave to everyone… to win as many as possible.
To the Jews, he says, I became like a Jew. To win the Jews.
To those under the law, he says, I became like one under the law. Though I'm not. So as to win those under the law. Follow along in verse 21. Because these are key verses. And you'll see the pattern. To those not under the law, I became like one not having the law. (even though I'm always under Christ's law.)
Can you see what he's saying? He's saying, I'm not standing on my rights doing what I want. I'm bending. For the sake of saving others. I'm putting my own preferences aside. For the sake of other people.
Which is an idea that can absolutely transform a church. And needs to. From being an inward looking club that does what it's always done. Into a something dynamic. And very engaging to the world around it. That it's always wanting to win. Verse 22 –
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.
When so often these days we Christians become nothing to anyone. And just keep doing what we always do. Servants of no-one. With the end result of saving none. And then wonder why we see so little fruit for the gospel. Paul says he's the ultimate in flexibility… for the sake of the gospel… so he may share in its blessings. And see the harvest.
Hudson Taylor, the great Chinese missionary, he learned this the hard way. Hudson Taylor went to China in 1858. There were plenty of other missionaries in China. And they all lived around the European settlements at the sea ports; and lived like Europeans. And wondered why they weren't making any progress.
Then Taylor decided if he really wanted to reach the Chinese, he had to go inland. That he had to stop living like a European. And so he started to dress in Chinese clothes and take on Chinese customs. Other missionaries laughed. But soon there were hundreds of Chinese converted through his ministry. Which was the start of the China Inland mission. One man prepared to be all things to all men.
I wonder if most of us are even prepared to do that for our next door neighbours. To put ourselves out a little. To be interested in what they're interested in. To watch the world cup soccer over a cold beer if they invite you over. Even if you can't stand soccer and you don't like beer.
Because if you're going to imitate Paul as he imitates Jesus, it means imitating this… "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible."
Chapter 10, that's the point Paul comes back to. When he comes back to the issue of the meat you eat. He says it's just like anything else. We're so conditioned to thinking about what's good for me. That we miss the point. That being like Jesus is meant to be the opposite to that.
So we say, I can do what I like. I'll advance my career. I'll make myself comfortable. I'll stand up for my rights. We say what the Corinthians were saying. In chapter 10 verse 23. Same words we saw back in chapter 6. everything is permissable. But Paul says not everything is beneficial. Not everything is constructive. Not everything is loving. And that's the main game. Because as Christians, Paul says in verse 24, nobody should seek his own good. But the good of others. And so he says when it comes to eating meat offered to idols, don't be bound by superstitions and food rules. But don't walk all over someone elses consicience either. Don't cause anyone to stumble. Don't be offensive. Don't be the sort of person who has to be right all the time.
Paul says, I'll bend over backwards not to give anyone any objection, anyone any stumbling block, anyone any reason to not pay attention to the gospel. Verse 33, he says I'm trying to please everybody in every way… for I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many. So that they may be saved. Follow my example. As I follow the example of Christ.
It would be great, wouldn't it, if the answer to "Who's the Most Imitated Person in the World" wasn't Amitabh Bachchan? But Jesus Christ. And if people could see Christians actually following the example of Jesus as if they really meant it.
Following in the small stuff. As well as the big stuff. Seeing that the example of the king of the universe dying for sinners translates down into the small details. Like how much I'm prepared… to put myself out for someone else. When so often the answer is … not very much. How much I'm prepared to change my preferences … to give someone else the opportunity to hear about the gospel of grace. How much I'm prepared to put aside my rights to have things the way I like. To put aside my right to be right.
I guess it's easier just being the fan of a movie star. Learn a few dance steps. Follow some fashions. Than to say I'll follow someone who put his own good aside… for the rest of us. So that we could be saved.