1 Corinthians 9:19 Inductive Bible Study: Servant 3/6

1 Corinthians 9:19 says, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more."

The verses right after this one are talking about Paul becoming all things to all men so that He "might by all means save some"(1 Cor 9:22).

Even though I, as a Christ-Follower, am free from all men, I serve all men so that they may see Christ through me. I don't have to answer to man but to God. But because I am called to tell everyone about the Good News that I have, I want to serve everyone so that they are more open to hearing the Gospel. If I don't humble myself what will make people want to hear what I have to say?

This past week we have been talking about culture a lot in class. As a missionary, when you go into another culture, you have to adapt to that culture in order to actually be effective and have people listen to what you're saying. If I come into Guatemala and try to push my culture on the people here, why would they want to listen to me? Am I saying that my culture is better than theirs? But on the flipside, if I embrace their culture and learn about them and become like them to the best of my ability, then that shows humility and love and hopefully would make them more open to hearing what I have to say.

Also, I just finished a book written by Hudson Taylor about his life leading up to the start of the China Inland Mission. When he started spreading the Gospel in China, he fully embraced the Chinese culture. He learned the language fluently(as far as I am aware) and he dressed like them. He broke through the barriers and became like them to the best of his ability. From how the book is written, it sounds like the people even thought that he was Chinese. What an awesome example of 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 he was.

This isn't only for foreign missionaries. As a Christ-Follower I am called to live a life of missions. I am called to share Jesus with everyone everywhere, not just when I leave the States. This is something that I want to remember when I go back to the States. By becoming a servant of God, I have made myself a servant to all. I need to live that out where ever I am.

Application:
I am going to hunker down and work more on studying Spanish outside of class so that I can actually talk to the sweet people here in Antigua, Guatemala and share the love of Jesus with them.