back to index2015-09-10 Study of 1 Corinthians Part 2: Week 6
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Because I wanted to run it where it's more of your observations bringing to conclusions 00:00:14.320 |
But by way of kind of reintroducing this topic, let's take a look at the passage in first 00:00:27.400 |
Let's read that paragraph starting from verse 19 through 23 and it reads like this. 00:00:32.640 |
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win 00:00:37.520 |
To the Jews I've become as a Jew so that I might win Jews. 00:00:41.400 |
To those who are under the law as under the law though not being myself under the law 00:00:46.360 |
so that I might win those who are under the law. 00:00:48.920 |
To those who are without law as without law though not being without the law of God but 00:00:52.920 |
under the law of Christ so that I might win those who are without law. 00:00:57.680 |
To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. 00:01:00.720 |
I have become all things to all men so that I may by all means save some. 00:01:05.480 |
I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of 00:01:12.440 |
Now, I wanted to reintroduce this study with a YouTube video that I actually showed the 00:01:18.880 |
youth group but upon second thought I decided not to because it shows this really buff African-American 00:01:25.560 |
It's a motivational video called Football Motivations. 00:01:28.560 |
If you want to YouTube it later, you can watch it, okay? 00:01:31.840 |
But I'm going to try my best to tell the story that this video tries to tell. 00:01:38.600 |
And essentially it tells of a story with a young man who wants to be very successful. 00:01:42.920 |
He wants to make it huge in life so he goes out and searches for the guru, the guy who's 00:01:48.720 |
So he goes to seek him and the journey just to go and seek this man is very difficult. 00:01:54.060 |
Very busy man, highly esteemed and respected and has a lot of requests by young men. 00:01:59.040 |
"Hey, can you teach me your ways so that I can be just as successful as you?" 00:02:06.560 |
It's not a common opportunity, it's a rare opportunity to get a one-on-one time with 00:02:11.440 |
this guru so he finally gets this opportunity and says, "Teach me how I can be successful 00:02:16.880 |
And the guru says, "Well then, tomorrow early, early morning, 6am, meet me at the 00:02:22.200 |
And so he goes to the beach and he finds a guru in the water. 00:02:27.000 |
So he doesn't know what to think about it but he says, "Young man, come into the 00:02:34.200 |
I need you to come into the water even further." 00:02:47.280 |
And all of a sudden, the guru grabs his head and dunks it in the water. 00:02:50.720 |
The young man is like flopping around, gasping for air, taking salt water into his mouth. 00:02:56.040 |
And he's just now about to fight this guru guy and toss him over. 00:03:01.880 |
And the guru says, "You gotta want success as bad as you want it this breath. 00:03:11.440 |
And then in the background, there's this football guy working out. 00:03:13.680 |
He says, "How bad do you want it is the question." 00:03:30.880 |
And he's working out until parts of the video shows him working out to the extent that he's 00:03:37.280 |
But the question of the video is, how badly do you want to succeed? 00:03:43.340 |
So I showed that video to the youth group because I felt like in this generation, there's 00:03:51.480 |
But when I see Apostle Paul's example in the passage from verse 19 through 23, what I see 00:03:56.360 |
is I'm so driven, I'm so driven, this insatiable desire to see people saved, it moves me. 00:04:10.020 |
If I have to look like a Jew to win the Jew, then I'm going to do it. 00:04:15.560 |
If I have to look like a Gentile, then I'll do it. 00:04:18.320 |
And it just drives him and drives him for that end purpose. 00:04:25.000 |
Isn't that how the passage sounds to you when he says, "I do all things for the sake of 00:04:30.080 |
When was the last time we were able to use that kind of all-inclusive term like that? 00:04:42.200 |
So I want to remind you that Apostle Paul, just in review of what we did last time, he 00:04:50.000 |
says, "To the extent that I may win some," that's verse 19, "so that I may win more, 00:05:06.160 |
At the service of those who I desire to save." 00:05:10.240 |
So that's the essence of verse 19 through 23. 00:05:14.840 |
But what were, I want to ask you guys, what were some observations you guys wrote down 00:05:25.920 |
Just to save time, I'm going to call on a table and someone from that table, please 00:05:30.720 |
take the initiative and just share any observation you found. 00:05:34.080 |
Remember that observations can be incredibly obvious because it's simply an observation. 00:06:10.380 |
But just from verse 19 to 20, we'll take it section at a time. 00:06:18.220 |
So he says, "I've become all things to all men." 00:06:27.700 |
That's a good thing to point out when he says, "I've become all things to all men," because 00:06:31.700 |
he uses an inclusive term, all inclusive term by saying all. 00:06:36.220 |
And I remember asking you guys to discuss it last time, which was, can you give us a 00:06:50.220 |
Should we be willing to give up just about everything or how do we balance that out? 00:07:02.300 |
Are there limits to the, "I've become all things to all men"? 00:07:26.380 |
There's that famous passage of Apostle Paul standing before the court, all that kind of 00:07:33.460 |
And he says, "You tell me what's right to obey you or God." 00:07:35.460 |
So you got to stay within the boundaries of God's law because God's laws are higher. 00:07:40.380 |
So there's a sense in which you can say that as a parameter, but obviously there's more 00:07:47.180 |
to say because sometimes there are scenarios in which it might not be necessarily boundaries 00:07:52.580 |
of God's law, but it's questions of more like the gray area. 00:08:02.720 |
For being Aberian, our church has talked a lot about stuff we won't do Aberian and stuff 00:08:09.100 |
When I was down in San Diego, right as I was leaving San Diego, our youth group was trying 00:08:14.420 |
to make a decision, should we graffiti the walls because that's kind of like more hip. 00:08:20.660 |
Back in my day, hip hop and that scene was so much popular. 00:08:23.860 |
We're like, "Man, maybe we should just graffiti the walls and dress up the sanctuary, our 00:08:29.300 |
And there was a debate, should we do it, should we not? 00:08:31.740 |
But the whole desire was we want to do this to attract the young ones and get them in. 00:08:36.860 |
So in a decision criteria like that, how do you balance saying, "Okay, let's just be all 00:08:41.500 |
things to all people, our generation's all about hip hop, let's deck this whole thing 00:08:49.580 |
Is that an obeying God's law versus man's law kind of thing? 00:09:01.940 |
I guess a better question too, I know I'm asking a lot of questions, a better question 00:09:04.740 |
would be in the given context of what we're studying, is there more narrower parameters 00:09:10.580 |
of what he means by became all things to all people is what I'm trying to basically get 00:09:16.540 |
Is it something that will enhance the gospel or kind of enhance, that will highlight the 00:09:39.900 |
gospel message amongst people or would it be something that would be a distraction? 00:09:51.820 |
Wisdom about becoming all things to all people. 00:10:01.860 |
Okay, just do what's going to help you to just stay focused on God. 00:10:17.860 |
So, we're talking about that because obviously in the immediate context remember that Apostle 00:10:26.060 |
Paul is addressing a scenario where a group of people, what they were doing, it wasn't 00:10:39.660 |
For example, sometimes, I don't know, when we say something like that stumbles me, right? 00:10:48.020 |
Remember that the stumbling in the immediate context isn't just a matter of like, oh, it 00:10:52.180 |
stumbles me because like, let's say for someone asked a specific scenario, the worship music, 00:10:58.780 |
it stumbles me because drums are too loud and it's just like really loud and annoying. 00:11:05.800 |
Stumbling was more along the case of that either tempts me to sin or prevents me to 00:11:10.740 |
focus in terms of like prevents me as a stumbling block, a hindrance to my devotion to God, 00:11:18.740 |
So, there's wisdom carried out in that because in application, essentially saying if an individual 00:11:24.900 |
is in their process of learning the gospel, converting, coming into the church, I'll do 00:11:31.780 |
whatever it takes to remove the stumbling block, right? 00:11:35.300 |
But I think there's a sense in which some people have misapplied this passage to say 00:11:39.340 |
and because we're becoming all things to all people, then let's all become bikers because 00:11:46.520 |
Let's become, you know, let's all dress this way because now there's wisdom in that, but 00:11:51.060 |
that's not necessarily what Apostle Paul is talking about here. 00:11:55.140 |
And I would essentially say, you know, in terms of limitations, there's a difference 00:12:01.020 |
between obviously like when people are offended by something that they should be offended 00:12:07.380 |
by as opposed to something that's just simply my preference in what I do, right? 00:12:13.420 |
What I mean by that is someone can be offended by what we preach. 00:12:18.120 |
Someone can be offended by the Bible, the gospel, church, how we do church, Christians, 00:12:25.220 |
But if that's the case, then they're essentially offended not by just that, but they're offended 00:12:31.560 |
What Apostle Paul is saying is if they're offended simply by what I'm doing, being offended 00:12:38.360 |
by preference like do I want to eat the meat or not? 00:12:42.900 |
Something that I have a right to, something I have a liberty to do, but they're offended 00:12:46.380 |
as in they are stumbled by that, then my limitation of law kicks in and it says now their problem 00:12:59.380 |
I just at least wanted to address the fact that there is some misapplication of this 00:13:03.400 |
passage because in the given context, Apostle Paul is addressing, remember, what's happened 00:13:11.980 |
Then moving forward, let's take a look at verse 24 to 27. 00:13:17.620 |
He says, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the 00:13:28.380 |
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. 00:13:32.540 |
They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 00:13:36.620 |
Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. 00:13:39.660 |
I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave 00:13:44.740 |
so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 00:13:52.420 |
Let's talk about some of the observations that you guys have made. 00:13:56.660 |
So in your packet thing, I basically chopped down just verse by verse. 00:14:05.740 |
Verse 24, that table with Mark, Eugene, Tyler, and can't see the back. 00:14:12.220 |
What observations do you guys see from verse 24? 00:14:23.260 |
So, one thing I want to mention about, yeah, he's saying like run with purpose or whatnot. 00:14:38.420 |
Right now, let's try to make like, you know, that's kind of like a good summary of what 00:14:48.060 |
So let's try to pay attention to just observation of what's being stated in this particular 00:14:57.180 |
I mean, Mark just essentially highlighted the command of the entire paragraph. 00:15:00.260 |
If I were to ask, "Hey, what's an emphasis of this paragraph?" 00:15:09.500 |
He has a command here for us and he says run. 00:15:14.300 |
He particularly says run in such a way that you may win. 00:15:17.700 |
Any other observations you guys got from your table? 00:15:47.020 |
Now I don't want to necessarily cut hair here and I appreciate you guys, what you guys have 00:15:53.700 |
said so far, but do you guys get the difference between when I say here's an observation as 00:15:59.180 |
opposed to a concluding statement, as opposed to an interpretation, as opposed to looking 00:16:04.660 |
at the passage and dwindling it down to, let's say a meditative point or something. 00:16:10.860 |
Because for example, if I'm looking for an observation, I'm looking carefully here and 00:16:14.540 |
it says, you know, here in this passage, one of the things that we observe is he's highlighting 00:16:19.940 |
the fact that when there's a race, only one person wins. 00:16:22.900 |
That's an observation because that's directly what we observe from the passage. 00:16:27.460 |
As opposed to some of the summary statements that you guys are making as opposed to saying, 00:16:33.180 |
He wants us to be disciplined and he wants to run with the purpose. 00:16:37.300 |
Do you guys see the difference between observation and a concluding interpretation? 00:16:43.100 |
So that's kind of what I'm, what I really hope to exercise today. 00:16:48.060 |
That's why I kind of left the whole bunch of it blank because I wanted you guys to observe 00:16:51.380 |
the details and it's good for us to see first and foremost, not like, oh, what's the point 00:17:01.460 |
Sometimes we just need to do a, like a preliminary step of stopping and saying, what does it 00:17:09.060 |
As in like, is this, what is it simply stating? 00:17:12.820 |
So before we interpret, piece together, apply. 00:17:24.660 |
There's an element in which, hey, if you're like in our race, you're in our race. 00:17:52.220 |
And I think you should probably underline that. 00:17:55.960 |
So piece that all together and you get, you actually get a pretty profound statement that's 00:18:08.220 |
But if you're in it, you should be in it to win it. 00:18:14.220 |
So, that's kind of what I mean by, so as we're doing this, I hope you guys see, we're making 00:18:18.980 |
observations, just listing the things that we see and then we're kind of coming out, 00:18:23.900 |
And his point is now we're starting to derive it from all those things. 00:18:28.580 |
And I just want us to think about that for a moment because I started off with one of 00:18:31.740 |
these like, you know, I tried to do my best to re-tell the story of the YouTube video, 00:18:37.620 |
but you think about that for a moment and he's commanding us to run, but obviously he's 00:18:42.220 |
commanding us to run in such a way where it shows deeply that you want to win it. 00:18:48.900 |
And, you know, I remember when I first started watching sports, I always, always laugh at 00:18:53.780 |
commentators because the commentators typically say stuff that's really obvious, you know, 00:18:57.380 |
they'll say stuff like, oh, he's really going for it now. 00:19:02.060 |
Of course he's going for it now, you know, he's just playing. 00:19:05.580 |
And then, and then sometimes you'll find that, you know, two teams are playing and then one 00:19:10.860 |
team wins and then the commentators they'll say stuff like, oh, this team just ended up 00:19:18.300 |
And I always thought that, oh, that's so silly. 00:19:22.380 |
But then sometimes you watch sports and you realize it's not everybody wants to win. 00:19:28.780 |
You like watch some teams and they don't want to win at all. 00:19:33.600 |
What they want is some players want recognition. 00:19:36.680 |
Some players want better, you know, teammates. 00:19:44.300 |
They just all they really wanted to secure their spot for next year. 00:19:51.220 |
You've seen like, you know, you got that guy on your team who just goes nuts because he's 00:19:54.740 |
so mad and some ref didn't call the foul and he wants revenge. 00:19:57.740 |
And you're like, oh my God, you're jeopardizing our entire game because you want revenge. 00:20:04.040 |
And you realize so much, so many times in sports, you actually don't want to win. 00:20:09.120 |
You have lots of different agendas, you know? 00:20:12.920 |
And so I use that, I use that as a point to say, Apostle Paul is talking to a group of 00:20:19.360 |
Christians in the church and they're fighting essentially, they're bickering. 00:20:23.600 |
And then they're also writing and then they're also asking him, what do we do about these 00:20:27.520 |
people who are prohibiting us from eating meat? 00:20:30.200 |
And Apostle Paul almost has this question of, do you have the right goal in mind? 00:20:41.840 |
I think it's really apropos to their situation. 00:20:53.120 |
A command that says, run in such a way that you win. 00:20:59.160 |
Now we're going to unpack that with the other verses. 00:21:06.480 |
So over here with this table right in the middle, smack in the middle, verse 25 is really, 00:21:14.160 |
really short, but please highlight any observations. 00:21:16.880 |
So now I'm just looking for straight, what does the passage say? 00:21:37.360 |
You can just make the observation he's contrasting the perishable wreath with the imperishable. 00:21:50.040 |
An automatic, right when you do that, if you guys, you know, get into good Bible study 00:22:01.160 |
So he's contrasting the perishable wreath and imperishable wreath, and you can just 00:22:05.640 |
answer the question like, no, duh, because the imperishable is worth more. 00:22:13.560 |
What is it trying to make me understand between those contrasts? 00:22:28.920 |
Everybody who completes in the games exercises self-control. 00:22:46.240 |
And I find that pretty interesting to think about because, so do this in your Bible study. 00:22:52.080 |
So take a moment to think about that and then picture the athlete. 00:22:57.200 |
So you realize the athlete, he's just an athlete. 00:23:05.500 |
But think for a moment, that competition, what areas of his life does it affect? 00:23:12.960 |
His diet, his sleeping pattern, his exercise regimen, his family, his entertainment, his 00:23:21.640 |
Now, I'm not a big fan of Mike Tyson, but so once in a while, if you guys kind of didn't 00:23:27.160 |
guess, I like watching motivational videos and there is this workout montage with Mike 00:23:32.080 |
Tyson and it's one of the most amazing things I've seen. 00:23:35.520 |
I mean, when he was young, there was nothing that was going to stop him. 00:23:39.880 |
And he just flat out said, like, I work harder than all these guys. 00:23:42.780 |
So he was very arrogant, but he said, none of these other guys wake up at 4.30, 5.30 00:23:49.560 |
And then that's what he did every single day. 00:23:52.640 |
And until he won his championship, he said, basically, I didn't know a woman. 00:23:56.560 |
I didn't have a relationship with a woman at all because I was just so focused. 00:24:00.400 |
Now later on, obviously because of his success, it got to him, all that kind of stuff. 00:24:04.080 |
But you look at his workout montage, it's just crazy. 00:24:07.840 |
His diet to who he allowed into his life, who he allowed to talk to him. 00:24:14.200 |
He would even put limitations on what he, what would enter into his mind. 00:24:18.920 |
And his trainer had very specific things he wanted to like brainwash Mike Tyson with. 00:24:23.640 |
It was really crazy, but he was so dedicated to win. 00:24:33.680 |
On the flip side of that, sometimes you know what's really good for me in the Bible studies 00:24:38.800 |
is whenever I start to derive like a point like this, I ask, what is the common fallen 00:24:49.920 |
Common fallen condition, meaning typically, typically for all of us, how do we compare 00:24:58.760 |
And what's the typical fallen condition as opposed to this biblical teaching here? 00:25:04.680 |
Teaching that if you want to compete, then you have to exercise self-control. 00:25:12.800 |
So when you think about that, the exhortation of like exercise self-control, what do you 00:25:27.640 |
And if you were to epitomize, describe somebody who lacked self-control, what kind of things 00:25:36.200 |
Let's say this man, a guy who was really like uncontrolled, what would you say? 00:25:50.200 |
Just not, okay, so not specific to this verse, but not thinking more about like just our 00:26:00.800 |
Not necessarily getting drunk, but being subdued to mastermind things. 00:26:18.800 |
So in my mind, the reason why we do that about whenever there's a principle, I try to think 00:26:24.120 |
of the common fallen condition is because it helps me to have a more detailed picture 00:26:31.040 |
of that whole idea in my mind, sanctification, the Bible sums up as put off and put on. 00:26:37.140 |
So a lot of times what's going to be convicting me is if the Bible is starting to describe 00:26:40.280 |
to me what I need to put on, it's helpful for me to think about what to put off, right? 00:26:45.320 |
But you think about what Jason just said, yeah, the Bible actually talks a lot about 00:26:51.040 |
this, the man who lacks self-control, the sluggard. 00:26:55.280 |
As a matter of fact, I'm going to read you a passage here, Proverbs chapter 21, verse 00:27:05.360 |
It says, "The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hand refuses to labor. 00:27:11.040 |
All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back." 00:27:18.600 |
In my mind, the epitome of a man who is not self-controlled is a man who's completely 00:27:34.680 |
I need to wake up or I need to sleep tonight in order to go to work tomorrow, but I want 00:27:39.880 |
to play video games, so I just want to play video games. 00:27:43.400 |
I want to wake up, but I'm tired, so I stay in bed. 00:27:47.560 |
Your life is just dictated by all your cravings, as opposed to exercising self-control in all 00:27:55.320 |
Here's another passage, Proverbs 13, verse 4. 00:27:58.400 |
"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is 00:28:03.960 |
Notice how to the lazy individual, the Bible calls him a man of cravings. 00:28:09.480 |
You would think someone who's a sluggard has no cravings, no ambitions. 00:28:20.560 |
The scripture says that the lazy individual, they will never harvest, but when it comes 00:28:29.700 |
Because that's the man driven by his impulses, man driven by his cravings. 00:28:34.600 |
If you look in your Bible, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the next chapter, right? 00:28:44.640 |
Okay, can I have someone read that for us really quickly? 00:28:48.920 |
Can someone read from verses 1 down to verse 13? 00:28:52.400 |
Can I have, yes, could you read that nice and clear? 00:30:07.640 |
My question to you is, what did the nation of Israel do wrong? 00:30:11.240 |
What was the negative example that Israel set? 00:30:52.560 |
is saying, don't follow the example of a nation of Israel. 00:31:03.160 |
and rather, they were just given into their cravings. 00:31:06.040 |
They completely lost their sense of bearings. 00:31:10.200 |
And if we were talking about what we were talking about just 00:31:17.320 |
I gave the example of a young man who wanted success 00:31:23.680 |
who should be wanting to win, but they weren't wanting to win. 00:31:29.820 |
was coming out of Egypt being oppressed, enslaved, 00:31:35.900 |
But then they come out, and you remember what happened? 00:31:38.980 |
They wanted food, and they started complaining. 00:31:43.460 |
They wanted so many other things, to the degree 00:31:46.940 |
God, why in the world did you bring us out here? 00:31:55.540 |
People who were slaves and asking God, please deliver us. 00:32:01.540 |
They were just people driven by the cravings of the moment. 00:32:29.860 |
that there is the observation that Apostle Paul 00:32:41.860 |
You need to exercise self-control in all things. 00:32:46.420 |
But then he makes this contrast that those people who 00:32:52.660 |
for a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable. 00:32:59.900 |
but you guys can easily tell what he's getting at. 00:33:06.580 |
He's like, I observe the pattern of the world, 00:33:09.300 |
and they're willing to sacrifice all that stuff just 00:33:19.460 |
Step one, an athlete should eat a healthy meal. 00:33:28.780 |
It's like they're doing it for a smaller thing. 00:33:52.940 |
You're not willing to be self-controlled in that 00:34:04.060 |
It says, "Therefore, therefore, I run in such a way 00:34:17.300 |
What observations do you guys have from that verse? 00:34:44.820 |
I know sometimes, like even when I'm doing my own Bible study, 00:34:50.620 |
I sometimes wonder, like, should I write down all the obvious 00:35:32.420 |
So he's saying, "Run in such a way as not without aim, 00:35:36.500 |
and I box in such a way as not beating the air." 00:35:43.780 |
OK, I just reread the passage to you, Pastor Mark. 00:36:01.580 |
By giving these metaphors of the exercise and, like, 00:36:06.220 |
boxing and stuff like that, I want to ask you, 00:36:23.580 |
And I want to ask you guys a personal question from that. 00:36:26.180 |
I think I can jump from that to a really quickly 00:36:35.060 |
Whether it be, I want to have a specific job, 00:36:49.460 |
And the reason why I put it that way is because, 00:37:02.740 |
But it's specific enough that you can communicate it 00:37:12.100 |
Not just, like, my next year, not just my career, 00:37:16.580 |
And I don't want to sound like a self-help guru guy 00:37:27.740 |
by Stephen Covey called "Seven Habits of Highly Effective 00:37:34.980 |
And then I started wondering, man, is this guy Christian? 00:37:43.100 |
But one of the things that he really harvests on 00:37:48.180 |
So start with the end in mind, he says, as in other words. 00:37:52.060 |
And there's an element to which we actually need a goal. 00:37:58.460 |
Because that target helps us basically put away 00:38:06.380 |
That target actually helps us have a criteria 00:38:15.260 |
It actually gives us a criteria to make appropriate decisions. 00:38:32.540 |
A couple of things I want to highlight for you. 00:38:41.780 |
Somewhere in the Bible, verses 30 through 34, says this. 00:38:51.860 |
He says, "I passed by a field of the sluggard 00:38:56.620 |
And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles. 00:39:08.180 |
a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding 00:39:10.340 |
of the hands to rest, and then your poverty will come 00:39:12.460 |
as a robber, and you'll want like an armed man." 00:39:22.540 |
with the younger generations-- like right now, I'm 00:39:26.740 |
And there's a sense in which they're definitely 00:39:31.060 |
And they're definitely not capable, right now at least, 00:39:44.540 |
saying, you know what I notice is everything's overgrown. 00:39:48.740 |
There are broken walls, but it's just a neglect. 00:39:55.540 |
what difference does it make if I sleep a little bit today? 00:39:57.460 |
What difference does it make if I just play today? 00:40:00.480 |
Because they're young, and they don't have the end in mind. 00:40:09.580 |
have a goal for ourselves that is strong, that's clear, 00:40:17.820 |
And I want to challenge you guys in this because if you do not 00:40:25.140 |
I feel like I've experienced every single one of these. 00:40:30.260 |
So if you get busy, you're just ruled by whatever is urgent, 00:40:43.540 |
You get ruled by everything else that does not matter. 00:40:51.940 |
But if we have a goal, you have clear reasons why. 00:41:01.460 |
as he's talking about that we need that kind of discipline, 00:41:04.660 |
and we need to imitate those who are truly in the race. 00:41:33.620 |
Can you guys share with us what are your observations in this? 00:42:13.820 |
There's a question as to, in this struggle to compete, 00:42:27.740 |
Interesting observation when you think about it. 00:42:30.740 |
You know, there's a lot of runners at our church. 00:42:34.620 |
And I'm going to be 100% honest with you guys. 00:42:42.820 |
It just seems like an incredible waste of time. 00:42:45.340 |
And I'm sitting there like, you only have one life to live, 00:42:48.060 |
What are you doing running around in circles? 00:42:56.260 |
And then not only that, but they run long distances. 00:43:22.860 |
Maybe because I've never tried long distance running. 00:43:26.060 |
Maybe it's because I've never really tried it. 00:43:32.540 |
is a joy to accomplishing something that's not necessarily 00:43:36.260 |
beating another person, but it's overcoming your own limitation, 00:43:40.940 |
overcoming your own time limit, overcoming your own pace, 00:43:56.100 |
and all that kind of stuff, the person we're trying to fight 00:44:06.740 |
the main battleground perhaps is our own body. 00:44:09.860 |
And the goal then is to have mastery over it. 00:44:19.260 |
But that his body is truly under the control of the Spirit 00:44:24.660 |
and the control of what he knows to be right. 00:44:29.020 |
And so I find, I find there are parts of me that sometimes just 00:44:35.820 |
wants to live life where, yeah, I do as I please. 00:44:39.660 |
Parts of me that wants to live life, if I feel like it, 00:44:44.220 |
And then I just start imagining a fight between a father 00:44:50.780 |
A teenager might fight with his parents on something simple 00:44:57.640 |
And he's like, dude, I'm not going to go to sleep at 10. 00:45:02.940 |
And the parents might sit there like, oh, yeah, yeah, 00:45:07.980 |
I can function if I sleep at 11, 12, doesn't matter. 00:45:13.860 |
And I start imagining that picture of the fight 00:45:22.340 |
is because I recently had a thing with my son. 00:45:26.100 |
He's like, you have to go to sleep right now. 00:45:38.460 |
I just anticipate what's going to happen later. 00:45:57.300 |
who is truly trying to train to the best he can, 00:46:00.620 |
then even the smallest things become big things. 00:46:06.300 |
And so even though the runner, although he feels like resting, 00:46:13.380 |
he's going to eat that salad or the balanced meal. 00:46:16.100 |
Although he feels like he wants to stay up and hang out 00:46:18.380 |
with all his friends, he's going to go home and rest. 00:46:20.780 |
Although he feels like he wants to stay in bed and veg out, 00:46:26.340 |
Even the small things start becoming big things. 00:46:30.500 |
And so I think we have to take heed of that when 00:46:35.180 |
There's a sense in which the reason why I bring that up 00:46:48.340 |
But before we get into the interpretive issue, 00:46:53.500 |
We're talking about a guy who's just simply training. 00:46:57.860 |
But there is a warning that you might be disqualified 00:47:00.260 |
because of the small things he's not disciplined in. 00:47:10.420 |
I just want to do what I feel like I want to do. 00:47:12.420 |
It's like, why do I have to be disciplined in this? 00:47:19.580 |
That's why Apostle Paul's like, dude, this is a small deal. 00:47:22.660 |
Whether you eat or don't eat, it doesn't make a huge difference. 00:47:25.420 |
Whether you take that meat or don't take that meat, 00:47:29.460 |
But there's a sense in which the other part of reality 00:47:35.460 |
Because by your negligence in it, it could disqualify you. 00:47:46.740 |
He says, he says, I do all this because after I've preached, 00:48:03.780 |
These are the people I want to share the gospel with. 00:48:06.420 |
But what do you think he's talking about here 00:48:08.300 |
where he says, so that-- so that's like a purpose 00:48:11.140 |
statement-- I discipline my body and make it my slave so 00:48:13.820 |
that the purpose is I don't want to be disqualified. 00:49:24.520 |
of what you said earlier about how little things can 00:49:29.000 |
So maybe I'm not succumbing to this fleshly self, 00:49:37.000 |
bad habits that can develop into a full-blown sin. 00:49:45.480 |
But I don't know if I'm just taking it too far. 00:49:50.480 |
He's saying essentially, for him, disqualifying-- 00:49:58.680 |
And that leads into a kind of character trait 00:50:56.480 |
So I want to let you know that actually good and godly men 00:51:02.480 |
And no one position is like 100% like locked down the best one. 00:51:10.480 |
Because actually, some people use this passage 00:51:14.980 |
saying that he can be disqualified from salvation. 00:51:19.480 |
As in, like, there are people, like in Matthew chapter 10, 00:51:26.980 |
They don't get to partake in the blessings of the gospel 00:51:31.980 |
And so I'm not sure if you've ever heard preachers use this 00:51:34.980 |
and say, yeah, so don't be the hypocrites who 00:51:36.980 |
go out on preaching, but you're really empty shells. 00:51:41.480 |
see, Apostle Paul says, after I preach, I'm disqualified. 00:51:46.480 |
And then there are people who think that because of the fact 00:51:53.480 |
he uses the word of being a partaker in the previous verses, 00:52:11.480 |
using a sports analogy for Christians who are in it, 00:52:19.480 |
He's using a sports analogy to talk about those individuals who 00:52:25.480 |
And there's a sense in which, in keeping with that whole idea, 00:52:28.480 |
yeah, there are people in context back then-- 00:52:31.480 |
the Olympics were actually huge during this time 00:52:36.480 |
In the first century, the Olympic Games were huge. 00:52:47.480 |
meaning you literally had to be a special class individual. 00:52:52.480 |
And if you can think, like today, the sports people 00:52:55.480 |
Basically, back then, they had manager masters. 00:52:58.480 |
And they would basically have these sports athletes train. 00:53:06.480 |
put them to a gauntlet of different exercises. 00:53:08.480 |
And if they failed any of those exercises, what would happen? 00:53:13.480 |
And there's an element in which Apostle Paul, 00:53:18.480 |
he viewed himself as someone who has a stewardship 00:53:25.480 |
because I have a stewardship, and I have to give 00:53:29.480 |
And there's an element in which he's fearful that should there 00:53:38.480 |
be a lack of self-control, should there be any of this, 00:53:41.480 |
that he might be disqualified from the stewardship 00:53:52.480 |
But in thinking about that, I want to conclude with this. 00:53:57.480 |
There is an element in which today's lesson is like, 00:54:02.480 |
I wanted to make it motivational for you guys. 00:54:05.480 |
Because Apostle Paul is essentially being a coach. 00:54:28.480 |
you'd spent learning, attending Bible studies, 00:54:30.480 |
sacrificing, meeting up with people, getting discipled, 00:54:37.480 |
And there's an element to which I want to highlight, too. 00:54:53.480 |
holds the Olympic world record for most appearances 00:55:03.480 |
You can compete only a certain number of times. 00:55:15.480 |
for a number of appearances and saw these sports 00:55:17.480 |
like equestrian, stuff that you can do for a long time. 00:55:20.480 |
But for your average athlete, you can imagine. 00:55:23.480 |
How many times do you think the average athlete 00:55:34.480 |
Just because there's so many people competing 00:55:39.480 |
To represent your country one time for a lot of-- 00:55:42.480 |
maybe in the US it's not as grand, US and LA, 00:55:45.480 |
But for every other country, you represent your country one time 00:55:54.480 |
She's sitting here saying, "Run like you should win." 00:56:04.480 |
Did you know Jesus Christ had this same mentality? 00:56:23.480 |
I was so tempted to write down Eminem's lyrics. 00:56:48.480 |
"in the Christian environment, it's just kind of like 00:56:50.480 |
"you're being moved by the rest of your team, 00:56:59.480 |
"Or have you latched on to little side ambitions? 00:57:05.480 |
"I want to accomplish big things in this life. 00:57:08.480 |
"I want to have lots of this and lots of that." 00:57:10.480 |
And you just latched on to little personal agendas, 00:57:18.480 |
Apostle Paul says, "Run in a way that you should win the prize." 00:57:27.480 |
Apostle Paul's warning of those who've lost sight of that. 00:57:53.480 |
that actually we need to exercise even greater self-control, 00:58:09.480 |
I pray, Father God, that if any of us have been just distracted, 00:58:14.480 |
just distracted by the common things like work, 00:58:19.480 |
If some of us just got tired or just way too fatigued, 00:58:22.480 |
I pray you give us strength through your spirit. 00:58:25.480 |
If some of us have lost sight of the end goal, 00:58:28.480 |
I pray, God, that your word would light a path, 00:58:31.480 |
and God, that we would see very clearly what you desire for us. 00:58:34.480 |
And God, we all recognize that we have a great hurdle, 00:58:39.480 |
And I pray, Father God, that we would, just as Apostle Paul did, 00:58:47.480 |
and, Lord, desire to offer up to you everything that we have. 00:58:54.480 |
as we desire to apply all that we're learning.