Compel - Week 4
January 25, 2009
How To Live A Compelling LIfe
1 Corinthians 9:16-27

Take your Bibles, turn to I Corinthians 9:16. We have been in this series - COMPEL, and we have been talking about living a compelling life. That is, a life that is compelled to tell other people about Christ. Last week you met some people, just like you, who were sitting where you are sitting – holding jobs like you are in – raising a family just like you are raising – and yet were compelled to leave it behind to live in another country and to use their talents and abilities to reach people for Christ. They are living a compelling life!

Week before that, we looked at 2 Corinthians 5, and we looked at the apostle Paul’s motivation for reaching people – we took a magnifying glass to him and discovered what motivated him to sacrifice so much, keep going, and why he was so persistent in telling people about Christ. But today, I want to talk to you about how to live a compelling life.

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. Now, Paul’s relationship with this church at Corinth was turbulent at best. They were a wreck, filled with all kinds of problems!

• People getting drunk at the Lord’s supper
• Church members suing each other in court
• They were tolerating sexual immorality
• Pulled around by all kinds of bad doctrine – some were wrongfully speaking in tongues, wild in the worship service, others were trying to get them tied again to Judaism with all the laws and regulation that it required.
• This church had lots of issues!

Sounds like a lot of churches today! And consequently, they were so immersed in themselves and their stuff, their issues, their problems, their agendas – that they were stalled out spiritually.

That can happen to all of us. We can get so fixated on work, home, activities, money, relationships – that we fail to live a compelling life. Our problem is that we are distracted. Diluted. Encumbered with so many things, we seldom think about the eternal. Let me ask you, are you concerned with things that matter for eternity? Does it cross you mind throughout the day, about the spiritual condition of he people around you? If no –then Paul has something to say to you.

Paul is going to give us four powerful things to do, that will turn a distracted life into a compelling life. I want to put a guarantee on this message. If you will do what I’m challenging you to do in the next few minutes, I guarantee that you will live a compelling life and God will use you to influence people for eternity. Alright, let’s get to it!

I Corinthians 9.16-18

Personalize the Great Commission

 

Paul said, "I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel!" (v16)

There is that word – compelled. Paul was compelled to talk to people about Christ. Why? Because – get this – when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Jesus not only saved him, but he commissioned him.

Go back and read in the book of ACTS 26 – Paul is retelling the story of how he met Christ. And in his retelling, he shares with us what Jesus told him. This is the only place in the Bible where we hear this part of what Jesus said to Paul. Jesus said, "Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may received forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." ACTS 26.16-18

You see, on that road to Damacus, Paul didn’t just have a conversion experience, he had a commissioning experience! He was saved from his sin, and he was saved for a purpose. He was told by Jesus, "Today I am sending you out with a message that will change people’s lives forever!"

Let me show you another guy to had a similar experience. Jeremiah in the OT. Jeremiah lived in time of spiritual apathy in Israel. God appeared to Jeremiah – [read Jeremiah 1.4-10]. Jeremiah was commissioned by God to be his mouthpiece, his spokesperson. And it got hard for Jeremiah, and he wanted to quit.

Jeremiah 20.9 "But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

Both Paul and Jeremiah had a commission. They had a mandate. That had a mission. And they both personalized it. God spoke to them. And they prioritized it! This became their priority.

You say, "that’s great for them, but I’m not called into the ministry! That’s for preachers, missionaries, professionally trained people!" You’re wrong. Listen, Jesus has given you a commission.

MT 28.18-20 "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them obey all I have commanded you, and I am with you always to the end of the age." That wasn’t just for his a few men, on the mountain side that day, Jesus was talking to you!

You see, when you were saved, you had a conversion experience, but you also had a commissioning experience! There is no getting around it. God calls all of us to point people to Him. You’ve got to personalize it. That means saying, "Lord, I know that you have called me to join with you in telling people about you." I can’t shake the calling, I can't skirt around the responsibility! And Lord, as of today, I’m making it my priority! God is doing a new work in me about making the gospel a priority in my own life! Pray God give me a passion like Paul to say, "Woe to me if I don’t tell" – Like Jeremiah "your word is a fire in my bones, I can’t hold it in!"

Make Room for People

I Corinthians 9.19-23

NLT - 22 "When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some."

Paul was willing to find common ground. To build bridges. To talk to people and their spiritual life. He was willing to serve others. Get this – Paul was willing to adjust his life to make room for people who are far from God.

This is the pattern you see in Jesus’ life. Jesus didn’t huddle in his office. He didn’t avoid conversations with strangers – he started them! That is one thing I have started doing. I’ve just started being intentional about looking for opportunities to talk about Christ. Just like what Bill shared a few moments ago – he took advantage of the opportunity to talk to the guy at the theater, the man carrying his groceries, the repair man in his house. He was willing to adjust his busy schedule, to make room for spiritual conversations.

The Jews represent the religious but lost people. They had an understanding of God but had never been saved! Paul said, I made room for them so I could talk about Jesus.

The Gentiles represented irreligious people. The skeptics, atheists, agnostics, the doubters and the indifferent. Paul said, I made room for them so I could talk to them about Jesus.

The weak, were the people who were hurting, desperate, lowly, forgotten. Paul said, "I even make room for the people nobody wants in my life!"

And because he made room for the religious, the irreligious and the hurting people, because he served them, cared for them, reached out to them – Paul made an eternal difference in their life!

Who are the religious people in your life? Who are the irreligious people? Who are the hurting people around you? Have you made room for them? Have you found common ground so you can influence them for Jesus?

Train Yourself

I Corinthians 9.24-27

Circle the word "training". Paul uses the example of an athlete in training. Just like an athlete has his/her mind of the goal, they train, they work out, they disciple themselves, - why? So they can be effective and win their event. Paul said, "I have put myself in training to reach people." You see, if you had an athlete that said, "I want to win, I want to be the best!" But they refuse to listen to their coach, they refuse to show up for practice, they refuse to work out, they refuse to train –then that athlete isn’t really serious about winning. And there are a lot of Christians like that. They say, "I want God to use me!" But they are not willing to be trained, not willing to worship. Not willing to be coached. And so they are not prepared when the opportunity comes their way.

This week at Market Street – lady reading her book, as I stepped out to talk to a man on the phone, Bill started conversation. He asked her, "If someone asked you to tell them the gospel, what would you say?" She stumbled around and said, "I couldn’t do it in just a few minutes." She had a great heart, but she had never been trained.

Are you open to being trained?

Are you open to having someone show you how to share the gospel simply and effectively?

Are you open to some coaching in this area of your life so you can take advantage of every opportunity?

Stay Close to Jesus

I Corinthians 9.27

"disqualified" – cast away – runners that broke the rules and were disqualified from the race.

Paul talks about being disqualified. I can reach people, but fail to stay close to Jesus and disqualify myself from being used.