Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27
19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not outside God’s law but am within Christ’s law) so that I might gain those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I might become a partner in it.
24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air, 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
Questions
- In verse 19 Paul speaks of willingly making himself a slave to all people, why would he choose this analogy and what does it mean?
- In some ways Paul’s lifestyle and choices seem contradictory and hypocritical, how do we reconcile his being under the law and not under the law?
- How does the metaphor of the athlete competing for the prize fit with Paul being a slave to all?
- How does self-control fit into the lifestyle Paul depicts in the metaphors?
Background
Related Scriptures: Proverbs 25:28; Titus 1:1-16
Being free was very important in the Roman world where most people were slaves. Paul’s words would have been shocking to people who were trying to become free or who themselves were slaveowners.
Ambrosiaster: Did Paul merely pretend to be all things to all men, in the way that flatterers do? No. He was a man of God and a doctor of the spirit who could diagnose every pain, and with great diligence he tended them and sympathized with them all. We all have something or other in common with everyone. This empathy is what Paul embodied in dealing with each particular person.[1]
Pseudo-Dionysius: The initiate is summoned to the sacred contests, which, with Christ as his trainer, he must undertake. For it is Christ who, as God, arranges the match, as sage lays down the rules, as beauty is a worthy prize for the victors, and more divinely as goodness is present with the athletes, defending their freedom and guaranteeing their victory over the forces of death and destruction. And so the initiate will quite gladly hurl himself into what he knows to be divine contests, and he will follow and scrupulously observe the wise rules of the game.… He will follow the divine tracks established by the goodness of the first of athletes.[2]
Reflection
One of the most horrendous elements of slavery is that one person strips another person of their volition. The slave has no will but does what the master wants. Yet, Paul willingly compares himself to a slave. Why, because he wants to communicate the degree to which his life revolves around helping others to encounter Jesus. Paul wants us to understand that he is modeling mature Christianity when he says he is intentionally laying down his wants and desires, to listen to the cares, requests, and demands of those he wants to see grow in Jesus. This is no small feat. What Paul is talking about is completely contrary to what we as humans generally do. We are often extremely selfish creatures, doing what brings us pleasure and prosperity. Paul’s self-sacrificial aim is Jesus’ ideal and cuts across our natural path. This is part of what makes the training metaphor so powerful for me. Training volition to conform to Christ is a very apt metaphor since the goal is to achieve a skill that is not natural.
A common phrase for most people is “practice makes perfect”. In coaching though that phrase is altered—and I believe this is more accurate— “practice makes permanent.” The idea behind this phrase is that your competition will reflect your training. What you put into the training is what you can expect to get out of the training. The adage reflects the fact that you can practice doing a task a million times but if you practice it wrong every time then you will do it wrong when it counts.
This is why Paul emphasizes self-control, because it is the discipline to do things the right way all the time. Self-control is where focus meets action. Self-control is saying that I am going to practice the right way of living today and maintaining that thought throughout the day. Self-control is denying the selfish wants that are natural to us in order to make ourselves better. We all understand this with activities like diets and training regimens. We understand the importance of exercising self-control if we want to loose weight or gain strength or speed. Paul is asking us to consider that in light of our spiritual lives and goals. Paul wants us to focus on how we live out our faith, specifically in how we treat others. For him disciplines like prayer and scripture reading, while good in their own right should also lead us toward being “a slave to all”.
The goal of the Christian life is not simply to have an excellent relationship with Jesus. The Christian life is about having our relationship with Jesus show in our relationships with others. Self-control is the mental awareness to practice the other Fruit of the Spirit in our daily lives. It takes discipline to say that I am going to be more loving, or I am going to bring joy into the world. Self-control is the discipline to bring these realities to mind while life is happening all around you. We all understand how life can be chaotic, how life does not always go smoothly or conform to what you want. Self-control is about thinking about showing others the fruit of the Spirit even in the trying times.
Self-control is saying that I am going to start my day with prayer and scripture because that will allow God to speak to me and help me grow. It is making a daily disciplined habit of connecting to God because that is where growth in the Spiritual Fruit happens. Self-control is then keeping that time in the forefront of your mind, reminding yourself to respond to others out of the Fruit of God not from a place of selfish desire.
This is the practice Paul talks about, the practice of not simply self-denial but learning to be something different. We learn this because victory is a life that emulates God. Our ultimate goal is to live with God and this requires us to train. The victory is a life with God and so training includes the kind of self-sacrifice that God made. May we commit daily to the kind of discipline that allows us to train for the victory that we hope for. May we take every day as a chance to practice the kind of discipline that leads to the Holy Spirit producing fruit in our lives.
[1] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 86.
[2] Gerald Lewis Bray, ed., 1–2 Corinthians, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 88.
Squinting in the Light 
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