Meeting people in their world
by Jane Mueller
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible’ (1 Corinthians 9:19).
Jesus came to earth when it was functioning under the Old Covenant. The Ten Commandments were essentially a list of ‘thou shalt nots’. The New Covenant is uncomplicated and explicitly relationship-oriented: love God, and love each other. In his typical radical way, Jesus outrageously paraphrased the old law by flipping our perspective of the ‘thou shalt nots’ with a simple ‘thou shalt do’: love.
Throughout his ministry on earth, Jesus lived love. He did not tell people what to do. He did not dogmatically impose beliefs on them or relentlessly demand that they comply. Rather, he repeatedly demonstrated that the way to garner followers is to know them, to meet them where they’re at, to walk with them and to invite them into a relationship of love.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul illustrates that relationships require us to meet others in their world, in order that we might save some. We become a Jew to win the Jews. We become weak to win the weak. We become under the law to win those under the law. And vice versa. We become an artist to win the artists. We become a historian to win the history buffs. We become a baby boomer to win the baby boomers. We become a millennial to win the younger generation.
We become. And we love. We selflessly, compassionately and unconditionally love.
This devotion can be summed up in two quotes. The author of the first quote is unknown, yet the words are often attributed to St Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words’.
And secondly, in Anthony McCarten’s play The Confession, which was recently released as The Two Popes on Netflix, the future Pope Francis absolves the current Pope Benedict, adding: ‘Remember, truth may be vital, but without love, it is also unbearable’.
Heavenly Father, what does love require of me today? Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
