“Live So Others May Be
Saved”
I
Corinthians 10: 30-33
30.
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I
evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews,
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the
33.
Even as I please all men in all things,
not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
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O |
verwhelmingly, the concern of the “modern day
saint” does not seem to be for the welfare or salvation of others. No doubt,
this is explained partially by the lack of time left to win our brothers and
sisters to the Lord and the consequent escalation of the enemy’s attack upon
us.
By successfully keeping our attention focused on
ourselves, the devil “neutralizes” any potential effectiveness that we might
exhibit. This also means that when we do
attempt an act outside of ourselves, we are successful usually only as long as whatever we do does not “inconvenience”
us.
So many times, we are unwilling to deprive
ourselves of anything for the sake of
another. Once we reach our personal “understanding” of God, our “passport to
heaven” is signed—and we want to do as much as we are “allowed.”
This poses a problem when trying to win others
of varying backgrounds, teachings and understandings. You see, more often than
not, we operate according to our personal “belief system.” This means, then,
that though a behavior or activity may be completely harmless and acceptable,
if one believes that behavior to be
wrong in any way, then to him it is wrong. We need to understand that such a thing is not always,
necessarily, a sin. Therefore, it becomes our job (as saints of God
attempting to win others to salvation) to get him to understand what is sin
and what is not.
We have in scripture the example (among
others) of one being in the company of another who is offended at the thought
of anything being eaten that was offered to idols. In reality, such a scenario
has no bearing on a saint because of there being no issue regarding that
offered to idols. However, in this situation (as in others), it would be
lawful, but not expedient for the un-offended
party to disregard the feelings of the other. The responsibility of the
enlightened one in this situation would be to get one to understand what is and
is not a problem; what the real issue is.
We can never afford to believe that what we do
as an individual affects no one else. If the “people” of God were likened in scripture to that “city set on a
hill,” how could it ever be that we would be allowed to exist in a “vacuum?” Therefore,
we must “…live so others might be
saved.”
Too many times, we treat being saved and
interacting with others the same as we did when we were not saved. We became used to the “frivolous” and gave little import
to anything that we did. We existed to socialize and relieve ourselves of the
“pressures” of our everyday lives through whatever means necessary. Unfortunately,
as we have come to salvation and resisted submitting ourselves to the Lord, we
find ourselves with some of the same pressures—and sometimes, even worse! So,
we find ourselves carrying on pointless conversations and engaging in useless
activities. Why is this a point with which to be reckoned? Because everything
that we do; our every interaction must
be for the ultimate purpose of others being saved.
We are
our “brother’s keeper” and we are
responsible “to” and “for” others—whether we like it or not. When we decided to
become a part of the family of God, we agreed to take on the role of a family
member—that of support, responsibility (for others), dependability and trust. In
other words, we must conduct ourselves toward others as Christ conducts Himself
toward us. The life that results from this will
be a life that glorifies God.
Without a doubt, it is a “stretch” to care
about others. Why? Because it is not “natural” to Man to be selfless. Therefore, one who is
“spiritual” should find it “natural” to be interested in the plight of his
brothers and sisters. At the very least, we all should be ready with our understanding.
We must always be careful not to “offend”
others in what we call our “liberty.” Our best efforts at “pushing our point”
can often end in our being a “stumbling block” to someone else. As a pastor, I
prefer to avoid making an issue of “things,” but I will use an example for the
sake of clarity:
We have an ongoing “issue” about attending the
screening of movies in theaters. The opinion most often offered is that the
“prohibition” makes no sense when we can watch the same thing on our own
televisions. Secondly, the comment that usually follows is that “I don’t see
anything wrong with it.” First of all, all
things are not “all right” simply because they are not prohibited. What one
would not need to watch in the theater, he does not need to watch in his house.
If one were usually content to go to the movies by himself, he could be
pleasantly alone in his disobedience. Unfortunately, however, when one insists
upon being disobedient, he usually
wants someone to be disobedient with
him. If you are the one feeling
“comfortable,” then why not go by yourself, rather than to offend someone
else’s conscience?
The “point” to all of this is to get us to understand
that we need to live a saved life for others as well as ourselves. And that “salvation” only comes about when the
control of our life is surrendered to the Lord.