August 11, 2024 Sermon "How to Win Souls"

“How to Win Souls”, 1 Cor 9:19-21, 11:1 | Min. Luke Brad Bobo | August 11, 2024

Few comments…ouch warning…some of you are more Baptist than Christian; so what I say might not make sense. I am a Christian who attends a Baptist Church--there are things I like/dislike about the Baptist faith, and there are things I like/dislike about the Lutheran faith, and the Presbyterian faith; and the Catholic faith.

Hope you are teachable this morning…may say ouch a few times…issue an ouch warning

Intro--Dr. Luke, the physician and historian and Christ follower and Paul’s traveling companion or Paul’s ride or die; Dr. Luke records in Acts 2:47, “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Every day, the Lord added souls to the church rolls in the 1st c.

My pastor friend Carlos (St. Louis, MO) – reported to me, that the Lord as added 100 souls to the church he pastors since January (2024); that’s about 14 people per month.

My pastor friend “Fred” (KCMO) – reported to me, that the Lord added 12 souls to the church he pastors last year (a church with smaller budget and a smaller sanctuary than SRBC); that’s 1 person per month. (Just led his 15 y/o granddaughter to the Lord)

Dear Strangers Rest – I have some bad news and good news.  The bad news, it does not appear you, SRBC, are growing = a dying church; however, I have good news – these two passages tell us, you all, how to course correct so that we can cooperate with Christ to grow this church.

The Apostle Paul is our master teacher this morning. In FBCKCK Sunday School, a sister asked, “How do we grow the church or how do we evangelize?” Let me state a how that we should not do – I ate lunch with an older Christian person a few months ago and he said, “I normally leave a Christian tract instead of a tip.” Please, please, please, please don’t follow that example. Christians should be the most generous tippers…(if the service and food warrants that).

Once again, “How can members of Strangers Rest grow this church or what is evangelism 101?” Let me show my hand – we grow the church by doing what Paul did – in 1 Cor 11:1; this verse is like a summary verse – he summarizes his arguments made in 1 Cor 8:1-10:33 with this statement in 1 Cor 11:1.

The Apostle Paul tells the folks at this Corinthian church (and us), “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” I remember as a kid I would complain to our mother (about my brother), “David is being a copycat.” We are to be a copycat, and we are to imitate Christ. You all want to grow this church? Imitate Christ (maybe that explains why TDS, my former pastor in St. Louis, not only read 5 psalms a day but he read the gospels every month—he wanted to know Christ’s ways; he wanted to know Christ; when was the last time you read all 4 gospels?).

Paul tells us how to imitate Christ in 1 Cor 8:1 through 1 Cor 10:33. I am going to preach on 1 Cor 9:19-21 and 11:1 only; and you should be like the Bereans in Acts 17 and make sure I am not speaking heresy; read, 1 Cor 8:1 through 1 Cor 11:1 for yourself.

How to imitate Christ relative to soul winning – Read 1 Cor 9:19-21…

How Paul? “Make yourself a slave to everyone…” means -- Paul accommodated his style of living, his food preferences, his reading habits, his taste in music, his taste in film to whomever to win that person to Christ – but he did compromise his theological or ethical principles. Say it this way, Paul denied his likes/preferences/creature comforts to serve the likes/preferences/creature comforts of unbelievers—why? To win them to Christ.

To his fellow Jews or those under the law, vs. 20, Paul indulged in things that were nullified by Christ, Jewish things not so important. Why? To win his fellow Jews. Paul likely ate certain Jewish food, dressed in certain clothing, attended certain events; he probably read the Babylonian Talmud or Mishnah – things he would otherwise not do – why? To win his fellow Jews to Christ.

Same with those without the law, the Gentiles (non-Jews), in vs. 21. Look at what Paul says, although I enslaved myself to Gentiles, I did not go crazy; I still governed myself by the law of Christ, I was not immoral or unethical. Paul did not use his Christian freedom to tickle his flesh or to indulge in sin. (1 Pe 2:16: “do not use your Christian freedom as a ruse, as a cover up for doing evil”).

So, Paul dined at the dinner table with Gentiles, eating food prepared by Gentiles; he attended events sponsored by Gentiles. One of my co-workers is a Muslim and she brought in baklava. I was curious so I ate some. In this way, I accommodated my taste in food for something I had not had before; and in so doing, I became a slave to her – my hope is to win her (and many of my colleagues) to Christ.

In Acts 17:28 (cultured pagans in Athens), Dr. Luke records Paul’s words, “For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’” Paul read literature written by Gentiles; again, Paul gave up what he liked and indulged; and in so doing he enslaved himself to Gentiles. Some of you would be surprised to see what books I have in my personal library – why? To win my LGBT family and friends, I read books about them (niece/rapper); to win my Muslim friends and co-workers, I have a Qu’ran in my library; to win my atheist friend, “Mike”, I read books written by atheists.

Paul accommodated his style of living, his food preferences, his reading habits, his taste in music, his taste in film to whomever to win that person to Christ—but Paul did not compromise his theological or ethical principles. Paul was a good cross-cultural evangelist – like Jesus Christ was.

Paul would have a hard time at our churches because some of us are a bit too rigid in our beliefs and behaviors.

I had breakfast with a 20-year-old brother at Snooze; he has an interest in engineering; I am a former engineer. During the course of our conversation, he spoke of how rigid his dad’s thinking is (does not believe a woman should be president; do not listen to other men). His father is a Christian, but his rigid thinking has led this 20-year-old, his son, to be an atheist.

[Ouch warning: some of you parents because you were so rigid; your kids ran away from the Christian faith; may I encourage you to apologize.]

Paul adapted, he flexed, he accommodated himself to the context. Much like Christ accommodating himself for us – for our benefit -- when he assumed the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity in Phil 2.

Still not clear what Paul means by “making yourself a slave to everyone”? Let me give a few examples. (The rest will be in a future book).

Rosaria Butterfield: This book captures a beautiful story.  A pastor couple made themselves a slave to a lesbian professor. How? They knew she was an environmentalist; they knew she was a vegetarian. So, when they invited her to dinner (Lk 19; hospitality) – they did not run their A/C (A/C feels good but it is terrible on our ozone layer); and they served her a vegetarian meal. They gave up their likes, creature comforts, and preferences to serve this sister. And guess what – because they befriended her, because they answered her tough questions about Christianity; and because they loved her so much she eventually left her homosexual lifestyle; today she is married to a man and has kids. (“Love the hell…”)

**Let me be clear – our role here is not to make a homosexual a heterosexual; our job is to love them and serve them – otherwise, Paul says, we are to leave this world – where is that found in Scripture – 1 Cor 5:9-13 (I call this the ‘astronaut passage’) –

“I [Paul] wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise, you would have to leave the world. But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.”

We are to associate with sinners outside the church; this passage (1 Cor 5:9-13) is about church discipline – we are NOT to associate with a “brother or sister [in Christ] who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler.”

You see [beloved] this passage in 1 Cor 5:9-13 gives us permission to befriend Buddhists, atheists, agonistics, Black Hebrew Israelites, Muslims, those with tattoos, those with belly rings and nose rings. I am glad, I sit on a hospital ethics committee with atheists, agonistics, Buddhists, Jews, and Christians. If you don’t have any unbelieving friends, you should! Why not?

Let me offer another example of what Paul means by ‘being a slave’ – this example features my friend, Rob. Rob is a brilliant dude; I hired him to teach Hebrew when I was running things at Lindenwood University (St. Charles, MO). He is disabled; he is a father of 5 (of the 5 there is set of twins). He teaches debate and he is very good at what he does.

When Rob and his family lived in St. Louis, they befriended their Muslim neighbors. Rob told me that they would invite their Muslim neighbors over for dinner. Rob and his wife gave up their preference for pork and did not serve pork because Muslims do not eat pork; Rob and his wife gave up their preference for wine on these evenings, because Muslims do not drink alcohol. And Rob’s neighbors reciprocated; they invited Rob and his family over and his neighbors gave up their preferences and served food that Rob, and his family liked.

Here's the bottom-line – to win souls to Christ, to grow this church, we need to hang out with unbelievers and indulge in things they like to do – but hear me – don’t indulge if it violates your moral conscience. Again, hear what I say: don’t indulge if it violates your moral conscience.

“Your moral conscience”: when we start saying as a universal statement, “No Christian should indulge in this or that” – that’s legalism. And you violate my Christian freedom. Some of you, because you are more Baptist than Christian, might not understand what Christian freedom is. I am sorry. You are missing out on the abundant life.

Speaking of legalism – legalism is present in that Church Covenant, read on first Sunday. I had a glass of wine on Thursday. My Christian freedom permits me to do so.  Imagine if an unbeliever from France, who likes wine, sees that phrase, “abstain from the sale of and use of…” Would he or she come back? Nope.

How to win souls to Christ – 1 Cor 11:1, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” Literally, the Greek to English translation of this verse is, “Imitators of me become; just as also I of Christ.” This verb, ‘become,’ is a present imperative. What does that mean? Paul commands the Christians at Corinth (and us) to be imitators of Christ in continually, into perpetuity. Which means you cannot lay your religion down. (Muslim student)

This verse expresses the problem with most discipleship efforts. We are good at giving information – we lack a very important ingredient in our discipleship efforts (and this is worldwide) – we do not provide opportunities to “imitate.” To imitate someone is to learn from them. Let me put this way – a Hispanic brother said to me, “Luke, I caught more things from my father, than what was taught.”

Christian discipleship is better when a disciple receives sound teaching or doctrine and when that same disciple “sees” that same Christian doctrine lived out or modeled so that same disciple can imitate it.

Are you a good model of living the Christian life? [Like it or not – someone is imitating you.]

Jesus gave his disciples information (he taught them) and then he showed them how to do the information (he acted it out) and then he said, “Go out and imitate what you saw me doing.” It was like an apprentice-Master teacher relationship. [same thing happens among police force – nephew, a new cop, is paired with a veteran; same thing should happen between parents and their children…]

My kids have caught some of my good and bad habits; I hope they imitate those instances when I was Christ-like.  You see the first discipleship school our kids attend is inside the home (Dt. 6:4-9).

Ouch Warning: You may say “Ouch” – I need to say this, “If we did not disciple our kids while they were kids – by providing Biblical information and then modeling that Biblical information, we need to stop quoting ‘train up a child…’” – because you have not trained them. And that’s not how wisdom literature works (but that’s for another time).

Let me put it this way, there’s a shortage of Christ-like Christians in all churches all over this globe.

How to win souls to Christ – 1 Cor 11:1, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.”

Ouch Warning: You may say “Ouch” to this too -- the reason why our pews are practically empty – because many of us are not imitating Christ in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our sororities and fraternities, in our various clubs, on the golf course, in the grocery store, as we drive (ouch), on our jobs. Another reason perhaps is we have not been taught? Or we have been taught and refuse to do it – that’s a different matter altogether.

How to win souls to Christ – imitate Christ! We cannot imitate Christ if we do not know Christ. Do you know the same Christ I know? The Christ I know, intentionally went to a place where he, a Jew, was hated, because he had a divine appointment with the Samaritan woman at the well; the Christ I know, elevated a Samaritan businessman not the religious elite because he stopped to help an injured Jewish man left for dead; the Christ I know touched a nasty leper; the Christ I know allowed a lady of the night to touch him; the Christ I know saved a crook in the person of Zaccheaus; the Christ I know was ‘accused’ of being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

The Christ I know loves the worse of sinners. How do I know, the Apostle Paul, an old man, said this in 1 Tim 1:15, “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them.”

I generally don’t like to tell stories about myself – I don’t want to come across as bragging or promoting myself – however, allow me to share something about my friend, “Mike.” Mike is an atheist. He is a staunch atheist. We have had coffee a couple of times. When I taught evangelism at the university in St. Louis, as an exercise, I invited Mike to my class to engage my students in friendly debate and Q/A. Mike told us what he believed, and he questioned things like why did God have to kill the animals in the flood? Mike told me that when he was a child, he attended a Lutheran church (his parents didn’t but they would send him).

Mike so enjoyed coming to my evangelism class to engage my Christian students; in fact, Mike would email or text me, “Luke, whenever you teach that class, please invite me back…then he said, ‘I like the way you all treat me.’”

We treated him not as an atheist or as an enemy; we treated him as a human being. Unbelievers are not projects; they are human beings.

Jesus, the Christ, was accused of being a “friend of sinners” because He was; I want this on my tomb stone – Psalm 112 written out and “Dr. Luke was a friend of sinners.”

How to win souls?

Befriend sinners.

How to win souls?

“Make yourself a slave to everyone.”

How to win souls?

We must imitate Christ moment by moment.