Become What You’re Not
Bible Study, Week 3, Sem 2/23
1. Discuss the ways in which the following statements are misunderstood or dismissed by the average person in 2023 Australia.
God loves you…
You are a sinner…
You need a Savior…
The Bible says…
1 Corinthians 9:19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
2. What can we learn from the passage about Paul’s principles for life?
I think the first words in 1 Corinthians 9:20 represent one of the most incredible statements Paul ever made: “To the Jews I became as a Jew.” What? He was already a Jew.
It’s not that Paul is ashamed of his ethnic identity; in other places he refers warmly to “my fellow Jews.” But he can propose this counterintuitive concept—“to the Jews I become as a Jew”—because he wears his Jewishness loosely. It’s almost like he can speak of putting it on and taking it off—not because it doesn’t matter, nor because he’s in denial, but because his most fundamental identity is no longer, “I am a Jew, a Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin” (cf. Phil. 3:5), but rather, “I am a disciple, the chief of sinners, of the people of Jesus.”
(Matt Smethurst, Before you share)
3. “To the… I became…” reveals Paul’s attitude toward identity markers. What might the categories be if Paul were living in 2023?
4. In what way can we take it too far in trying to “become all things to all people”? How might we guard against it?
5. Describe the longings of people in your particular context (close friends, family, neighbours). What aspect of the person of Jesus speaks to those longings and where in the Bible do we see it?