03 All Things to All People (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

On Saturday, October 19, 2024, Dr. Alan Strange delivered his third lecture, "All Things to All People" from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 at the 2024 DFW Reformation Conference. Summary: We are to be all things to all people positively and not negatively, to give way to the partisan siren songs in our churches as reflected in The New Christendom, and Christian Nationalism. Outline: We are to be all things to all people, not coercive Christians making them fit our mold. I. Paul declares his freedom in 1 Cor. 9. A. Paul is, in fact, "the apostle of the heart set free." 1. He knows this, first, for himself. 2. Paul does not have "freedom without form," however. B. Rather, this flexibility involves a freedom that chooses to become servants of all for the purpose of winning some. 1. We see that to do so Paul engages in personal discipline and self-denial. 2. Recognize the servanthood to which we are all called. II. This will take for us, as with Paul, form/fitness, discipline. A. Paul develops this by the metaphor of the athlete 1. Paul's hearers know such an appeal well. 2. He argues from the greater to the lesser: if so in sports, how much more so in heavenly pursuits? B. Paul disciplines himself in this as ought we. III. Douglas Wilson, Mere Christendom, and Stephen Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism advocate for a revived Christendom and Christian Nationalism. A. These proud programs are not the answer for those called to "turn the other cheek" in this time of humiliation. B. Will we live the Christian life or attempt to grab power with a "this-world" focus?