Jump Start # 2459

1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I buffet my body and make it my slave, less possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”

Paul’s words in our verse today are about finishing strong. He borrows illustrations from the world of sports, particularly boxing and track and field. Run in such a way, the apostle tells us twice in this context. In our verse he tells us why he does these things. These are not just lessons for others, but for himself. He was not exempt, or better than others. He had to do what we have to do. He understood, that he too, could possibly be disqualified.

Disqualified—not a happy word one wants to hear. Some do not qualify for a loan. Their credit score is not very good. And, that often means that they cannot buy the car or the house that they had their eyes set on. They did not qualify. In auto racing, if a car does not qualify, it is not in the race. In last year’s Kentucky Derby, the horse that crossed the finish line first was disqualified for blocking other horses. A winner in the Derby being disqualified had never happened before. Lawsuits followed. Many folks got upset.

But there is always another year. There is always another house. There is always another race. What Paul has in mind is missing Heaven. A person doesn’t get a second shot at that. There isn’t the expression, “There’s always next year,” for those who don’t make Heaven. It is the most important thing. All attention, all energy and all effort must be placed in making this first in our lives. This is why Paul “beat” his body. This is why he made himself the “boss” of his body.

A couple of thoughts:

First, if it was possible for Paul to miss Heaven, then it is possible for us to miss it as well. Paul was not guaranteed a free ticket to Heaven. He wasn’t a sure pick. He had to walk by faith, as we do. He had to resist temptation, as we do. He had to invite Christ into his heart, as we do. Preaching doesn’t mean you get a fast pass to the front of the line. Being an apostle did not mean that one was above sin and could do whatever he wanted.

One of the major reasons for the start of the reformation movement in Europe in the 1500’s was because of the scandals and abuses of the Catholic church. The reformers came from within the Catholic church. They were Catholic. Popes were fathering children. The hierarchy was corrupt. Bribes were being offered. Positions of authority were being offered for a certain price. There was very little “holiness” to it. The leaders were acting as if they were above the law and untouchable. Power seemed more important than godliness. And, that started a culture of reform that led to the protestant movement.

For us, elders, preachers, any of us or all of us, are to walk the same path and abide by the same principles as everyone else. No one gets a pass. No one gets to bend the rules because of who they are, how much they give, or what position they hold. If Paul could be disqualified, we could to.

Second, what would it be like to be disqualified, especially from Paul’s perspective? What would it be like if you lost your soul? What would it be like to be cast eternally from God’s presence? What is Hell like? Those are the questions that come from the thoughts of being disqualified. God help us that this never happens to us. We need God’s help.

There would be people who expected us to be in Heaven, but we wouldn’t be there. Now, this always brings up the idea of grandma who didn’t make it and there won’t be tears in Heaven and how is that all going to work? I don’t know. If God can say some words and create this massive universe, He can see to it that I will not be crying in Heaven. But there are people right now, who are expecting you and I to be in Heaven. What a disappointment if we were not there.

The choices and sins that kept us from Heaven would haunt us for an eternity. A moment’s pleasure darkens the heart, and unrepentant and unmoved and unchanged and lacking remorse, we happily dance through life until we stand before the judgment of God. Lost. “I never knew you.” “Depart from Me.” Those words would sting forever. Why did we do what we did? Why were we so dumb? We knew better. Why did we not stop? Why did we not repent? Why did we not seek the grace of God? And, now, forever, we dwell among humanity who lived without God. We knew better. Punished. Suffering. No pleas to be answered. No prayers to be heard. No hope of things getting better. No end in sight. The wages of sin is death. A death that never ends. A death that has no happy ending. A death that we didn’t have to die.

Disqualified. Banished. Lost. Guilty. An apostle in Hell. Paul understood it could happen. It did happen. Look at Judas. And, if an apostle could be in Hell, so could a preacher. So could an elder. So could you. So could me. Nothing could be so terrible as being disqualified by God. One minute in Hell, and you’d offer everything you ever owned to have another chance. All your tears, all your begging, all your promises would fall upon the ground.

More and more folks are moving away from the concept of Hell. Modern preachers never mention that word in sermons. It’s not talked about and people don’t fear it. And, because of that, sin doesn’t seem to be such a bad choice. What’s the worst that can happen, some say, not living on in Heaven. So what? I’m having a blast here. But you can’t remove Hell without removing Heaven. They are linked together by Jesus in the same sentence. No hell means no Heaven. If there is a Heaven, then there is a Hell. You can’t have one and not have the other. It’s not a matter of missing out on Heaven. It’s Hell. You will either be in one or the other. There is no third option. There is no just ceasing to exist.

Disqualified. Failed. Lost. Hell bound. You won’t find any hymns about Hell. You won’t find any pleasant thoughts about Hell in the Bible. Hell was designed by God for the devil. We are not supposed to be there. It wasn’t made for us. We are supposed to be in Heaven. But some will be disqualified. Some won’t make it.

We need to put Hell back into our preaching and the fear of God back into our hearts. Paul said, it could happen, even to him. Because of that, he ran in such a way as to win. He buffeted his body to make it his slave. He didn’t serve his passions and emotions. They served him. He was in control. He was making the right choices to please God.

What would it be like if you didn’t make it? Have you ever thought about that?

Roger

Jump Start # 2311

1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

We are in the midst of March Madness and here in Indiana, where basketball is king, there is a lot of excitement about our favorite teams. I had a friend from the south visiting recently. He asked if all this hype about Indiana basketball was true. I told him about the size of some of the high school gyms and then told him to drive around and notice all the basketball goals. He came back with stories of seeing goals on garages, on barns, on poles and even saw one on a tree. That’s basketball in Indiana.

Our verse draws from the world of sports. Paul uses parallels from the field of track (v. 24) and boxing (v. 26). His points are clear. The lessons are obvious. Run in such a way that you will win. We strive for an imperishable crown. Run with direction and purpose. Discipline your body to serve you. Don’t be disqualified. Be in control.

These thoughts make simple lessons for a Wednesday evening invitation. But that was not Paul’s intention. His words are powerful. The thoughts are deep. Be in control of yourself so that you will not be disqualified. The disqualified do not receive a prize. The disqualified go home as losers. And, in this setting, it wasn’t that you got beat by a better team. Here, you got beat by yourself. You were not prepared. You weren’t ready. You lost and it was your fault.

Now, some thoughts:

First, we must be in control. One of the virtues found in 2 Peter is self control. We try to control others but we can’t. We’d like to control the weather, but we can’t. But what we can control, we often don’t. Control our tongue and our anger. You could say something, but you won’t, because you are under control. The way that one guy is driving sure makes you want to do something, but you won’t because you are under control. Your thoughts are under control. Your words are under control. Your actions are under control. Your passions and feelings are under control. When your life is not under control, you are along for a ride. Who knows where your tongue, feelings and attitude may take you. Out of control, you’re likely to say anything, even if it’s cruel, hurtful and untrue. Out of control, you’re likely to explode in anger at any moment. It’s uncomfortable being around someone who is out of control. You don’t know when they might blow up. You walk on egg shells, fearing them.

Second, we put ourselves in control when the Words of Jesus fill our hearts. This is not something that others can do for us. No one can put you in control and no one can put me in control. We do it to ourselves. The honest and good heart that intersects with the Word of God will change. Kindness replaces rudeness. Listening replaces shouting. Patience replaces demands and threats. Forgiveness replaces revenge. Christ replaces selfishness. These are all choices, choices made by us when our hearts are filled with the Word of God.

Third, Paul understood that unless he controlled himself, he would be disqualified. In a track event, it might be embarrassing to be disqualified, but there will be other races. But, here, to be disqualified by God meant you are not pleasing the Lord and you are kept from Heaven. There are consequences to being out of control. When a person declares, “I couldn’t help it,” they are not honest. They could, if they were under control. We don’t have to sin. No one makes us sin. The very body that houses our soul can be a great asset or a great liability to us. There is a direct connection between our body and our soul. What we do in our body impacts our soul. Unless our body is subject to Christ, we will lose our soul. You can’t love the Lord with your heart and disobey Him with your body.

Fourth, Paul never overestimated grace. The word grace doesn’t come up in this section. Just love the Lord is the flavor of the month. Love the Lord and party like a wild college student on Spring Break. Love the Lord but worship anyway you want. Love the Lord and don’t even pay attention to the Bible. How can one think this way? Abuse of grace. Thinking that these things do not matter, grace will get me through.

Somehow Paul didn’t think that way. Why run in such a way, if you have grace? Why discipline your body, if you have grace? Grace will take care of it. Why sweat the details? Why worry about the small things? Why fuss over walking exactly? Grace will cover it. Grace will fill in the gaps. Grace will erase all the times you colored outside the lines. Funny, you don’t find that here. What you do read is Paul saying that he buffet his body. That word ‘buffet’ carries the idea of beating or bruising. Paul was not describing self affliction but the intensity of following Christ. These things did matter. There is a certain way to run. If you don’t run that way you won’t win. Paul understood that he could be disqualified.

Now, does this lead to perfection? We must be perfect or we won’t make it. No. But what Paul is driving at is the motive, ambition and drive behind what we are doing. Carelessness says it doesn’t matter. Indifference will flippantly assume that grace takes care of everything and I don’t even have to try. While we are not perfect, we are to strive as if we can be perfect. We must have as our ambition the desire to please the Lord. I know a couple of policemen. Recently I got to ride in a police SUV. We were escorting a funeral. Had the red and blue lights on. It was great. Now, because I know a couple of cops, would I drive foolishly knowing that if I got pulled over I could drop their names and avoid a ticket? Absolutely NOT. That’s abusing our friendship and taking advantage of things. I’ve seen them out and about and I will wave to them, but I am not going to assume friendship will excuse my recklessness. Is it any different with God’s grace? To be so careless and to assume that God will take care of things is to abuse and take advantage of things. God doesn’t owe us forgiveness. He doesn’t have to forgive us. It is His right. It is His privilege.

Fourth, Paul understood that he could be disqualified. That’s amazing. Can you imagine if he was? We’d be looking for him in Heaven and he wouldn’t be there. Look at all the good he did. Look at what his writings through the Holy Spirit have done. And, yet, he could be disqualified. And, if an apostle could be disqualified, you and I know all too well, that we could too. There’s only one thing worse than being in Hell, and that’s being a Christian in Hell. We are supposed to be on the other side. We worshipped. We prayed. We gave money. We were in this for decades, yet disqualified because we didn’t run the way that God wanted us to. We could have, we just didn’t want to. We should have, but we wanted to do what we like. We wanted to be happy. We wanted to be free. We wanted to do as we wanted to. And, that spirit and that tone leads to being disqualified. The first step of discipleship is to “deny yourself.” That comes before following Jesus. That comes before taking up your cross. Denying self is to buffet your body. Denying self is to crucify yourself. Denying self is to make Jesus the Lord of your heart.

March madness—a great time in Indiana. Play by the rules. Play hard. Play fair. Give it your all. Losing is not an option. We sure can learn from these thoughts.

Roger

Jump Start # 1338

1 Corinthians 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

  In our verse today, Paul lets us inside his mind and heart to help us understand how he does things. It’s a very revealing insight and helpful for us in our walk with the Lord. In this section of Corinthians, Paul references several sporting events. He talks about running a race. He talks about boxing. The goal is to win the prize. For the Christian the prize was not a wreath of garland to be worn on the head, it was the prize of Heaven. Paul refers to exercising self control. Our verse uses the expression, “discipline my body.”

There are some great lessons from our verse today.

1. It is easier to preach a lesson than it is to live the lesson. Talk can be cheap. It’s making those life choices that are hard. Out of the pulpit, the preacher must apply the very things he taught others to himself. Often many eyes are upon the preacher. He said it, now he must live it. That’s hard. It’s hard for any, but especially for the one who has been trying to show others how to walk by faith and live righteously. The preacher must apply the lesson to himself.

2. Preaching a lesson doesn’t automatically grant you a special place in the line going to Heaven. Paul had to exercise self control and discipline himself, otherwise he would be disqualified. The preacher isn’t excluded from having to grow, learn and become. He needs those traits in his life as well.

3. How terrible it would be for some to have heard the preacher and be saved, while the preacher was lost. That was a possibility. When Paul used the expression, ‘disqualified,’ it was intended to mean from Heaven. Without self control and discipline, the preacher who helped saved others would be lost himself. What a strange twist that would be.

4. We are to be in control of our minds, body and passions. This is what self control means. It is the control of self. Included in this list would be our anger, our words, our passions and our emotions. Someone who is out of control is likely to say anything. Like a volcano, no one knows when he might explode and spew his hot lava upon all who are near by. A meeting a work, a drive home, a messy house, a dinner that is not on time, are just a few of the things that can set off one who isn’t at the wheel of his thoughts, words or emotions. He makes a wreck of disaster around him only to later apologize over and over. Get control of yourself is the answer. Paul disciplined himself. Paul was in control of himself. Paul was at the wheel of his life. He wasn’t going for a ride, he was turning the wheel where he wanted to go.

5. This passage reminds us that even the apostles could have lost their souls. It was not guaranteed that the apostles were absolutely going to Heaven. They had to walk by faith and be righteous men as the rest of us do. Paul understood that. He didn’t take anything for granted. His love for the Lord had to be real. He had to make daily choices that reflected his faith in the Lord.

6. Paul shared all of this with us to help us understand that we must do the same. We are not going to Heaven without a proper faith, choices and love for the Lord. We too, must use self control. We too must run in such a way, keeping focused, lest we get side tracked and lose the race. The Boston Marathon was just completed a few days ago. Every year, a few show up dressed in outfits to get attention. There will be customs like Halloween. There will be a few in tuxedos. They make the pictures. They get a few laughs. But you don’t see them winning. They are not dressed to win. They are not serious about winning. They just want some limelight and that’s all they will get. The same happens in our faith. Some talk a good show. Some want the limelight. But there are those who are serious about making Heaven. They work at it. They take the Lord seriously. They dress the part and discipline the body.

All of this makes us ask ourselves, ‘How hard are we trying?’ Are we truly doing our best? Do we get side tracked and lose our focus much too easily?

Paul did not want to be disqualified. Neither should we.

Roger