This week’s devotion…
“Much Obliged”
If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me,
and woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel! – 1 Corinthians 9:16
You would not believe how often salespeople call the church.
One or two times a day I’ll get phone calls from various companies trying to sell us something: Curriculum for the youth group, equipment for the sound system, deodorizers for the bathrooms. You name it.
I try to be polite — this is the church, after all — but sometimes they can get under my skin.
There are a few companies that try to send you stuff in the mail for you to “preview” for 90 days, “with no obligation”. They’ll bill you automatically if you don’t send it back. Uggh. That sounds a lot like “obligation” to me! A product I don’t want in the first place that I then have to go through the hassle of sending back? No Thanks.
Have you ever felt that way with the church? Like Christianity is thrust upon you–like a great big gift you weren’t sure you even wanted? Some churches tell you you’re “under no obligation” to do anything…so you don’t. Other churches guilt trip you into action, but don’t nourish your soul. In either case, church can come across like a great big hassle.
Perhaps that’s why so many are “returning the package” these days. Or not signing up for it in the first place.
When Paul says, “…an obligation is laid on me, and woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel!”, he sounds like somebody scammed by a shady salesman, doesn’t he?
That’s not it at all. The obligation is his own. He feels obliged to proclaim the gospel. If you go back and read 1 Corinthians chapter 9 you’ll see that he values this task more than any other.
Remember, before Paul was Paul, he was Saul. A man bound up by anger and revenge, imprisoning Jews, approving of their killing, until he literally saw the light. On that road to Damascus Paul received a gift from God. The true gift of God’s love came to him with no strings attached, something so priceless he could never purchase it.
And now? Now everything in his life is rearranged. His priorities are different. He has one obligation above any other, now–more compelling than any sale’s pitch could ever be. He feels called to pass the Good News on to others.
An obligation is a debt of gratitude. So the question is…how have you received God’s Grace? Are you grateful for it? If you choose, like Paul, to live a life of gratitude for the grace you’ve received, then your greatest obligation will feel like a privilege: Passing that Grace will become a way of life.
We’re not supposed to be selling anything. We’re not even offering free samples. We’re giving Grace away, just as surely as we’re receiving it.
THIS is the church, after all: A people called together in praise, thanksgiving, compassion and action, all because of God’s free gift.
(And that’s one Call you don’t want to miss.)
Have a great week,
Mitch
