At Element we are currently doing a series called What in the World Part 2, which seeks to answer questions you asked us last year. This past Sunday was a little tougher, because the question that was asked was: “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?” If you missed it you can listen/watch it here. As you can imagine, this is a volatile subject in our culture today, and any answer that takes a stand will offend someone.
 
We didn’t spend a lot time talking about homosexuality; rather, we spent a lot of time talking about the story of the Scriptures and redemption. I did take you back to the book of Genesis and the creation account to show the normative way Scripture speaks about intimate sexual unions between one man and one woman. I do not believe that the Bible is in any way ambiguous in its stance on same sex unions.
 
I also believe that the Bible is not ambiguous on who Jesus died for and loves: all of us. Anything short of God’s best for us in our lives is sin. Many times, we live in open rebellion because what we want or feel trumps God’s call in our life. So when Jesus says things like,“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matt 9:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31), those words are spoken to everyone—whether gay or straight. As divisive as our society is today (including the Church, sadly), we can easily forget how broad the scope of sin truly is and start to categorize certain sins, such as homosexuality, as worse or more taboo than others. When the Apostle Paul states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” it refers to all of us…and when Paul continues and says, “…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” this also refers to all of us.
 
Yes, at Element we believe that homosexuality is a sin, but we must make a distinction between the things people do, the things they struggle with, and who they are. In a culture that tells us we are defined by our actions or how we self-identify, we need to remember the truth of the Gospel—we are named and known by our Creator, and those who believe in His saving grace are forever redeemed. This truth should enable us to love anyone, regardless of what they struggle with, because love isn’t condoning what people do…it is recognizing their true identity and worth found in God. Too often, the Church has elevated this one thing above all other issues and said, “This is the worst thing a human can do!” But the worst thing any of us could do is reject the love and grace of God. God doesn’t hate people who are struggling with sin in their lives. If that was true, He would hate all of us. The reality is that our struggle with sin is not the end of us, nor does it define us; it is this universal brokenness that can drive us to the healing hands of the Great Physician.
 
In order to help you start the dialogue, I would like to point you to a couple of blogs. (I know, you are already reading a blog and now I am referring you to another one…it’s like the Twilight Zone). Read these articles with an open heart and pray that God would reveal to you what He is trying to say. The first one is written by a young man who struggles with SSA (same sex attraction); the second is a study by Mark Yarhouse, Professor of Psychology and the Rosemarie Scotti Hughes Endowed Chair of Christian Thought in Mental Health Practice at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
 
As followers of Jesus, we must be willing to enter into discussion with others, but we need to remember what this actually entails from a Gospel perspective. It is not telling people God hates them, and it’s not telling them the Bible condones whatever they want to do. Rather, we must enter with grace and point to the redemptive love and hope of God in all things—that it is not our works that save us, but the work of Jesus that saves and restores us.
 
Lastly, let’s work to create a culture within Element and beyond where we can feel the freedom to express our struggles with sin without shame. As shared in the first blog below, church climates are often tragically perceived as oppressive. If our lives are truly centered around the Gospel, we should be encouraged to move toward one another in our brokenness, as we recognize the great need each of us has for Jesus.
 
https://torreygazette.com/blog/2015/10/26/on-my-struggle-with-homosexuality
http://henrycenter.tiu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Yarhouse-Homosexuality.pdf

At Element we are currently doing a series called What in the World Part 2 which seeks to answer questions you asked us last year. Last Sunday we answered this question: “In Genesis 15:17 it says that a smoking fire pot and flaming torch passed between the halves of the animals Abraham cut in half at God's direction. What is the significance of the fire pot and torch moving between the halves?” If you missed it you can listen/watch it here. After the message I had five more questions that people asked, none of them had to do with the central premise of the sermon, they were simply inquisitive questions (because inquiring minds want to know). So, don’t let these questions distract you from the central message that Jesus promised Himself to rescue us from our brokenness and then He fulfilled that promise.
 
The five questions are as follows, if you listened to the message this will make sense. Why was Abraham the only one who brought something to the covenant ceremony, why 3 years old, which way did they cut the animals, why didn’t the birds get cut, and why a young pigeon? Here are the verses in question: Genesis 15:9-10 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
 
All of these are pretty easy to answer:
Why was Abraham the only one who brought something to the covenant ceremony – When Abraham left the land of His father(s) at God’s call he was doing alright financially, but he wasn’t extravagantly rich. By the time Genesis 15 comes around God has so blessed Abraham with animals and goods that he has to separate from his nephew Lot because the land couldn’t sustain them both. Abraham sees all that He has as being given to him by God’s hand, so essentially Abraham is simply bringing what God has already provided.
 
Why 3 years old – At three years old the animals would all be at full growth and strength. They would have many years of child bearing ahead of them, so to give these animals would have truly been a sacrifice. On a side note, a heifer had not born any offspring yet (much like Abraham), a goat was used as a sin offering later in temple worship (one was sacrificed and one set free as a scapegoat) that represented Israel’s sin had been removed from them, and a ram is what God will provide in the place of Abraham’s son on Mount Moriah as a sacrifice.
 
Which way did they cut them – I find this question very funny because it never occurred to me that there would be more than one logical way to cut animals in half. They were not cut long ways (head to tail), they were cut side to side (usually behind the rib cage).
 
Why not cut the birds – The most common consensus among bible scholars is that the birds were simply too small, it is why there are 2 birds listed and not one. Two birds can be laid over against the other on either side of the isle. If you cut a bird in half behind the rib cage, like the larger animals, there isn’t much left. One side would have what is essentially a whole bird and the other side a pair of skinny, tiny, bird legs.
 
Why a “young pigeon” – This is a great question and my answer is only speculation because I am not 100% on it. The word In Genesis 15:9 for “young pigeon” is the Hebrew word gowzal. The word doesn’t actually mean a pigeon, it meant a young nesting bird, and maybe so young its feathers haven’t even come in. By putting the “gowzal” opposite the turtledove could represent where Abraham is in regards to his faith (it is newborn but also counted to him as righteousness) and what Israel, his descendants, will become. In Psalm 74 God will call the nation of Israel His turtledove as term of endearment and love. God could be saying to Abraham that you are starting off like this new born bird, but you and your descendants when full grown will be my beloved ones.
 
Remember that Moses is the one chronicling these events, which means he is viewing everything in light of the law that has been given to Israel at Sinai. Moses probably sees much greater and far reaching significance to these events than Abraham does. After Jesus’death and resurrection we also get to see much greater and far reaching significance than Moses saw. As we talked about Sunday, Jesus shows up and walks through the pieces and makes a covenant to save His people no matter what. Jesus passes through the pieces, not Abraham, which means Jesus will uphold and provide a way for both sides of the covenant to be fulfilled in Himself.
 
1Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Here is another blog post that is answering another what in the world question you guys asked us last year. Currently, on Sunday mornings, we are doing our What in the World Part 2 series to answer your questions in sermon form, but some of these questions were too short for a whole sermon so we answer the shorter ones in our blog.
 
Today’s question is as follows, “In Mark 7, what is Corban?” This is an interesting question because the word “corban” in Greek is literally “korban” and only used in Mark 7:11 and nowhere else in the entire New Testament (in Matthew 15:5 he uses the word “doron” meaning “devoted to God” but not the word corban). I think the answer is short, so let me answer the question and then paste the entire section in context so you can understand what you are reading.
 
When you hear the word “corban,” if you live on the central coast of California, you probably think it sounds like a mediocre winery up by San Luis Obispo, but it’s not. The only reason we know what it means is that Mark defines the term for us as “given to God” in Mark 7:11. Because it is an obscure word Mark did us a favor by defining it.
 
There is some interesting aspects to the verses where it comes about in Mark 7. Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees about their rituals that have been elevated to the place where they take precedence over the realty of living life with God. It comes in the context of the disciples not washing their hands before a meal (I know you think, “Gross, everyone should wash their hands,”) but this type of hand washing had nothing to do with clean hands and had everything to do with ritual focused on false piety. The Pharisees ask Jesus why His disciples eat with “defiled” hands, not dirty or muddy hands.
 
Throughout the Old Testament God is trying to get His people away from ritual and toward an open heart to what God was doing in the world, in Hosea 6:6 God says, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Jesus answers the handwashing question of the Pharisees by going after them and pointing out their own corruption by showing how they have elevated ritual over true relationship with God. He does this by pointing out what they have done with money they claim has been “devoted (or given) to God.” When parents became older and frailer, Israelites were meant to care for them, but the Scribes and Pharisees let children off the hook if they gave a certain amount of money to the temple instead of helping their parents.
 
Simply saying, “it is corban” would gain them an exemption from helping their parents.
 
God never intended something good, like generosity to a temple (or a church), to be the impetus for getting anyone out of responsibility for caring for others in need. It reminds us today that God desires relationship and not a ritualistic obedience that has nothing to do with our hearts. We should not be looking for ways to get out of our responsibilities toward others, but living with focused Gospel intentionality because our lives are found in Jesus.
 
Mark 7:1-13 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
 
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” 
 
Now you should go on to read the next verses in Mark 7 where Jesus talks about what DOES defile a person.

 

We have been doing our What in the World Part 2 series on Sunday mornings, where we are answering your questions about certain things in the Bible. There were some questions you asked that were not long enough to make a whole sermon out of, so we are answering them, calling them “shorts,” and posting them to our blog. This is the next “What in the World?” question we received: John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” What in the World?
 
First off, it is always a good rule to read the Bible in context, so let’s take a step back and see what comes right before John 14:12. Before the verse in question, Jesus talks about us having trouble in the world, going to be with Him, and Jesus Himself being the only way to salvation. Jesus then says the following, starting in John 14:10-11: “Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
 
Jesus says there are 3 things we must see if you want to realize who He is: What are His words (What did Jesus teach and instruct…What are Jesus’ works (How did He live)…and What are His miracles (What evidence is there of God’s works and miracles in Christ).
 
So, His words, work, and His miracles…that’s how we investigate Jesus.

At Element we are doing a series on Sunday mornings where we answer your questions that you gave to us last year in a series titled “What in the World Part I. Some of these questions are too short for whole sermon, plus we only have so many weeks for the current series, which means we are going to answer some of those questions in our blogs.
 
Today’s question is as follows, “Mark 8:14-21 – I am like the Disciples, after reading it in context I still don’t understand.” The answer will be short, so let me actually post the entire section the question pertains to (Mark 8):

14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
 
16They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
 
17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
 
“Twelve,” they replied.
 
20“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
 
They answered, “Seven.”
 
21He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

 
I like the question, because it is so honest, “I am like the Disciples, after reading it in context I still don’t understand.”
 
Simply put, rabbis’ would use anything thing they could find to teach their disciples about living the truth of God out in their daily lives. They would teach them to see the world as God saw the world. On this occasion the disciples are worried about how much food they have on their journey, because they were forgetful and didn’t bring enough. Jesus says to them, trying to relate it all together, to beware of the “yeast of Pharisees” and “Herod.”
 
The disciples scratch their heads and are like, “Is this because we have no bread? We should go and get more.” They failed to see that Jesus was taking a normal, every day thing, to teach them a deeper truth. While Jesus was teaching them this truth, they were stuck on what was in front of them and not on the “bigger picture” of what was going on in the world around them. So Jesus then, quite plainly, points out that bread, for Him, is not a problem (obviously, because He fed 5000 and 4000 people respectively, with almost no bread at all).
 
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus tells His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Yes, things are important, but they should not distract is from God’s ultimate working in the world around us. Too often we get fixated on our needs AND wants and we stop seeing what God sees.
 
Herod was the ruler over the area where Jesus and His disciples had their ministry. The Pharisees were the most popular group among the common people of Jesus’ day. But they had both failed to see their place in how God’s kingdom was to function in the world. The “rulers” and the “popular” were people that everyone admired and wanted to be like, but they were nothing like God in character; in fact they usually pulled people’s vision away from God rather than to Him.
 
The yeast that Jesus speaks of is that influence. When you put more stock into the Pharisees and Herod than you do in God’s call in your life, it will work through all the dough (your life) and bring about a ruined product.
 
Think of others in our world who seek power (that’s Herod’s yeast), popularity (that’s Herod’s and the Pharisees’ yeast), or a certain brand of morality, whether it’s conservative values or liberal values (that’s the Pharisees’ yeast). Now, think of yourself and where any of those things have overtaken what God calls you to focus on first…that is what Jesus is getting at.
 
It is so easy for us to lose focus on what God calls us to in this life, it is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking about our own comfort (bread) because of all of the pressures (yeast) of our culture. Jesus reminds us that He is good enough to be trusted with our lives, so we should be on guard for anything that wants to remove our focus from Him.

Last Sunday we started a new series, which is actually part two of a series we did last year, called What in the World. In this part of the series, I’ll be addressing questions you still had about the Bible. Someone asked about Abraham and Isaac, both patriarchs of the Hebrews’ faith in God, lying about their wives being their sisters and God still blessing them in the end. I got around to the point that the question understands God, blessing, and righteousness incorrectly, because God cannot and does not only bless “good” people because (technically) there aren’t any. God must take bad people and change them, redeem them, and restore them.
 
I emphasized that we are evil and God Himself is the one that is good. I had a couple people ask me about why I say we are evil…and ask if I was overstating our condition. The short answer is “no,” I am not overstating my case. I also believe that unless we can come to understand the true heinousness of the sinful nature in us, we will forever have a losing battle between pride and humbleness thinking that we are “not that bad.” Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
 
We always want to compare ourselves to others, and when we hear the word “evil,” we tend to think of child molesters or the Geoffrey Dahmers of the world. 2 Corinthian 10:12 But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

We want to compare ourselves to others or our own standard and conclude we aren’t “that bad,” but the only person we truly should compare ourselves to is Jesus. When we see ourselves in light of His goodness, we are evil. In The Grace and Truth Paradox, Randy Alcorn says this: “I’d imagined the distance between Dodd (a child molester and murderer) and me as the difference between the South and North poles. But when you consider God’s viewpoint from light-years away, that distance is negligible. In my standing before a holy God apart from Christ…I am Dodd…Unless we come to grips with the fact that we’re of precisely the same stock—fallen humanity—as Dodd and Hitler and Stalin, we’ll never appreciate Christ’s grace.” Human standards of morality have been proven to waver over the course of history, and yet God’s standard of absolute perfection has never changed.
 

Last night I babysat a couple of boys from our church so his dad could attend our Redemption Group session. Towards the end of the night, as they were getting tired, we put in a DVD that they wanted to watch: SpongeBob.
 
We watched Jellyfish Hunter, and a scene caught my attention. You can see it here, watch from minute 2:29 to 4:13:
http://watchcartoonsonline.eu/watch/spongebob-squarepants-s2-ep19a-jellyfish-hunter/
(Sorry for Copyright reasons I can't find a good version to embed directly.)
 
What follows in the blog may seem like a stretch, but go with me here.
 
What happens in this scene is that the sponge has something incredibly good. He can’t help himself but to make noises of delight while he eats his Krusty burger that has been modified with Jellyfish Jelly. The other fish, I’ll call him Steve, notices and asks SpongeBob for a taste. Upon experiencing what I could only describe as a “life altering burger,” he cries out, “Amazing. I’ve got to tell someone about this.” Then he breaks out into a song starting with, “Hey all you people!”
 

I hope you all know how much I love Element and our Sunday gatherings, but occasionally, one of my favorite things to do is attend another church’s service. It’s always a tangible reminder of how diverse the Church is, and how beautiful it can be to see traditions expressed in such different ways.
 
Before I go on any further, I want to clarify that is blog post is NOT an indictment of another particular congregation I recently visited. There is so much division within the Church, and the last thing I want to do is throw stones at a body of believers—especially since my perceptions are based off only a single service I attended. However, I do think it is important for believers to critically engage any local church they attend, and to continually discern the truth in what we hear. If anything, this post is an assertion of the Gospel, and a reminder of why it is so important to preach Christ crucified in all that we do.
 
The church my husband Jon and I visited is geared toward the recovery community. It was a wonderful sight to behold how well they have managed to reach that specific subculture. In many ways, I saw elements of a good missional strategy—understanding the needs of the community, adopting the language of that subculture, etc. We were met by a warm and vibrant group of people, and were quickly welcomed in.
 
Throughout the service, however, I felt increasingly uneasy at what I was hearing. The lyrical content of the songs we sang together, while uplifting, was vague in their focus of worship. Communion was likened to having “the best conversation you can remember, where you felt completely safe and heard.” The message mainly consisted of the pastor’s argument that theology is not so important as much as practice, and that we all must develop our own personal theology.
 
Now, I do believe there is some truth to what the pastor said. In communion, we are reminded of the safe, intimate access we have to God, where we are fully known and heard. When it comes to theology, it is true that little will be transformative if it hasn’t taken root in our hearts and actions. However, what left the message feeling so hollow to me was the omission of what all these truths hinge on: the Gospel.
 
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus has defeated Satan, sin, and death, and is making all things new—even us! This good news, or story, is rooted in the actual historical event of Jesus’ death and resurrection—a singular event we can point to as proof of Christ’s work, and the ultimate expression of His love for us. I’m saddened to say that none of this was mentioned throughout the service we attended. It is because of Christ’s victory over sin that we can feel safe and heard. Jesus tells us that in communion, his blood is “of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). While we may often hear of “God’s love,” we can know as believers His love is not some vague feeling, but demonstrated through an action that has already occurred. We can be absolutely assured of His commitment to us, because the Cross happened.
 
Regarding theology, while it is Jesus and not theology that saves us, it is important to understand the practical role of theology in our lives. As one of my professors used to say, “Right theology leads to right worship.” As we continually grapple with the ideas of who God is, we gain clarity, and can more accurately convey who He is to others. While I did agree with this pastor that Judaism is a religion that focuses more on orthopraxy (“right practice”) rather than orthodoxy (“right belief”), it’s a stretch to say Jesus didn’t emphasize theology. We are studying right now in our current sermon series at Element, Jesus consistently asserts His authority as the Messiah. Jesus claims that He alone is God and able to forgive sins. He makes controversial, exclusive statements about exactly who He is—separating the truth from lies.
 
In a way, I’m thankful for the experience of visiting this church, because it reminded me of how powerful the Gospel message is. Likewise, I was reminded of how mediocre our “good news” can sound when we fail to tell the whole story of Christ’s redemption. As Romans 1:16 says, “…I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” As we near Resurrection Sunday, let’s remember that every good thing we are free to experience in Christ hinges on the Cross, and as Paul said, “preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

I had a friend of mine proof read last week’s blog, when done they said it reminded them of this modern hymn written by Ruth Duck. I thought I would share it with all of you as well, enjoy:
 

Moved by the Gospel, let us move with every gift and art. 
The image of creative love indwells each human heart. 
The Maker calls creation good, so let us now express 
with sound and color, stone and wood, 
the shape of holiness. 

Let weavers form from broken strands a tapestry of prayer. 
Let artists paint with skillful hands their joy in lament and care, 
Then mime the story: Christ has come; 
With reverence dance the Word. 
With flute and organ, chime and drum, God’s praise be ever heard. 

O Spirit, breathe among us here, inspire the work we do. 
May hands and voices, eye and ear attest to life made new. 
In worship and in daily strife create among us still. 
Great Artist form our common life according to Your will.

I think I am a bad Christian. I was reading a recent survey about movies made in 2016, and “who had seen what” over the course of the year. The Barna article stated, “Evangelicals were much less likely to view some of the other favorites among the general population including Deadpool (20% compared to 37% among all adults), Suicide Squad (13% compared to 24% among all adults), X-Men: Apocalypse (9% compared to 26% among all adults) and Batman vs Superman (20% compared to 31% among all adults).” What does it say about me that I have seen ALL of those movies listed as “less likely” to be viewed by Christians?
 
The article then says, “They (Christians) also watched Miracles from Heaven (21% vs. 9% among all adults) more than the general population.” Is it bad that I did not see this movie, and had never even heard of it prior to this article?
 
This is the problem we have today of labeling things “Christian” and “worldly.” When someone with any authority slaps a label on something and calls it “Christian,” many Christians begin to blindly consume whatever that thing is. I read a book about the “Christian” music industry a couple of years ago where the author lamented the fact that many “Christian” bands aren’t really Christians; it is simply a market in which they can easily make money.
 
Back in our Genesis series, I mentioned this kind of labeling is a result of chapter 3 (the fall), and not Genesis chapters 1-2 (God’s perfect vision of life and peace). All truth and beauty come from God’s gracious hand, and when we try to label art (in any form) as “safe for consumption,” we will always fail—we are trying to validate something that wasn’t intended to be validated.
 
When God blessed the world, He already validated it, and His voice and opinion are the ones that truly matter. I believe a Christian subculture can be dangerous with its own (often inferior) versions of coffee, stickers, paintings, and movies, because there are some people who will blindly accept it based on the label, who won’t critically think about whether it truly glorifies God. Believe it or not, there are things in our world that scream of truth and beauty and life and holiness that do not come from an approved Christian subculture…and there are dark and ugly things that have nothing to do with Jesus that do come from an approved Christian subculture.
 
As followers of Jesus, we must begin to ask the question about what we consume with our minds: “Does this reflect the harmony and beauty of God's peace?” I am not saying all the movies I have seen this year reflect God’s peace, but I also think it is amazing that God’s truth often shows up in the least expected places. There are many artists telling compelling stories that we should engage with—stories that tell the truth and grace of God in practical ways. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 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. 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. 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. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
 
To live on mission means to share the blessing of the Gospel, and this means making it known to the world in ways that speak to people exactly where they are. That means we must be aware of our speech, our actions, and our entertainment in ways that see the broader picture of truth and beauty. We must be able to engage in conversation with people in the beginning of their journey, not the end. We must always live in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus, but also take that truth into the common places of our world in words, art, and music that make sense in the midst of people’s struggles.
 
May we become a people who can appreciate beauty where we see it and glorify God in the midst of it.