I am ready, Father, and I pray that I am receptive to Your word this day. Amen.

1 Corinthians 9:1-27 (<<click here to read the passage)

I do not have a degree in education (I attempted a Christian Education Minor in college and tanked!) But I have had jobs in which I was responsible for “educating” new employees on how to do the job we did.

Most recently, I worked at Kohl’s, teaching new associates to do what was expected. One of the many things we had to learn in jewelry was how to secure the cases of high-end merchandise (diamonds, predominantly). Early on, we had to move all said merchandise into a large safe that we kept enshrouded by a cabinet in the jewelry bay. We had to have it verified by management, and then the safe would be secured and could only be opened by management the next day.

Eventually, we installed new jewelry cases, allowing us to push the entire interior into the base of the case. It was a steel box with a bar locked in place over it. (At another location, someone, after hours, tried to – unsuccessfully – break into one. With the proper power tools, it was nigh impossible, especially with security alarms going off and law enforcement’s impending arrival.) But our job had to be done in a certain way to ensure everything was secured properly.

So, what was the best way to “teach” these and many other essential things in jewelry according to Kohl’s policy? Things can be taught in many ways. Hands-on seemed to work well for me. Patience factored in greatly, and there was a bit of give and take if things weren’t done correctly the first couple of times. For me, it always helped to put myself in their shoes, to figure out how they saw what was before them, to help them understand. Jumping all over them and putting on a know-it-all attitude didn’t help a whole lot.

This was the Apostle Paul’s approach to sharing the Gospel. In verse 19, he states,

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. NLT

And then continuing with verses 22-23,

To the weak I became [as the] weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means [in any and every way] save some [by leading them to faith in Jesus Christ]. And I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, so that I may share in its blessings along with you. AMP

A high and mighty attitude in sharing our faith with unbelievers accomplished little. My Life Application Study Bible states that Paul gives several important principles for ministry: (1) Find common ground with those you contact; (2) avoid a know-it-all attitude; (3) make others feel accepted; (4) be sensitive to their needs and concerns; and (5) look for opportunities to tell them about Christ.

Patience and love should be at the core of all we do in sharing our faith.

Lord Jesus, help us to be diligent in our responsibilities but equally as diligent in following Your agenda, not ours. Amen.

Nov 8th, 2023, Wed, 7:02 pm