All Things to All Women

She gave up driving. Her grown children are in another country. She is learning the native language. The radio station has no music. She eats sheep's cheese. Even when it is 100 degrees outside, she wears head-to-toe black polyester.  Some women in her area can't read. She found an apartment with two living rooms...one for women, one for men. If someone knocks, she puts on her head covering before she comes to the door. Her post office is not reliable. She traded a rural retreat for a high rise in the city. She can't jog in the park.

Who is this woman? She is an American who happily resides in the country where her husband has a job.

Why does she willingly live this way? She loves the local people and wants to interact with the culture as much as possible.  She loves God and her husband. Because she wants to show forth Christ, she makes a sacrifice.

When God brings us to an area where people dress, act, look, think and eat differently than we do, we might seem out of place like a bright orange lawn chair in a white snowdrift. But, God has put us right where he wants us. We might complain like a drenched Private Benjamin who, when forced by the Army to march in the rain, said, "I wanna wear my sandals. I wanna go out to lunch. I wanna be normal again." But, God has higher goals for us than our own normal comfort levels.

Motivated by God's love for us, we can sacrifice some of our freedoms in order to minister more effectively in love toward others. "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them...I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some." (I Corinthians 9:19, 22b)

In a sermon on this passage, John Piper encouraged the listeners to "adapt as much as you can in non-sinful ways." He added, "In freedom, for love's sake, you try to overcome unnecessary, alienating differences that cut you off from unbelievers." This sort of loving adaptation can be directed toward believers, as well.

What lifestyle changes are we willing to make in order to "win/save" others around us? Do we need to stop buying Brooks Brothers clothes when we're called to a church with Bargain Basement style? Should we learn more about aeronautics or agriculture in order to appreciate how the congregation earns its living? Could we make more of the locally popular spinach smoothies so we can drink less sugary sodas? "By all means." We should use all the means we have to show forth Christ wherever we find ourselves. It is worth the sacrifice.

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