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1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (NIV), “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…”
The primary theme of the Apostle Paul’s statement is “to win as many as possible.” Notice the last 4 words of this phrase. The first letter of each word together forms the acronym “A MAP.” Paul is giving the church a map – that is “to win as many as possible” to Christ.
The Apostle Paul lived out this attitude by identifying 3 different strategies to reach out to 3 different groups of people (viz. the Jews, the Gentiles and the Weak). What is the lesson or principle we can learn from here? The principle is this: “A MAP” demands flexibility, adjustment, and change in order to reach out to different people effectively. While the substance of the Gospel must remain the same, the form (without compromising God’s Word) will inevitably change in order to communicate more effectively to the target group.
“A MAP” attitude also reminds us not to be complacent with our status quo, not to be lazy and do as minimum as possible. God forbid. God wants us to do our level best to improve on our ministries, not necessarily to increase our workload. When we do our best, He will take care of the rest. Let us evaluate and see how we can improve and enhance the ministries under our care. Let’s get to work and pull our resources together. Let’s banish away NATO (No Action, Talk Only) meetings and by God’s grace, adopt “A MAP” (improve as many as possible, or as much as possible) attitude.
Prayer: “Dear Father God, please forgive us if we have an attitude of complacency or laziness. Help us to give of our best to You and we know that You will take care of the rest and bless us, in Jesus name.”