1 Corinthians 7:17-24: Serve the Lord Where You Are

"So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God." 1 Corinthians 7:24

I heard a pastor say once that we as Christians must always seek to "be where our feet are." Apparently it's some type of sports analogy, but the principle remains the same either way: we must be where we actually are at all times. We must thrive where we are at, and not ask to be somewhere else. What do I mean by this? Let me explain.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul encourages the church concerning marriage. There are some that are married in the church, and some that are not. Ironically, it seems as if those who are married are perhaps wishing they were single, and those who are single are wishing they were married (see v. 27)--the grass is surely greener on the other side of the fence.* Nevertheless, Paul encourages them by commanding them that they ought to serve the Lord wherever they are at (vs. 17, 20, 24). Men who have wives don't need to be single to serve the Lord; men who are single don't need wives to serve the Lord. Furthermore, one does not need to be circumcised nor uncircumcised to serve the Lord (v. 18), nor slave nor free (v. 21-23). Simply put, men need to serve the Lord wherever they are at.

I think this text can easily be applied to us today. Living in our lovely, American consumer culture, we often think that we need more stuff or better situations to serve the Lord. "Man, if I only had that new iPhone, then I would be content and able to serve the Lord." "Man, if I had a Tesla, then I would be able to minister to those high school students." Okay....maybe those examples are a bit outrageous, but what about these ones: "Man, if my kids were as obedient as John's were, then it would be easier for me to obey the Lord." "Man, if I was married to [insert name here], then I could really serve the Lord well." "Man, if I only had [insert name here]'s life, then I could serve the church better." The list goes on and on, and I'm sure you can think of a perfect example where you've grumbled about your own current life situation and used it as an excuse not to serve the Lord faithfully--I have too, it's okay. But Paul's point here is this: God has us exactly where he wants us. Whether that's living a perfect life in a big house with a middle-class salary, or whether it's being imprisoned for sharing our faith in the Middle East, we are called to be faithful to God wherever we are at.

Let me just say this one more time, perhaps in a different way: you don't need anything besides Jesus to serve Jesus, and let us repent of our thinking otherwise. You don't need a spouse, you don't need children, you don't need a car, and you don't need whatever else your soul desires. If God blesses you with those things, great. But if he doesn't, serve him where he has put you. It may be that he hasn't given you those things because he knows that they will be a hindrance to your ministry if you had them (see 1 Cor. 7:32-35). So, be where your feet are, and serve the Lord faithfully wherever that may be. Amen!

*That is, until you realize your neighbor has a septic problem.