Living the Life God Has Called You to

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 - Riley Boggs

I want to start off this morning by telling you the story of a man named Zhang Shaojie. Zhang is, or was, a pastor in China and is currently 10 years into his 12-year prison sentence. Why is he in jail? For, “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” and fraud. This is the actual story, with a timeline.

Zhang was the pastor of Nanle County Christian Church in central China. Apparently, Zhang acquired some land where the church had planned to build a new church building, a Bible school, and a ministry center. The problem, however, is that the Chinese government decided they wanted to the land instead so that they might sell it to property developers and make a great profit. So, they tried to persuade the church to give them the land, but pastor Zhang and their church refused. This began a land dispute between the church and the local authorities.

Rightfully upset about this, on November 15, 2013 several church members decided to go to Beijing to petition for the land. But, on their way, they were taken into custody and prevented from going. The next day, pastor Zhang went to the church to meet with the County Public Security Chief and a deputy. Unfortunately, this was a set-up, it was a trap. During the meeting a dozen or so police offered entered in, tied up pastor Zhang, and took him away. His family and church members went to the police station to protest what had happened. This resulted in some of them being beaten, the pastors 2 sisters being detained, both of his parents having to be hospitalized due to high blood pressure, and the local government threatening the church members that night.

The next day their church had 200 government agents around it, surveillance cameras placed, all church funds frozen, and officers stationed at the pastor’s home. A month later, on December 13th, 2013, a mob of several hundred people surrounded and attacked a group of church members, lawyers, and journalists. They beat them and took their phones and cameras, and the government officials expelled the journalists from the area. Local sources said it was the authorities who had hired the mob.

  Alright, now let me just give you several key dates to fast forward through this story..

• June 23, 2014, pastor’s Zhang daughter and her family tried to fly to the USA, but were blocked for being “national security risks” 

•  July 4, 2014, pastor Zhang was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined heavily for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” and fraud, which was an added made up charge. When his trial reached court, his lawyers were detained and forced to dismiss their case or lose their licenses.

• Last this month, pastor’s Zhang daughter and family traveled via “underground railroad” in China and were able to fly to Texas, where they would eventually meet with President Obama’s administration asking for help.

• September 9, 2014, the pastor’s sister was sentenced to one and half years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”. After being released, she described prison as “hell on earth, but said, “I had joy from God.”

• November 5, 2014, the pastor’s other sister was violently abducted and locked in a soundproof room. She was released 9 days later, but the authorities went to the pastor’s house, where his parents were staying, and told them to leave so they could auction off the house and care. His mother refused and threatened to torch herself, and the officials left.

• There are not too many more updates than that, as of now. What we do know is that his imprisonment has been hard at times, including for a while being forced to take pills that upon visiting his wife and sister said make him like, “he became another person.” 

• What we do know is that on January 8, 2021, he was transferred to a different prison for his final 5 years, which concerned his family.

• Thankfully, though, in October 2021 pastor Zhang wrote a letter to his family saying that he is “in good spirit in the Lord”, and feels peace about his imprisonment.

There are a few reasons why I shared that story with you this morning. First, we need to be aware of and praying for the many persecuted Christians around the world. The second reason, which has to do with our text this morning, is about what both the pastor and his sister said about their imprisonment. His sister said that prison was “hell on earth, but that she, “I had joy from God.” Pastor Zhang said, after wrongly being imprisoned for 7 years with 5 more to go, that he is “in good spirit in the Lord”, and feels peace about his imprisonment. How in the world is this possible? How can someone have joy, be in good spirit, and feel at peace in light of what they have, and are, experiencing? I believe this text helps us see how that is.

The text this morning is not about suffering persecution, so it is not in that sense that we will get the answer. The passage this morning is rather about living the life that God has called you to, no matter what it is. By God’s grace none of us will have to live such a hard calling for Christ, but it is my hope and prayer no matter your circumstances, you are able to see the truth of God’s Word in this text and live well. Whether than be in times of persecution or times of monotonous daily life.

As we have been working through this letter from Paul to the Corinthians, we have worked through many different things. Last week we looked at how to properly view marriage and singleness, and then next week we will circle back to a similar thing. But between these two passages, Paul writes these 8 verses. These verses, as R.C. Sproul says, “set forth a principle that gives coherence to the whole chapter: becoming a believer does not require a change in status, whether marital, ethnic, or social.” In other words, if someone comes to know Christ and asks, “What do I need to change to serve God?” The Corinthians were asking this question specifically about marriage. Now that they were believers they were asking, “Should I stay single? Can I get married? Should I get a divorce? What about my unbelieving spouse?” And so Paul answers those questions, and then gives here in these 8 verses, the principles by which he is using to answer those questions.

There are 4 principles laid out in this text that I want us to see this morning. Each of them helping us to see how we can live the life that God has called us to, no matter what it is, faithfully and with joy.

1.) You have been sovereignly assigned, or called, to where you are right now, by God (v.17)

Starting in verse 17 Paul says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” As we work through the text, we’ll see exactly what he means by this, but I want to dwell here on the 2 different ways that Paul describes the same reality. He says that we are to life the live that God has “assigned” to us and to which God has “called” us. 

If you want to know what God’s calling is on your life, look around. If you want to know where your divine assignment is, you are in it. Now, that doesn’t mean it will remain this forever, as we will see later in the text. But what I do want us to see, to know, is that whatever situation you are in right now, you are not there by happenstance. You are not accidentally where you are. God has ordained things in such a way so that you might be in whatever situation you are in, and He has you there for a specific purpose. A purpose that is for your good and for His glory. God has called you to where you are. He has sovereignly assigned you to where you are. 

Often times when we think of God’s calling or assignment on our life, we think of a future time. We think of a time where we will fulfill that calling or we will accomplish that assignment. But brothers and sisters, even if there is a future calling or a future assignment, that does not mean that you are not currently in the place that God has called you, fulfilling the assignment that He has called you to.

You are where you are on purpose, even if it was your own sin, or the sins of others against you, that led you to where you are. Though you, or others, meant something for evil, God meant it for good. He did this so that He might bring you to a certain place, at a certain time, for a certain purpose. And this should be a great comfort to us, because we know that, Romans 8:28, “those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” We have been called according to his good purpose.

So that that is the first thing I want us to see. That God has assigned, or called, you to where to you are right now. The second thing I want us to see is this…

2.) Your circumstances do not have to change for you to serve (vv.18-21, v.24)

After making that statement in verse 17, Paul says, “18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it.”

What we have here is Paul simply going through a handful of different situations that he knows some of these new believers have questions about. People are hearing the Gospel and trusting in Christ, they are being called to Christ, and their lives look different. Some of them have been circumcised, some of them haven’t. Some of them are slaves, some of them are free. And want to know what they are to do. Do they need to change any of these in order to serve God? 

The answer is no, verse 19, “For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.”  In Paul’s letter to Galatians we read a similar verse with a different ending that might help us understand what he is getting at. In chapter 5:6 he says, “6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” 

In other words, none of this needs to change in order for you to serve God. Whatever situation you are in, you are able to follow Christ and obey Him. You are able to keep his commandments and exercise faith working through love.

Before I go any further on this, I thought it would best for you all to see how much I struggled with this for years. After I graduated college, I began seminary and a pastoral apprenticeship, and it was great. I was learning and growing, being discipled and trained. After the first year, a few of my friends who were doing this with me started to get jobs. They became teachers and pastors, which is what I desired to do. And I was happy for them, and was content in knowing that one day I’ll be able to do this. Well, the second year came and went, and the same thing happened. More of my friends and classmates, and now even those younger were taking jobs. It was at this point I began to really struggle with contentment. I asked myself why I had to keep waiting while, in my eyes “everyone”, is taking these positions.

Well, the third year came and went, and the same thing happened again. At this point I had become frustrated, bitter, and altogether discontent. I remember being driving in my car one day somewhere between year 2-3 and being so frustrated about being where I was. I wanted to do things for God, isn’t that why I was being trained?

I remember in May of 2023, I was working multiple odd jobs, and Shelby and I were not sure where we were going to go. We didn’t sense the Lord leading us anywhere yet, and so we signed a year lease on our apartment. Just a month later, God began to stir in us a desire to move to Glasgow to plant a church, I talked to my pastors in Jackson, I talked to Jordan at Coral Hill, and within 3-4 months we were confident in the fact that we were going to move here to plant. The problem is, I had to sit and wait 8 more months until our lease ran out and Shelby’s teaching semester ended.

I have no doubt that the Lord brought all of that about in the way that He did, so that I was forced to learn contentment. I needed to stop looking ahead and think of what I will do for God, and start doing it now. And thankfully, by His grace, those 8 months were a sweet, but hard, time of beginning to learn what that contentment looks like.

The reason I share that is because I don’t want you to do the same thing. Don’t say, “Well, I’ll serve God when this happens, or this circumstance changes, or when this gets easier, or when I’m in this place” or whatever. God has you where you are right now, for a purpose. And that purpose is that you would serve Him faithfully. No circumstance in your life needs to change in order for you to begin to serve him. You can obey Him and exercise faith in all circumstances.

There is a lie that we so often believe in things like this. We think we have to fix everything and make our situation such that we can start living and serving. My encouragement to you is to stop fixing, and start living and serving. 

Married or single, employed or not employed, enjoying your job or hating your job, sick or healthy, poor or rich, you can serve God. How can a man who has been wrongly imprisoned for his faith be at peace with his imprisonment? Because he knows that whatever his circumstance, he can serve his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He can obey Him and He can exercise faith. What greater thing can we do that this?

And I want to say that I know this is easier said than done. Let’s say you have a chronic illness and are very limited in what you can do. Or maybe you are taking care of an aging parent, and it consumes so much of your time. Whatever your situation is, you can please God where you are right now. He knows, He understands, and He has not called you to change everything about your circumstance in order to please Him. He has called you to obedience and faith, both of which you can do, and He delights in you when you do this. Maybe one day you will cure of the illness, or the obligation of caring for your parent ends, and you are able to do different things. But even if it doesn’t, you can serve God now. And being limited, in no way, causes God to see your obedience and faith as less than. 

Okay, so we know our circumstances do not have to change in order for us to serve God. Next, Paul says that…

3.) You are free to change what God grants you the ability to change (v.21)

Now you might be thinking, “didn’t he just say that nothing has to change for us to serve God.” I did. But at the same time, we are free to change what God allows for us to change. In other words, we are free to serve God in our current situation, or if we can change, we are free to serve Him there as well.

Paul gives us an example of what he means in verse 21. He says, “Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)” In this time, slavery was commonplace. And as the Gospel went out, slaves were hearing the Gospel, and were placing their faith in Christ. Some of them were unable to attain freedom, which is why Paul made the previous point, that even if they are unable to change their circumstances, they can still serve God where they are.

However, Paul makes it clear that he is not saying that staying a slave is required. If a slave is able to gain their freedom, they should do so. They don’t have to remain as they are, they can change their situation. He’ll go on to make this same point about marriage. He will say, you can serve God while unmarried, but if you desire marriage, that is good too and you are free to be married and serve God.

This is a very freeing truth. Christians are free to take promotions, remove themselves from bad situations, and pursue better things. God has not called you to remain as you are, necessarily. Now, that last word, necessarily, is an important one. There are times where God does not afford us the ability to change situations. For example, a married couple is not free to divorce one another without biblical grounds. Or maybe, like me, God kept me where I was so that I would learn to serve Him and be content.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a job and it’s not going great. You are underpaid, your boss treats you poorly, and it’s beginning to take a toll on you. So, you ask God, “What am I to do? Do you want me to stay here and try to serve you? Or will you provide for me another job?”  Then, you do some job searching and you find another job, or someone contacts you about a job, or something like that. You are free to do that. God doesn’t require of you that you stay where you are, and if He has begun to provide for you a new opportunity, you can pursue it and serve Him there.

But what about if can’t find something else. You start doing some job searching and its closed door after closed door. You know that are to serve God where you are, but how can you have joy in this kind of situation? How can you live well? The last point…

4.) You must remember who you are in Christ (vv.22-23)

Look with me the last 2 verses here. Starting in verse 22 Paul says, “22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.”

If you can’t change your situation. If your job is terrible, but you can’t find another one. If you are sick, caring for someone who is sick, or even if you are imprisoned, there is a way to find joy in your service. The way you find joy is that you remember who you are in Christ. You were bought with a price, the greatest price of all, Jesus Christ. Paul says, if you are a slave and can’t gain freedom, remember that you are free in Christ. If you are a free, remember that you are a servant to Christ.

In other words, no matter what your physical, or emotional, circumstances say, there is a greater spiritual reality that is true. And listen, the world is going to lie to you about this. Paul knows this and that is why he says in verse 23, “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.” Remember, he has just said that regardless of our earthly standing, we are either free or a servant to Christ. And now he says, since you are either free or a servant Christ, don’t subject yourself back to the men of the world.

Put simply, don’t listen to who the world tells you that you are. They are wrong. They see you, ole stump on a log, working a 9-5, raising your children, and going to church. And it might feel, according to the world’s standards, that what you are doing is insignificant. But God’s Word tells us, remember who you are! You were bought with a price, don’t subject yourself to the world’s standards. Don’t become a bondservant of men. 

But instead, verse 24, “in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” There it is. Remain with God, abide in Him, and serve Him. If you spend your days doing this, and remembering who you are in Christ, you will have joy. You will have hardships and sufferings, but you will have joy. 

There is a text in Ecclesiastes that I think is particularly fitting here. It is Ecclesiastes 5:18-20. It says this, “18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”

God will keep us occupied with joy in our heart. How? Because we know that we are His. Church, you are forgiven, cherished, and kept people. God loves you and delight in you, because Christ died for you. You were bought by Him. His Spirit, that lives in you, will empower you to serve and obey Him, not matter your circumstance. Cast your mind on Him, and dwell on how what is true of Jesus, is now true of you because you are His. In this, we can live the life that God has called us to live. A life of obedience, of service, and of true joy. As the great hymn, “It Is Well” says, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”

https://releaseinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/PoF-profile-Zhang-Shaojie.pdf

https://www.churchinchains.ie/prisoner-profiles/zhang-shaojie-2/