Obligated to Everyone

“I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish…For I am unashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” - Romans 1:14 + 16

We’re living in a time that feels so divided, and I am constantly feeling pushed to pick a side; but in these verses, what stood out to me is that Paul didn’t. He said he was obligated to both. To all. The wise and the foolish. The ones who believe what he believes and the ones who don’t.

And it reminded me of something else Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “To the Jews I became like a Jew…to the weak I became weak…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” He then says, “I do this for the sake of the gospel.”

That’s the tension I keep finding myself in. Because when you stand for something, especially something important, it can feel like you’re automatically standing against someone. And once someone feels like you’re against them, it’s hard for them to hear anything else.

But here’s the hard part…even as I fight for what’s right, I can’t forget my deeper obligation - to share the gospel with everyone, regardless of if they see the world like I do or they don’t.

And that’s where it gets painful, because now we’re living in that same tension Jesus lived in.

Jesus didn’t come to overthrow oppression the way people expected. He came to teach people how to live in the middle of it. He said in Mark 12:17, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” He didn’t say that because He didn’t care. He said that because He had a bigger mission.

And if I believe that the gospel really is the power of God, that it doesn’t just make people better, it sets them free, then that has to be my top priority, my obligation.

And it’s not fair. It’s not transactional. But that’s exactly how Jesus lived. John Maxwell talks about this in his book Jesus the High Road Leadership. He says there’s the low road (you treat people worse than they treat you), the middle road (you treat people the same as they treat you), and then there’s the high road: you treat people better than they treat you…every time.

And if I want to be like Jesus, I must live like that.

Even when I see injustice. Even when I know someone is wrong. Even when I feel the fire in my chest to speak out and stand up. I’m not called to take revenge. That belongs to God.

My calling is to love. To listen. To do the right thing that’s in front of me. To go to the foolish and the wise, the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor. Not to become them, but to understand them. To serve them. And to share the gospel with them. That’s my race.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-29, “Don’t you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize…I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

I don’t want to live aimlessly.

I don’t want to just pick a side and feel self-righteous.

I want to share the gospel with whoever God puts in front of me.

Because that’s the prize: People meeting Jesus.

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” - Mark 8:36

God, would You help me and whoever is reading this live this high road You modeled so perfectly? You didn’t come swinging, You came serving. When people thought You’d free them from oppression, You taught them how to live through it. You didn’t avoid the hard places, you entered them. So help us do the same.

Help us forsake ourselves. Help us put others above ourselves even when we disagree, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we think they’re wrong. Let us remember that the greatest thing we can offer them is the gospel, Your power that brings freedom, hope, and love.

Help us have peace in this tension. Let us not run from it or numb it. Teach us to love people the way You did. Remind us that revenge isn’t ours to take. That justice is Yours. And that our obligation isn’t to win arguments, it’s to share Your love.

Let Us run this race with focus. Let us not lose sight of the prize.

Final Thought

This isn’t meant to be an excuse to avoid empathy.

Please don’t hear this and think, “I just care about Jesus,” while ignoring that people are hurting.

Caring about Jesus means caring deeply about people. Their pain. Their struggle. Their story.

If the gospel really is the power of God that brings freedom, then we’ve got to show people that freedom by how we show up for them. By how we listen. By how we carry both truth and compassion.

This isn’t about dismissing injustice.

This is about holding both conviction and compassion at the same time.

It’s not easy. It’s not clean. But it is Christlike.