Missional tenet with incentive intent of and for witness study of 1 Corinthians 9:19–23

Abstract

Christ’s law of selfless and sacrificial love is the missional principle, an incentive intent not only of and for handling disputable matter, including a matter of eating the food that is offered to the idols (cf. 1 Cor 8:1–11:1) but also of and for gospel witness there and then, in the early Church and also here and now, in the recent church as it always is, given the missional history of the church. Using the grammatical-historical method of exegesis, this article is set out to highlight the significance, purpose and application of the Christ’s law of love as a missional tenet, which serves as incentive, which is an intent of and for gospel witness. Contribution: Christ’s law of love ensures a check and balance between being in the world without being of the world, to avoid compromising the gospel core message and being out of the world without being withdrawn from the world, to avoid rendering the gospel witness a zero impact within and outside a polarised multicultural faith community of South Africa and beyond.