All Things To All Men

Mark Dunagan
01/09/11 - Sunday Evening

 

All Things To All Men

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became, weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).

Some have read the above passage and concluded that the church must become like the world in order to win the world to Christ, yet, it is silly to think that we can win the world by imitating worldliness. One of the handy things about Bible examples is that they help us understand Bible verses. When Paul said, ‘I have become all things to all men’, we know by Paul’s own personal example, that he was not saying that he altered the gospel message to please men or make it more acceptable to certain groups of people. Neither was Paul saying that one had to market the gospel by combining the gospel message with various amusements. This much is very clear, Paul was not people-pleaser, “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

To the Jews

Paul did not bend the message for them, rather:

• He was “Confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:22).
• “He was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death” (Acts 9:29).
• “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly” (Acts 13:46).
• “And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbath’s reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ’” (Acts 17:2-3).
• “He was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks – Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:3-4).

To Those Without Law

The designation, “those without Law” was the way the Jewish people described all non-Jews. These are people who were not under the Law of Moses, yet they were still very much under God’s law and were accountable to Him (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). When preaching to Gentile audiences, Paul did not alter the message for them either:

• “...you should turn from these vain things to the living God” (Acts 14:19).

“The fact that he was stoned and left for dead, beaten, imprisoned, and finally killed for the truth’s sake ought to demonstrate that he didn’t adapt the message to make it pleasing to his hearers”(Ashamed of the Gospel, John MacArthur, p. 91).

• “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24).
• “And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come” (Acts 24:25).

What Was Optional?

It is clear that the message was not optional, in fact, Paul noted that any adjustment to the message would ruin it (Galatians 1:6-9). “Paul did not amend or abridge his message to make people happy. He was utterly unwilling to try to remove the offense from the gospel (Galatians 5:11). He did not use methodology that catered to the lusts of his listeners. What made Paul effective was not marketing savvy, but a stubborn devotion to the truth. He was Christ’s ambassador, not His press secretary. Truth was something to be declared, not negotiated” (MacArthur, pp. 90-91).

“Though I am free from all men”: 9:19

Once again, Paul asserts the fact that he has the same rights and freedoms as all other Christians (9:1). Yet the context is all about forgoing certain freedoms and rights (9:15 “But I have used none of these things”, 9:18 “so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel”).

“Made myself a slave to all”: 9:19

Paul is not talking about his willingness to sacrifice the message, but his willingness to sacrifice himself. His desire to win souls with the gospel trumped everything else, including his own personal liberties and preferences. If giving up a certain right would give him an advantage in saving more people, then he would gladly forfeit that right. “Not that he would modify the message to suit the world, but that he would behave so that he personally would never be an obstacle to anyone’s hearing and understanding the message of Christ”(MacArthur, p. 92).

On the one hand, Christians are free (9:1; Galatians 5:1), yet this is not a freedom to selfishly do as we please (1 Peter 2:16 “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil”). Jesus has set us free so that in turn we can voluntarily make ourselves free servants. Such a picture of voluntary servitude is pictured in Exodus 21:5-6. In fact, the only way that we can truly serve people effectively is that we first must be liberated from our sins by Christ, because trying to help people while still being lost will only result in serving others for all the wrong reasons.

“That I might win the more”: 9:19

With Paul everything came down to winning people to Christ. The same theme is emphasized in the verses that follow:

• “That I might win Jews”: 9:20
• “That I might win those who are under the Law”: 9:20
• “That I might win those who are without law”: 9:21
• “That I may by all means save some”: 9:22
• “I do all things are the sake of the gospel”: 9:23

So how did Paul view his own rights and options as a human being? He viewed them as quite negotiable. “He saw his personal liberty and human rights as something to be used for God’s glory, not his own enjoyment. If he could trade his own liberty for an opportunity to proclaim the gospel and thus liberate others, he would do it gladly”(MacArthur, p. 93).

“Not being myself under the law”: 9:20

That is, under the Law of Moses. Hence anytime that we find Paul observing “Jewish things”, such as preaching in a synagogue, taking a vow, in the temple, circumcising someone and so on, is it because he is accommodating himself to Jewish ways and in no way is any of this to be taken as meaning that Paul still thought that the Law of Moses was still binding. When people tried to teach that, Paul resisted them. (Galatians 2:1-4)

“Though not being without the Law of God”: 9:21

Even though the Law of Moses is no longer operational (Hebrews 8:13), we are still under a Law from God, that is, the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6). Paul would mingle among Gentiles, eat what they ate, and interact with them, but he would not accommodate himself to their lack of morals, neither would he “party” with them. So when Paul said that he became “as a...”, this never meant that he adopted their immoral lifestyle or superstitions. Rather, he sought to fit in where he could, while at the same time being faithful to Christ.

Practical Applications

• I will go to where people are and not insist that they come to me. Paul went to the Jewish synagogue (not to worship), but rather to find an opportunity to teach (Acts 17:2). I too will seek them out: Acts 16:13
• I will initiate the conversation.
• I will be a good guest and eat what they eat.
• I will start where they are in their understanding, build on what they know: Acts 17:22-23
• I will respect their morally neutral customs; I will not be hard to please, but I will try to fit in where I can.
• I will give up my time, adjust my schedule, and fit them in at their convenience.
• I will make them a priority, they need saving far more than I need anything else.

“Save Some”: 9:22

This means far more than simply befriending them or hanging out with them, or just doing some fun stuff with them. “Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men – when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition... Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds” (C.H. Spurgeon). The goal here was not to get more friends or simply grow some religious organization with numbers, but to “save” some. This means that we are sacrificing to get the opportunity to talk to people, and this will demand sacrificing time, schedules, and all sorts of personal preferences at any given moment. Thus, like Paul, let us be less concerned about the world’s opinion of us, but rather be willing to rearrange and make the sacrifices necessary so we can share the gospel with a lost world that so desperately needs the truth!

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net