All Things to All Men

This is Part 1 of 2 of Lesson 2: All Things to All Men: Paul Preaches to the World. Click here to go to the introduction of this week’s lesson.

“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22, NKJV).

Paul was a master evangelist – we can all celebrate that. But what does the first part of his statement really mean? Did he meld himself into his environment like some spiritual chameleon?

I don’t think it was quite like that. Paul wouldn’t sacrifice principle. But on the other hand he knew that to communicate the gospel effectively it was important to concentrate on the things that you have in common with people. Hitting them straight up with confrontation would close doors unneccesarily.

Ellen White says that Paul:

…sought to meet the varied classes on their own ground. He avoided making prominent the difference between himself and them.

And further, that where there were differences in terms of intelligence or spiritual maturity, she adds that:

He did not display his superior knowledge, and show contempt for their ignorance; but he placed himself as nearly as possible on a level with them, manifesting for them true sympathy and love, and leading them to nobler and more elevated views. He says, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” By cheerful, patient kindness and Christian courtesy, he won the hearts of the people, quieted their prejudices, and endeavored to teach them the truth without exciting their combativeness. {LP 162.1}

This was not about following people ‘down’ into their sinful practices to gain credibility. It was about minimising ‘non spiritual’ differences that could potentially be relational barriers that would get in the way of people listening to what he had to tell them about the gospel. Things that could potentially divide, like having different cultural and educational backgrounds, being from a different occupation etc.

I don’t think that Paul’s reference to ‘all means’ is the same as the pragmatic principle of ‘the end justifies the means’. Jesus doesn’t want us to cross certain boundaries in our well meaning attempts to bring people to Christ. To explore this, it’s useful to see Paul’s saying above in it’s full context. The New Living Translation captures the essence well in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22:

When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. But I do not discard the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.

Even in this paraphrase, the concept of not discarding the law of God in our dealings with the world comes out clearly. The ‘all means’ really relates to finding ‘common ground’, and using different approaches to ‘gain their confidence and bring them to Christ’.

God’s workmen must have breadth of character. They must not be men of one idea, stereotyped in their manner of working. They must be able to vary their efforts, to meet the needs of the people under different circumstances and conditions. God would have his servants, young and old, continually improving, learning better how to minister to the wants of all. {RH, November 25, 1890 par. 6}

So what can we take from all of this?

For me, I think it means that while we don’t compromise the truth, we don’t go ‘guns blazing’ into situations. We can’t think that being right in our content is enough – we have to be considerate to the sensitivities of those we’re preaching to.

I think it can be hard to try and share Jesus with those who are very different to us. I think the temptation can be to go over the top to fit in – to avoid looking like a religious nut and to implicitly condone bad actions. I know I can fall into this trap. The other extreme would be to coldly view people as responsible for any bad predicament they find themselves in, and not have the appropriate sympathy for their situation and why they are what they are.

I also like Ellen White’s thoughts that those in evangelism (and that should be all of us) should never stagnate – we should always be looking for better ways to minister to those around us. And this means we should be taking in to consideration the ever-changing aspects of the societies that we live and work in.

For instance we have to take into account the particular mindset of the baby boomers as they approach retirement. What things do they find important – and how does the message of Jesus meet their needs.

Similarly with the younger generations, their method of communicating has changed so much with technology … now even email is ‘old hat’ to them, it’s now ‘instant messaging’ and ‘texting’. How can we present the relevance of the gospel to this generation that has so much information at their fingertips?

How about you? What do you take from Paul’s advice? Do you think anything he says could change the way you operate in the various social groups you participate in?

As always, we welcome your thoughts on the topics above.

When you’re ready – click on the following link to go to our final part of the lesson this week – looking at Paul’s methods of presenting the good news: More Than One Way.