Becoming All Things to All People

Philippians 2:3-7                 1 Corinthians 9:19–23                    Luke 5:29-32

Becoming All Things to All People

Two weeks ago we examined, in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul’s approach to the question of theological precision that had manifested itself in the church of God in Corinth as an attitude of moral superiority that harmed other brothers and sisters in their community. Those who were not quite as assured in their new identity in Jesus were being spiritually wounded by those who considered themselves mature. 

Now, if you remember, Paul’s solution to this dilemma was a self-sacrificial love that always seeks to build up others…a love that would even deny certain legitimate rights of believers if exercising that right would harm another believer…in their case eating meat that had been offered to idols.

Then in chapter 9:1-18, we saw that Paul speaks about things that at first seems like an interruption. Whereas in the former chapters, Paul is addressing issues in the church of God in Corinth, here he suddenly begins to speak about his own apostleship, financial support for ministers of the Gospel, and his own personal rights.

But in conclusion we saw that in these two passages, Paul is making a statement about two very different approaches to the Christian life. One which is self-centred and the other which is other-person-centred. We also noted that it is important to grasp that the self-centred person may be perfectly right…and consequently they justify their actions even though the upholding of their rights damages or destroys other believers.

But in stark contrast, Paul deliberately chooses to live an other-person-centred life by forfeiting his legitimate rights for the sake of others. 

Now, Paul moves on from a surrender of perceived rights for the sake of loving others to a spiritual flexibility for the sake of serving others. “Though I am free from all,” he says, “I have made myself a servant to all.”

And this statement captures the entire logic of Christian mission.

Paul is free. Yet he voluntarily embraces servanthood. The language here is deeply significant. Paul does not say he was forced into servitude. He deliberately chooses it. His slavery is voluntary, shaped by love for God and others and governed by the gospel of Jesus.

This stands in stark contrast to the Corinthian culture and dare I say modern evangelical culture.

Corinth prized individuality…they prized social advancement, public honour, rhetorical brilliance, and visible status. Those who were free sought recognition. Patrons sought influence. Philosophers sought to make pupils in their own image. Public life revolved around prestige and social positioning and therefore the urge to exercise freedom regardless of its effect on others was viewed as normal.

Yet Paul, though truly free, deliberately descends the social ladder.

Why? Well, his answer is simple. “To win as many as possible.” This language of “winning” is important. Paul does not speak as a leader gathering admirers or clients. He speaks as a servant seeking the salvation and restoration of others.

Thus he adapts himself to different socio-economic groups and different ethnic and cultural groups. “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.” Now of course, Paul does not mean that he abandoned his identity whenever convenient. Nor is he pretending to be something he is not. Rather, he willingly accommodates himself to the customs and sensitivities of those among whom he ministers.

This explains why Paul could participate in Jewish customs when among Jews. For example, he circumcised Timothy for pastoral reasons. Remember Timothy’s mother was Jewish and therefore if he was circumcised so as not to be a stumbling block to the Jews to whom he ministered. Paul shaved his head after fulfilling a vow and he participated in purification rites in Jerusalem. He attended synagogue gatherings and reasoned from the Jewish Scriptures…the Old Testament.

Why would Paul do this if he believed justification came through Jesus rather than the Law? Because Paul distinguished between observing the Law as cultural obligation and participating in Jewish customs for the sake of mission and fellowship.

Paul was no longer “under the Law” as the defining basis of covenant membership before God. His relationship with God was mediated through Jesus. Yet this freedom allowed him voluntarily to participate in Jewish life when love and mission required it.

This is why he continues: “To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law.”

Notice the careful balance in what he says. Paul neither rejects Jewish practice entirely nor allows it to define righteousness before God.

And then Paul turns to Gentiles: “To those outside the law I became as one outside the law.” Again, Paul immediately adds an important qualification: “Not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ.”

It is important to note at this point, that Paul is not morally lawless. He is not antinomian. His point is that his identity is no longer governed by the Mosaic covenant as an ethnic boundary marker. Instead, he lives under the lordship of Jesus…a lordship that embraces both Jew and Gentile alike.

Now, this gave Paul remarkable missionary flexibility. Among Gentiles he could eat foods not prepared according to Jewish custom. He could participate in table fellowship across ethnic boundaries. He could adapt his communication to Greek audiences, quoting Greek poets and using forms of Greek rhetoric familiar to them. But in every context the gospel itself remained unchanged.

This is an important lesson for the Church. Faithfulness to Jesus does not require rigid cultural uniformity. The gospel may be communicated through different cultural forms provided…and this is important…provided the truth itself is not compromised.

Then Paul says something especially important in the context of chapters 8–9: “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.”

The weak here are more than likely the vulnerable believers Paul discussed earlier in chapter 8…those with fragile consciences, fragile self-awareness, or unstable spiritual confidence.

And please notice that Paul does not despise them, ridicule them, nor reproach them. Whereas the Corinthians viewed the weak as obstacles to enlightened freedom, Paul sees them as precious people to be won, protected, strengthened, and preserved as they were people for whom Jesus died. This reveals the pastoral heart of Christian maturity.

The strong should not bully the weak. The mature should not mock the vulnerable. The knowledgeable should not humiliate the insecure. Rather, true maturity willingly and humbly limits itself for the good of others.

Paul therefore summarizes: “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

This statement has sometimes been misunderstood. Paul is not saying that truth is relative. He is not advocating compromise. He is not adjusting the gospel to please audiences. Rather, he is removing unnecessary obstacles to the gospel.

Paul refuses to allow his personal preferences, his freedoms, customs, or his rights to become barriers that prevent others from hearing the Gospel…or indeed that prevent others from holding non-essential views that may differ from his own. This requires immense humility. It requires the death of pride. It requires the surrender of entitlement. It requires patience with people who are weaker, slower, less informed, or culturally different. It requires an ability to hold inessential or peripheral theological positions loosely. 

And at the centre of it all stands love.

Modern Christianity often asks: What are my rights? What freedoms may I exercise? What preferences should others accommodate to suit me?

But Paul asks an entirely different question: “How may I patiently and tenderly help others come to Jesus so that they might grow to stand firm in him?”

This is missionary spirituality. This is cruciform spirituality. This is Christlike spirituality.

And then, finally, Paul concludes this section with a remarkable statement: “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

The gospel is not merely Paul’s message. It is the atmosphere in which he lives. It is the very air that he breathes. The gospel governs his decisions, his freedoms, his relationships, his ministry, and even his identity. Like Jesus, Paul knew that he was not called to minister to people who believed they were morally perfect and therefore had no need for God's help or forgiveness. Like Jesus, he knew he was called to minister to people who were broken, weak, and spiritually bankrupt. 

And so, like Jesus, he too took on the form of a servant, becoming all things to all people, so that he might win the more for the Kingdom.

And this presents us with a challenge. 

Alongside the biblical lists of behaviours and lifestyles that disqualify people from entrance to the kingdom of God, in the Creeds, the Early Church gave us a list of theological essentials…truths on which we can never compromise. 

So, the question we must ask ourselves is are we willing and are we able…are we humble enough and are we spiritually mature enough to fellowship with another brother or sister in Jesus who is living according to clear biblical principles and who firmly believes every statement of faith outlined in the Creeds and yet who holds to a different theological point of view regarding nonessentials to our faith? 

Are we spiritually mature enough to become all things to all people so that by all means we might save some?

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026