All Things to All People

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Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Devotion:

            Today’s scripture we can read without really taking it in. We say to ourselves, that is what Paul had to do. We can just remain as we are. No real change is needed. I want to challenge us today to read and apply these words to our own lives. There is a real need in the world today to see the Christian faith as applicable to our world and all the pain and loss we see around us. This is what Paul is talking about in these words written some 2,000 years ago.

            Examine with me these words closely. First, Paul states that he has become the servant of all. The church today too often assumes a position of authority over the world. We try to tell the world what it can and cannot do. Paul is writing here that we are not to be masters of the world but its servants. What would that look like if the church were to serve our world as ambassadors of Christ to a lost and hurting generation? I dare say the impact would stun the watching world who sees the church as a source of oppression.

            Paul then says he became a Jew to win Jews, a gentile to win gentiles, he became weak to save the weak, and he did all this to for the sake of the gospel he had been entrusted to proclaim. How many in the church today would associate with people who are not like them in order to win them to Christ? This country and this world in general have become so divided that many of us do not even know anyone who is different from them in any material way. What would it mean for those of us who proclaim our faith in Jesus to know and to love someone who not like us? I think that it would set the world on fire for the Lord.

Prayer:

            Lord open our eyes to see the world in all its brokenness and pain. May we be witnesses for Jesus wherever we find ourselves. Help us, Lord, to minister the love and healing to this world. May we be faithful to proclaim your kingdom wherever we go. Teach us to become all things to all people that by all means some might be saved. Let us see ourselves as servants of yours doing the good deeds you have prepared for us to do. Amen.

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