All things to all people - breaking down the barriers to Jesus - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

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Paul devotes much of his first letter to the Corinthians answering questions and addressing issues that have arisen within the Corinthian church. These issues run the gambit from problems with personal morality, division in the church, suing fellow Christians in court, abuses in worship, sexual immorality, etc. It appears as if we can boil many if not all of these problems down to one root cause – a misunderstanding and misuse of Christian freedom. Thus, Christian freedom is a major theme that is scattered throughout the entire epistle. For example, in chapter 6, Paul argues that while all things are lawful (6:12) not all things are beneficial. A key principle, Paul further explains, is that the Christian’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and that therefore we are not our own – that we have been set free so that we might glorify God with our bodies (6:19-20). Similarly, chapters 7 (marital and sexual ethics) and 8 (food sacrificed to idols) also address questions regarding the proper use of Christian freedom.

As we move to chapter 9, Paul uses his own personal example to lay out his basic attitude toward Christian freedom. In a nut shell, Christian freedom does not mean that we insist on exercising our freedoms and our rights. Rather, Christian freedom means that we have been freed from the slavery to sin and selfishness and enabled to renounce the exercise of our freedoms and rights for the good of the community. So, though Paul is free with respect to all, he has made himself a slave to all that he might win them (9:19).

Paul then describes what this looks like by appealing to three different categories of people. To the Jew he became as a Jew in order to win the Jew. To those outside the law he became as one outside the law in order to win those outside the law. Finally, to the weak, he became weak, so that he might win the weak. In other words, Paul’s basic approach to Christian freedom is that his freedom enables him to do whatever is necessary to either win people to Christ (Jew and outsider) or help them to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God in Christ than they have already (weak). It is not the exercise of the individual’s freedoms and liberties in Christ that is important, but rather the benefit that comes to the kingdom because of them.

So what does this passage have to do with us?

When asked, most Christians place a high value on evangelism and conversion. Most Christians believe that it is an important Christian honor and duty to bring others to Christ. However, there is a large gap between professed belief and church or individual practice.

What is it that accounts for this gap? I believe it is not that people are not sincere in their desire for conversion; it is rather that, in general, we want evangelism and conversion to happen on our terms and in ways that make us feel comfortable. For a large majority of Christians, evangelism and conversion will happen only if it does not take us out of our comfort zone and only if it does not get us too involved in the mess and the muck of humanity and sin.

Jesus, however, became the Christ – God incarnate – precisely so that he could meet us on our terms; he did everything he could to remove the barrier between us and God so that we might enjoy a renewed relationship with God. I believe that Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 9 is that he did and would do everything in his power to remove the barriers that stood between people and a relationship with God in Christ – he would meet people on their terms so that they might experience the good news of the kingdom.

Our church vision for 2009, expressed by the elders, is to reach out to the families of the North Birmingham kids and to young adults, professionals, and families in North Shelby County. Our vision is that we would be a church that spreads the good news of the kingdom and experiences growth. In order to achieve this goal, are we willing to meet other people on their terms, and not expect them to meet Jesus and come to faith on ours? In other words, do we in our church practice, albeit unknowingly, place barriers that people find it difficult to cross to come to Jesus? If so, are we willing to break them down so that others might experience the freedom in Christ that we do? Are there things in our church practice and worship that we will have to change in order to accomplish and implement our vision, and if so, do we have the collective will to make these changes?

Let us decide as we move forward with our vision to set tradition, preference, and personal desires aside and join with Paul in becoming all things to all people for the sake of the gospel.