All Things to All People

Jesus Went to People

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Paul learned how to reach people by following Jesus. Jesus did not wait for people to come to Him. He went to them.

Jesus came to us. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). God came down to us in Jesus.

A Samaritan woman. Jews and Samaritans did not get along. Yet Jesus sat at a well in Samaria and asked a woman for a drink. She said, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:9).

Living water. Jesus started with something she knew, water, and used it to tell her about the living water only He could give (John 4:10, 14).

A whole town. Many Samaritans believed and said, “We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

A tax collector's party. Jesus called Levi, a tax collector, and went to a big feast at his house with many tax collectors (Luke 5:27-29). Many people hated tax collectors because so many of them cheated.

Grumbling leaders. Some leaders complained, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30).

A doctor for the sick. Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

Close, but without sin. Jesus was a friend of sinners, but He never joined in their sin. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Paul followed Jesus. That is what Paul meant by “I have become all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Like Jesus, he came close to people without letting go of God's ways.

Moved with love. When Jesus saw the crowds, “He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

What we learn. Jesus loves the people others leave out. He came close to save them, and He sends us to do the same.

What to do. Think of someone at school or church who is often left out. Ask Jesus to help you be their friend this week.

When Paul says he became all things to all men (9:19-23), he is following what Jesus did all through His ministry: crossing the lines people drew so that He could bring them to God.

Jews and Samaritans. John explains that “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). The two peoples disagreed about worship and history, and many avoided each other. Jesus went through Samaria, sat at Jacob's well and spoke with a woman alone. His disciples “marveled that He talked with a woman” (John 4:27).

Starting where she was. Jesus began with ordinary water and moved to “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). He spoke honestly about her life and then told her plainly, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26).

The woman's witness. She left her water jar and went back to her town. “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman” (John 4:39). The one Jesus reached became the one who reached others.

Levi's feast. Tax collectors worked for Rome and often took more than they should. Eating with someone meant welcoming them. At Levi's table Jesus showed the kind of welcome the Pharisees thought sinners did not deserve (Luke 5:29-30).

The Physician. Jesus' answer in Luke 5:31-32 explains His mission. He came for people who know they are sick with sin. Repentance means turning from sin to God; Jesus came close in order to call people to make that turn.

Levi's answer. When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” Levi “left all, rose up, and followed Him” (Luke 5:27-28). Jesus' welcome did not leave Levi the same. It changed his whole life.

Winning people. Paul's word “win” in 9:19-22 is kerdainō (say: ker-DYE-noh), to gain or profit, the word a merchant used for a good trade. Each person who comes to Christ is a real gain for His kingdom.

The boundary. Jesus was the friend of sinners without ever sinning (Hebrews 4:15). That is the line Paul draws in 9:21: “not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ.”

The greatest example. The Son of God became one of us in order to save us: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). No one ever came closer to people than Jesus did.

Application. Reaching people starts with seeing them the way Jesus does. Ask God for compassion for one person this week, and look for one honest conversation about what matters most.

Same Message, Many Ways

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Paul traveled to many cities. He met Jewish people, Greek thinkers, farmers, soldiers and slaves. He found ways to help each one hear about Jesus.

In the synagogue. In a Jewish meeting place, Paul started with the Old Testament Scriptures his listeners already knew. He showed them that Jesus is the Messiah God promised (Acts 17:2-3).

In Athens. Athens was full of idols. Paul found an altar marked TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. He told the people he had come to tell them about the God they did not know, the One who made everything (Acts 17:22-31).

One human family. Paul told them, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). Every person is made by God and matters to Him.

With the weak. Some believers in Corinth had tender consciences about food offered to idols. Paul said he would give up meat rather than make a brother stumble (1 Corinthians 8:13).

The same Good News. Paul changed his starting point, but never his message. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

Christ crucified. “But we preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Whoever Paul talked to, he came to Jesus and the cross.

One Lord for all. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him” (Romans 10:12). Jesus is the same Savior for every person.

Not like the world. Becoming all things to all people never means doing wrong to fit in. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Love leads the way. “Through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). Love “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Paul set aside his own way because he loved people.

Feel with people. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). A friend who cares opens the door to the gospel.

Some will be saved. Paul did it all “that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Not everyone believed, but some did, and every one of them mattered to God.

What we learn. We can change our words, our games and our plans to reach people. We never change Jesus or His Word.

What to do. Learn one thing a friend loves, like a sport or a hobby. Use it to be a good friend, and pray for a chance to tell them about Jesus.

Paul's flexibility in 9:19-23 had clear edges. He changed his customs and his starting points, but never the gospel and never God's moral will.

A servant by choice. In 9:19 Paul says he “made myself a servant to all.” The verb comes from doulos (say: DOO-loss), a slave. In Romans 1:1 Paul calls himself “a bondservant of Jesus Christ.” Because he belonged to Christ, he was free to serve everyone for Christ's sake.

Different doors. In synagogues Paul reasoned from the Hebrew Scriptures (Acts 13:16-41; 17:2-3). In Athens he began with creation and an altar to an unknown god, and he even quoted their own poets (Acts 17:22-28). Both talks ended at the same place: the risen Jesus (Acts 17:31).

Timothy and Titus. Paul had Timothy circumcised so that Jewish listeners would not be put off (Acts 16:3). But he refused to have Titus circumcised when false teachers said it was needed for salvation (Galatians 2:3-5). When a custom helped people listen, Paul kept it. When it was used to add works to grace, he refused.

The weaker brother. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul let love limit his freedom. Knowledge alone can make a person proud, but love builds others up. Paul gave up a right rather than harm a believer whose faith was tender.

The law of Christ. In 9:21 Paul says he is “under law toward Christ.” Galatians 6:2 shows what that law looks like: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ is the law of love.

Not people-pleasing. Becoming all things to all men is not the same as pleasing everyone. Paul preached “Christ crucified” even though it was “to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). He changed the wrapping, never the gift.

Not ashamed. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The power is in the message, not in the messenger's cleverness.

The edge. “And do not be conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). Paul adapted to people, never to sin. He stayed “under law toward Christ” (9:21).

Application. Ask yourself why you change around other people. Changing to help someone hear about Jesus is love. Changing so that people will like you, even when it means doing wrong, is fear of people. Ask God for the first and freedom from the second.

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