ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN

1 Corinthians 8:1-9:27

Key verse 9:22

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

At this moment, the 2006 UBF World Mission Report is being held in Seoul, South Korea.  The underlying theme of the world mission report is “reaching the unreachable.”  There are many who are yet to be reached; there are many barriers and stumbling blocks to bringing the gospel to all nations, and we need to overcome them.  This is one of the main purposes of the Word Mission Report: to encourage UBF members around the world to overcome barriers and stumbling blocks hindering the gospel from being preached in all nations.  Here, the Apostle Paul teaches us how we can overcome barriers in serving the gospel of Christ.  Paul says, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”  

Part I. Build Up Love Rather Than Knowledge (8:1-13)

In chapter 8, Paul addresses one of the controversies in the church in Corinth at that time.  Look at 8:1a: “Now about food sacrificed to idols.”  In those days, it was very common that food sold in the marketplace had first been offered to an idol. Thus, the best butcher shops were all located next to idol temples.  Some Christians felt that this food was contaminated with idolatry and that to eat it would be to participate in idol worship.  Other Christians argued that idols are nothing and they had no problem eating such food.  What did Paul say?  

Look at verses 1b-3: “We know that we all possess knowledge.  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.”  

For Paul, the real problem in this debate was not who was right and who was wrong, but that the believers in Corinth had forgotten the most important thing, which is to love each other and love God.  Knowledge is useful, but there is a danger that as we acquire more knowledge we become puffed up with pride.  This is what happened to some of the believers in Corinth.  As a result, instead of loving their brothers and sisters in the Lord, they were eager to show off their knowledge and prove that they were right.  Because of this, they ended up using their knowledge to tear each other down rather than build each other up in love.  The greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor.  “The man who loves God is known by God.”  Seeking to satisfy our pride by showing off our knowledge totally defeats the purpose for knowledge, for God gives us knowledge not to tear others down, but to build them up in love.  “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  Here Paul was gently rebuking the believers in Corinth for allowing themselves to be puffed up with pride rather than building up their brothers and sisters in Christ in love.  

After reminding them that love is the most important thing, Paul addressed the specific issue of food sacrificed to idols.  Look at verse 4.  “So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.”  With this knowledge, the believers in Corinth could be free to eat meat sold in the marketplace and not worry about whether it had been offered as a sacrifice or not.  They simply had to remember that idols are nothing and that God is the only true God.  There is a Vietnamese restaurant in Azusa that I like to go to called Pho’ 777.  The food is good, the prices are reasonable, and the people who own the restaurant are nice—the only bothersome thing is that when you first enter the restaurant, you see a small altar with food and money offered on it.  At first, this made me a little uncomfortable, but when I looked at it closely, I recognized that it was made of plastic and cheap ceramic.  I could see that the altar was nothing; that it came from ignorance about who God is, and I could pray for the owners of the restaurant to be saved.  After that, I could enjoy eating there without any problem.    

Look at verses 7-8.  There were some among the believers in Corinth who found it very hard to think of idols as nothing.  This is understandable because they had become so accustomed to the idolatrous culture around them that, to them, idolatry was very real and very dangerous.  In fact, many of the believers in Corinth had probably been idol worshipers before they heard the gospel and believed.  For them, overcoming the idolatrous culture was not easy at all.  It is very likely that someone who became a Christian and refused to worship idols anymore would be persecuted by his/her friends and family.  I have a friend from Korea who was persecuted by his family severely after becoming a Christian for not bowing to an idol. According to the old Korean traditions, there are certain important days when the family should gather together and bow down to their ancestors.  After becoming a Christian, my friend went to his home on one of these days, and when he refused to bow down, his brothers beat him.  But it was not the beating that bothered him.  At that time his mother was sick, and his brothers told him that if he did not bow down, he would make his mother die.  This broke my friend’s heart, and he almost bowed down—but God strengthened him not to give in.  Several years later, many members of my friend’s family became believers, and even his mother became a powerful prayer servant.  After going through such struggles, it is understandable that some of the believers would have a hard time eating food that had been sacrificed to idols.  Yet the truth is that “food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.”  Paul knew the truth about food sacrificed to idols, but he was willing to bear with those who were uncomfortable with such food.  

Look at verses 9-13.  Let’s read these verses responsively: “9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”  

Here Paul warns the believers in Corinth who knew that idols are nothing to be careful how they used their freedom. They were free to eat food sacrificed to idols, but they also needed to think about how their actions might influence those who were weaker than them.  If a young believer saw his spiritual elders eating food sacrificed to idols, he might think that a little compromise with idolatry was O.K. Then he might sin by eating food that his conscience tells him is sinful to eat.  Or he might be tempted to compromise when his family persecutes him for not bowing down to the family idols.  Paul argues that, if this is the case, it is better for the believers in Corinth to deny their personal freedom and not eat meat at all.  

This principle can be applied in many ways today.  In America, we do not encounter idol worship very much, but there are in fact many idols, such as money, drugs, sexual immorality, and various forms of entertainment.  In helping college students to come out of this idolatrous culture, we must be careful how we use our freedom in the Lord. For example, in Christ we can be totally free from materialism and use money to buy such things as a house, a car, clothes, and furniture, as well as going out to eat—all without giving in to materialism.  This is not sin.  However, although we have such freedom, we must be careful how we exercise it, for if we look like we are enjoying all kinds of material comforts, our Bible students may not take us seriously when we encourage them to repent of their materialism.  One missionary I know prayed a lot before buying a new table for his family to eat on because he didn’t want to give a bad influence to his Bible students.  

Another example is with video games.  One of the serious problems of many college students is that they are addicted to video games.  We all know that there is nothing wrong with playing a video game every once in a while, but video games are so addictive that those who are weak can easily become tempted by the games if they play only for a short time.  Although I am free to play a video game, it may be best for me not to play at all so that when I have a Bible student who has a video game problem, I can encourage him to not play at all so that he can be free from that idol.  Of course, if you do not use your freedom, some people may misunderstand you and think that you are legalistic.  “Why are you so strict?” they might ask. “Don’t you know that in Christ we have freedom?”  “Yes, I know that, but to help those who are weak come out of this idolatrous culture, I am denying my own freedom.”  

“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”  As we grow up in Christ, we grow in the knowledge of his grace, and with this knowledge comes freedom.  Yet we must be careful how we use this knowledge. We must be careful that we do not become puffed up in knowledge, but rather we must build others up in love. 

Part II.  I Make Myself a Slave to Everyone (9:1-27)

Look at 9:1-12a.  In these verses, Paul points out that he has a right to be supported financially by the believers in Corinth since he pioneered that church and worked hard to build it up.  Even an ox is allowed to eat while it is plowing the grain—how much more are God’s servants who devote their full time to ministry?  Yet Paul’s purpose in declaring this right was not to get some financial assistance from the believers in Corinth, but to show them that he did not use this right.  Look at 12b: “But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.”  Instead of asking the church members to support him, Paul worked as a tent maker.  He was a self-supporting missionary. Why did he not use the right he had to their support?  It was because he did not want to hinder the gospel of Christ.  At first, it was necessary for Paul to be a self-supporting missionary because he was a pioneer and there were no believers yet.  But after that, he continued to support himself so that the financial issue would not hinder the gospel work in any way.  

Look at verses 15-18.  Let’s read these verses responsively: “15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprived me of this boast. 16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.”  

Paul regarded it as his privilege to not make use of his rights in preaching the gospel.  As far as preaching the gospel itself was concerned, Paul did not have a choice.  He had been commanded by Jesus to do so and his conscience would not let him neglect this ministry.  Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”  But there was one thing that he did have a choice in—he could choose to not make use of his right to be supported by the believers in Corinth. His privilege was to go beyond the call of duty in serving God.  When he gave up his rights in serving God, Paul found great joy.  It is a surprising idea that when we sacrifice more than we are required to in serving the gospel, we are happier, but this was Paul’s testimony.

Look at verse 19: “19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” Paul was a free man.  In fact, he was freer that most other men because he found true freedom in Jesus—freedom from slavery to sin and freedom from the regulations of the Law of Moses.  Yet rather than enjoying his freedom, he made himself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible to Christ.  But what does Paul mean by this?  How did he make himself a slave to everyone?  

Look at verses 20-22: “20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (thought I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”

Paul made himself a slave to everyone by denying his own personal freedom and coming down to the level of those he served. When he served Jews, he did not eat food sacrificed to idols or pork or do anything else that was against Jewish law.  Paul did this not because he was under the Law of Moses, but because he wanted to have an opportunity to preach the gospel to the Jews.  When Paul was around Gentiles, he ate pork with them even though he was a Jew and probably didn’t like the taste of it.  He did this so that there would be no barrier between him and then as he served them.  When Paul served those who were weak in faith, he bore with their weakness and denied his personal freedom and rights—if they felt that eating food sacrificed to idols was wrong, Paul did not eat such food.  Why did Paul do all this?  Look at verse 23: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”  Paul sacrificed all of his personal rights for the sake of the gospel.  From Paul, we learn that in order to reach as many people as possible with the gospel of Jesus, we must learn to be the slave of all. Rather than insisting on our rights and our way of life, we must become all things to all men.  

I can remember how my shepherd helped me when I was a young college student. At that time, I was more committed as a member of the El Camino College running team than I was to Jesus.  Yet in order to build up a closer relationship with me, my shepherd came to one of my track meets to watch me run.  I know that he does not like to run and is not interested in the sport, but he took the time to come and watch me run.   

As we pray for the 2006 Word Mission Report, we honor the sacrifices of the missionaries from around the world who have given up their freedom and rights in order to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people on earth.  Last week, Missionary Luke Lim from Uganda UBF visited this chapter and shared his mission report.  He could have enjoyed a successful career as a medical doctor and college professor in Korea, but he gave up everything to serve the poor people of Uganda.  In Uganda, his rights were not respected at all.  The police took him to the police station because he would not give them a bribe, and the workers who were helping him build a medical clinic stole the doorknobs from the building.  Missionary Luke was free to leave Uganda and go back to Korea, but he overcame this temptation.  Instead, he made himself a slave to the people of Uganda for the sake of the gospel of Jesus.  As a result, many Ugandan college students have come to salvation in Jesus.  

We should also remember our missionaries in Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, as well as those in Communist countries, such as China.  In Muslim countries, Missionaries are not even free to talk about Jesus openly. They must wear Muslim style clothes and eat Muslim food.  Why do they sacrifice so many of their rights and freedoms?  They do it for the sake of the gospel; that they might save some and share in the blessings of the gospel.  

Look at verses 24-27: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  

Paul uses the analogy of an athlete in training for the Olympic games as an example of how we should regard our lives.  Athletes go into strict training.  Although he has the right to eat whatever food he wants, an athlete denies this right and eats only healthy food. Although he has the right to relax and take it easy, he denies this right and works hard to get his body into shape.  Why does he do all this?  He does it to get the crown of victory.  If this is what athletes do for a crown that will not last, how much more should Christians make every effort to get the crown that will last forever?  In this way, Paul worked hard with all his heart to serve the gospel of Jesus and save as many people as possible by all possible means.  With the clear goal of the crown he would receive from Jesus, he disciplined himself and denied himself.  Paul’s example and words encourage us to get a totally new perspective on life.  Rather than demanding our rights for the sake of enjoying small freedoms and pleasures, we should be willing to give up our rights for the sake of building God’s kingdom, which results in a crown that lasts forever.  

In conclusion, in this passage we learn how we can serve the gospel to people from all kinds of different backgrounds. Rather than demanding our own rights, we must come down to the level of those we wish to serve.  

One word: All things to all men