For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22
Who among us has not wrestled with the struggle to bring people into the body of Christ? Who among us has never looked at those really successful evangelists (such as Paul) and wondered how they manage to draw so many people? If we were to look around for a bit, we could find a vast array of “systems” that have been effective for people in various times and places. Chances are we all know someone who became a Christ because of the Jule Miller filmstrips or the Back to the Bible system for personal work or the Open Bible study method, the Muscle and a Shovel book, House to House/ Heart to Heart, and the list could go on. This discussion is not so much about any of those methods per se (I find value in them all), but it is about what I am convinced is the common denominator among all successful evangelists put on display by Paul in the passage above.
Before any of the aforementioned (or those not listed) programs can be of any value to any of us, we must set our hearts on reaching the lost with the gospel by whatever legitimate means necessary. We will consider three key things from 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 that will prepare us for evangelistic success.
First, he had a singular purpose in his life, bringing lost souls to Christ. As he stated it in Romans 1:14-17, as well as 1 Corinthians 9:16, there was nothing optional about this work he was set out to do. In Romans 1:14, he referred to himself as “…a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and unwise.” In 1 Corinthians 9:16, he said that it was necessary for him to proclaim the gospel, going so far as to state that woe would be upon him if he did not. The reason was simple, only the gospel can save a lost soul (Romans 1:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). So, urgency is front and center.
Second, with such understanding in mind, Paul worked to tear down every barrier to the gospel. People have this frustrating (and self-destructive) tendency to divide people up into various arbitrary factions based on menial human distinctions. In Romans 1:14, the Greeks viewed all non-Greeks described all non-Greek peoples with the pejorative label “barbarians.” Paul tore that barrier down. In Romans 1:16, he tore down the similar pejorative the Jews used to divide themselves from the Gentiles (cf. Ephesians 2:11-18; Galatians 3:26-29).
Finally, In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, the attitudes named above lead to him giving up his prerogatives. This is the outworking of genuine, unadulterated love for the Lord and the lost. Inasmuch as we can without violating the Lord’s will, we need to meet people where they are and lovingly, patiently, and truthfully point them in the direction the Scriptures would have them go. This is not easy as we must listen to understand rather than answer, “argue” to win a soul rather than an argument, and be willing to endure the “messy” realities that are inherent to bringing the lost into the fold.
In short, Paul lived a life understanding what life is truly all about. It is all about the gospel. So, may we all follow his example in this, loving the Lord enough to love the objects of His love enough to become all things to all men that we too might win the more.