Flashback Friday: All Things to All People?
Every Friday I dig into the archives and dust off an old post. If you haven’t read it, it’s new to you!
The Apostle Paul was rather infamous for opening up a can o’ worms. You can hardly fault him. I mean, what would you do if you were chained to an odiferous Roman guard 24/7? Talk about the weather?
Paul: So how’s the weather?
Guard: Sunny. 81 degrees. Prettiest day ever.
Paul: (sigh) I’ll take your word for it.
So Paul wrote about things that were somewhat controversial: church discipline. Women in ministry. Speaking in tongues. Grace vs. law. And we debate about tons of those things even today, whether we need to or not.
But I think one of the most overlooked opportunities for controversy lies with Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 9:22: “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”
I believe we’ve changed that verse over the years to fit our harried 21st century American lifestyle. Rather than being “all things to all people,” we’ve convinced ourselves that what the gospel calls us to is to become “everything to everybody.” A quick glance around today’s church will show you plenty of people who are trying to respond to the supposed “everything to everybody” calling…
Read the entire original post here.
