Become All Things to All Men

The first-century church at Corinth was rife with problems. At least one member was involved in heinous sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1). Believers were taking each other to court (1 Corinthians 6:1-6). There was a shocking lack of unity (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

It was to this troubled congregation that the apostle Paul declared he had “become all things to all men” so that he “might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

What exactly did he mean by this expression, and why did he write this to the Corinthians?

Corinth and the first-century world

The apostle Paul lived and worked in a pluralistic society, a melting pot of European and Near Eastern cultures. It was full of contrasts, and every city or town he visited presented new challenges as he preached the gospel.

Corinth itself was a microcosm of the Roman world. That’s because its location on the isthmus connecting the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea made it an ideal seaport. As such, Corinth experienced a continual influx of people, ideas and customs from all around the Mediterranean.

In no sphere of the Roman Empire were the contrasts more striking than with religion. In fact, because “new religions and new deities were introduced from various places” within the empire, “the [New Testament] era was a period of religious instability throughout the Greco-Roman world” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 494).

As a result of the Diaspora, or the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian captivity, religious beliefs and practices varied widely even among the Jews. These differences were reflected in the tension between religious groups, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“Become all things to all men” in practice

When Paul wrote that he had “become all things to all men,” he was describing his approach in preaching the gospel. His life had trained him for this approach—from an early age, he had been exposed to different cultures, beliefs and traditions.

Paul straddled two worlds. Although he was “of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin” (Philippians 3:5), he was born and spent time in Tarsus, an important center of “advanced Hellenic culture” (Michael Grant, Saint Paul, p. 13). He was even a Roman citizen from birth (Acts 22:28), a rarity for Jews.

Paul’s experiences enabled him to interact with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. He understood that before he could expect people to hear him out, he first needed to establish common ground with them.

Modern speakers understand this principle. In an article about persuasion, author and Harvard instructor Carmine Gallo asserts that “the fastest way to engage an audience is to make a personal connection with them” (Inc.com). This is true now, and it was true in the first century.

When we look more closely at Paul’s “sermons” in the book of Acts, we can see this approach. (This approach also accounts for some of the differences in the letters he wrote to different congregations.)

To the Jews

Luke recorded summaries of three of Paul’s public addresses (called missionary sermons by many commentators) in the book of Acts.

The first was given in Antioch in Pisidia (not the same as Antioch in Syria). Pisidian Antioch was an important commercial center as well as an important military and administrative outpost for the Romans in Asia Minor.

Paul spoke in the synagogue, tailoring his message to the Jews. He established common ground by reviewing the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, showing how much of it pointed to Jesus Christ (Acts 13:16-41).

This review of their shared history emphasized the common ground Paul had with his fellow Jews. Ironically, his message had a lot of similarities to the speech Stephen gave to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7) before he was stoned, with Paul (then referred to as Saul) consenting to his death (Acts 8:1).

To the uneducated

The second message Luke summarized was one Paul gave in Lystra, a backwater village (Acts 14:15-17). Though ruled by veterans of the Roman army and wealthy Greek merchants, the bulk of the population largely consisted of uneducated native Lycaonians.

When Paul healed a man who had never been able to walk (verse 8), the superstitious crowd ignorantly concluded he and Barnabas were gods (verses 11-12). It was all they could do to restrain the crowd from worshipping them.

The message Paul preached to this group didn’t include the history of Israel, which would have meant nothing to the Lycaonians. He also did not speak about higher Greek culture or philosophy.

Instead, he spoke about the natural world, highlighting God’s love through natural blessings. And he urged the people to “turn from these useless things to the living God” (verse 15).

To the philosophers

In stark contrast to the previous messages is the one Paul delivered at the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, in Athens. This hill was the seat of the Athenian court, which “exercised a general censorship in matters of religion and education” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 1, p. 298).

Luke wrote that Paul had already spoken in the synagogue and in the marketplace (Acts 17:17), but did not provide details on those messages. Instead, Luke wrote a synopsis of Paul’s defense before the Athenian court.

In that address Paul pointed out that the Athenians had already recognized there might be a god who remained unknown to them (verse 23). Then he launched into a discourse about the true God, who made everything and everybody (verses 24, 26).

In his message, Paul briefly quoted Greek poets (verse 28) to establish a connection. The first, Epimenides, wrote that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” The second line, “we are also His offspring,” appeared in poems by both Aratus and Cleanthes.

All things to all men

From these examples it’s clear that Paul carefully considered his audience each time he spoke. This approach, however, was not limited to his evangelistic outreach. He lived it, and he urged Christians to live it.

Paul’s statement about becoming all things to all men comes after his discussion of his role as an apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1-18). In his position, he could have insisted that the members support him financially. But instead, he considered their specific situations and attitudes and chose not to make that demand. Why? Paul did not want to “hinder the gospel of Christ” (verses 12-13).

It was in this context that Paul wrote that he had “become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (verse 22).

In this letter, however, it is evident that Paul intended the members in Corinth to live by the same maxim.

Meat offered to idols

One of the problems in the church at Corinth that required Paul’s attention was the question of eating food offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8). Some of this meat ended up for sale in the marketplace. Some members thought it was a sin to eat this meat, viewing it as spiritually contaminated.

Paul explained there was no real significance to meat that had been offered to idols because the idols were not truly gods (verses 4-6). However, there was another issue at stake. Some members did not understand as Paul did, and they still struggled with the issue. They viewed eating such food as wrong.

For those members, eating that meat would have been sin because it compromised their conscience (Romans 14:23). Seeing another member of the congregation eat that meat would have troubled these “weak” members and defiled their conscience (verse 7; see our article about “Romans 14” that also addresses 1 Corinthians 8).

Of course, Paul didn’t sin or encourage anyone else to sin in order to be accepted by others. He stressed the importance of God’s commandments (1 Corinthians 7:19). (To learn more about what Paul actually meant by being under the law, see “Law and Grace: Jesus vs. Paul?”)

Paul was urging the Corinthians to refrain from putting stumbling blocks (verse 9) before their brothers and sisters in Christ.

A troubled church

The church at Corinth desperately needed to adopt this attitude. The congregation was deeply divided over leadership and other issues. Members were taking each other to court rather than striving to understand one another.

It’s no surprise, then, that Paul’s words are recorded in a letter to this troubled congregation. They needed it, and so do we.

This concept of becoming all things to all men is an enduring one. It was essential for the spread of the gospel in the first century, and it is essential for the modern Church.

Becoming all things to all men today

What about you personally? Is Paul’s approach to life relevant to you in yours?

It is. Our world today is also deeply troubled, and it is deeply divided. Following Paul’s example of becoming all things to all men will help you connect with other people.

This approach boils down to our willingness to look through the eyes of other people. We must consider their needs, their fears, their hopes and their level of understanding.

That means listening to them and learning about them, not just putting forward our ideas and plans. Most importantly, it means loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.