Why I'm All Things to All Men

Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 9 establishes that ministers of the gospel have a legitimate right to financial compensation from those they serve, yet Paul voluntarily surrendered that right at Corinth to remove any suspicion that his motives were financial. Tom Shrader draws out the broader principle: just as Paul became a Jew to Jews and a Gentile to Gentiles, believers are called to lay down personal rights and preferences so the messenger never becomes a hindrance to the message. The practical application lands on relational evangelism — that communicating the gospel is not merely transferring information but living distinctively enough that people around us are drawn to ask why.

“If you want to inspire a revolution, teach people their rights. If you want to inspire revival, teach them their responsibilities.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Life Management

Recorded: 2001 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 43 min

Themes: evangelism, rights, sacrifice, freedom, humility, relationships, motives, service, struggling with pride, new believer, pastor, feeling misunderstood, navigating conflict, mentor, young adult, someone afraid to share their faith

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians 9:1-23, Acts 9, Acts 18, Matthew 13:53-56, Deuteronomy 25:4, Matthew 6:26, Numbers 18, 2 Thessalonians 3:8, Galatians 6:6, 1 Timothy 5:17, Colossians 1:25, Galatians 1:15, Romans 9:3, Romans 10:1, Romans 11:14, Mark 10:44

Theological Themes: Christian liberty, apostolic authority, contextualization, sanctification, pastoral ministry, stewardship of the gospel, stumbling block, servant leadership

Full Transcript

Introduction: Freedom and Responsibility

Open your Bibles, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Paul is continuing to address and answer questions that this church has written to him, things that they are wrestling with and wondering about. They have great application for us. The last time we were together in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, Paul was talking about meat offered to idols. That topic does not come up a whole lot in discussions for us, but the principles do.

The principle was this: there was meat being offered to idols, and those who were mature in their faith were saying, "Meat is meat is meat — that is what God teaches us. It is the best meat; let us eat it." There were those who were struggling with that, immature in their faith, and so there was a conflict. Paul used the opportunity to give us some principles. Here is what he said: "Take care lest the liberty that you have becomes a stumbling block for others." And then on the whole issue of eating meat, Paul simply says, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I may not cause my brother to stumble."

Paul is saying: I have every right to do this, and I know that it is okay for me, but it is a problem for those around me. As we look at these areas of freedom, there are at least three things to remember. Number one, what is permissible for one person may not be for another. As we approach these areas of freedom, we have to use both knowledge and love.

Here is what Paul is saying: I know that it is meat, and I know it does not matter — that is what my knowledge tells me. But love tells me it is a problem for my brother, a problem for the sister, a problem for the weaker one, so I am going to yield to them. At no time do we have the right to exercise our freedom at the expense of somebody else.

Rights Versus Responsibilities

Paul continues dealing with this area of freedom and rights as he begins chapter 9. Paul is very convinced that he is free in Christ, and he loves that freedom just as much as you do, just as much as the next person. But he is saying there is something more important than our freedom, more important than our rights. As someone has said, if you want to inspire a revolution, teach people their rights; if you want to inspire revival, teach them their responsibilities.

We live in a time and in a culture that is rights-obsessed. We are continually worried about rights, and at the slightest provocation the words "meet me in court" seem to flow from people's minds. Paul is saying: I understand rights, and I know what my rights are, but there is a principle higher than that.

Paul Establishes His Apostolic Authority

Verse 1 of chapter 9: "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?" All of a sudden Paul emphasizes the singular personal pronoun. He is speaking about himself. He is saying: we know you have rights, we have talked about that, but if anyone has even more rights in a sense, it is I — I am an apostle.

The technique Paul uses, and he uses it all through this chapter, is to simply ask questions. He is not giving them necessarily new information. He is saying: you already have the information to figure this thing out, you already know this — let me just bring it together for you. These questions are in a sense rhetorical, because you already understand the answers.

So here is the question: "Am I not free?" Well, obviously he is free. And then, "Am I not an apostle?" One of the prerequisites to be an apostle was to have seen the Lord Jesus. He says, "Have I not seen the Lord?" We see that in Acts chapter 9 and several other times in the book of Acts, where Paul sees the Lord Jesus Christ. First, he has seen Christ, which is a prerequisite for an apostle. But he says: if you really want to see a validation of my apostleship, look at yourselves — you are proof of it. When I came to you, there were no Christians here, there was no church here, and now you are exhibit A.

In fact, he is so strong in making this point that in verse 2 he says, "If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal, you are the evidence, you are the stamp." They communicate the fact that this is genuine — they are the evidence of his work. When we talk about a seal in that day and age, it was something as simple as a bag or container of grain bearing a seal, and what that seal meant was that what was represented to be in that bag was indeed there. It was a sign of authority, an official representation. Remember when they placed Christ in the tomb, they sealed it with the official power signet of Rome — that was the authority of Rome declaring that the tomb was sealed, that Jesus was there, and that no one was to tamper with it.

Paul's Rights in Ministry

Now Paul moves to deal with a couple of areas where he wants them to understand that he also has rights. Verses 3 through 5: "My defense to those who examine me" — and that word "examine" is a legal term for an investigation or inquiry before a decision is made — to those who are looking at him, studying him, investigating him: "Do we not have the right to eat and drink? And do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?"

He identifies two things that are rights he has in ministry. Number one is to be compensated — to eat and drink, to be compensated for this ministry. The second right, if he chooses, is to marry and to take along a wife. The word "take along" means to carry about.

The Rights of an Apostle

Paul asks whether he and Barnabas alone have no right to refrain from working. His tongue is firmly in his cheek here. He is using sarcasm, and it really makes this passage hard to handle, because we cannot see his face and cannot get the inflection of his voice. This is about the third or fourth time in this letter that Paul uses sarcasm, and it becomes a basis for some of his teaching later on, especially in the area of tongues.

What Paul is saying is: are Barnabas and I the only two who do not have to work? He is not saying that ministry is not work. I still meet people who say to me, "You've got a great gig." They say Sunday must be hard because there are five of them, but you have Monday through Saturday to get ready for the next one. Well, there is a little more to it than that. Paul is making the point that this is a universal principle, and not just a principle for ministry.

He uses three very ordinary illustrations to prove his point: a soldier, a farmer, and a shepherd. He asks, who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? The soldier is not out fighting by day and working at night to buy his own weapons and ammunition. Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? The farmer receives the benefit of the crop as he goes along, and even one who tends a flock has the opportunity to drink the milk of that flock.

One commentator writes it this way: Paul uses ordinary analogies. No soldier has to provide his own rations — why should the soldier of Christ who wages war against evil have to do so? The man who plants a vineyard shares in the fruits — why should the man who plants a church not do so? The shepherd of the flock gets his food from the flock — why should not the Christian pastor do likewise?

What Scripture Says About Compensation

Paul goes further and says this is not merely his own view — it is a biblical principle. Moses wrote about it in Deuteronomy 25, verse 4: "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing." While that ox is threshing grain, he will stop and eat, and if that is the wage of his labor, how much more should the minister of the gospel be compensated?

Paul adds that God is not ultimately concerned about oxen in the way this passage might suggest. God is not saying it is acceptable to abuse or mistreat animals. What He is saying is that compared to you, there is no comparison. It is the same point Jesus makes in Matthew 6:26: "Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow, they do not reap, nor do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" The argument is the same: if the ox is paid for his labor, the minister should be paid for his.

Paul returns to this in verses 10 and 11: "Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in hope of sharing the crops." We, likewise, ought to be compensated. And so Paul draws the conclusion in verse 11: "If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?"

A Word on the Brothers of Jesus

Earlier in the passage, Paul asks whether he has the right to take along a wife, just as the other apostles do, just as the brothers of Jesus do, and just as Peter does. That mention of the brothers of Jesus calls for a brief pause, because it is an important point — especially for those of you who are new to East Valley Bible Church, and particularly for those raised in a Catholic background, as I was.

We were taught that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived, that she was a virgin when Jesus was born, and that she remained forever a virgin. That is the official teaching of the church. There is, however, a significant problem with that teaching: it is contrary to what Scripture says.

Turn to Matthew chapter 13, beginning at verse 53. Jesus is revisiting Nazareth. The word has spread, and He is there to teach. Verse 54 says that coming to His hometown, He began teaching in the synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" Then verse 55: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?"

Jesus had at least four brothers, named right there in the text, and sisters — plural, so at least two. What we know from this is that Mary and Joseph did not maintain a state of sexual celibacy throughout their marriage, on at least six occasions. When we are confronted with any teaching, we must take that teaching and lay it against Scripture. If the teaching is contrary to Scripture, we know one thing: the teaching is wrong.

The Right to Compensation

If we sowed spiritual things in you, isn't it too much if we reap material things from you? Every once in a while, somebody will ask why we teach chapter by chapter, verse by verse rather than doing topical studies. The argument is that topical studies would be more relevant. But here is the value of doing book studies the way we do them: if we did a topical study, we would never get to this verse. This isn't something we would typically go to, and yet it is obviously an important principle.

Here is what Paul is saying. He is saying he has every right to be compensated for what he does. Galatians 6:6 states the principle: "And let the one who has taught the word share all goods with him who teaches." First Timothy 5:17 affirms that an elder is worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. Paul is saying that if we have shared with you, ministered to you, and met your spiritual needs, you have an opportunity in turn to meet our physical and material needs.

Some churches, I think, have a different view. Their prayer for the pastor goes something like this: "God, you keep him humble, and we'll keep him poor." That is not the strategy here. When Paul mentions having the right to take along a wife, he is also implying something about the nature of proper compensation — that it ought to be a livable wage, one capable of supporting a family. The wife is an important person to the pastor and minister as he works, and compensation ought to reflect that.

Now, I recognize this is not something I would normally choose to address. You may be sitting there thinking he is raising this topic because it benefits him personally. I want you to understand: I do not take a salary from this church. This is not about me. Like Paul, I believe I have every right to, and every year at budget time I reconsider it, but I don't. I am not telling you what the text says in order to benefit myself. These are the principles, and I will say that this church has done a magnificent job of recognizing this truth and compensating the staff accordingly.

Paul's Own Practice at Corinth

Paul goes on to say, "If others share this right over you, do we not even more? Nevertheless, we do not use this right, but we endure all things that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ." Paul is saying that others are coming along and being compensated, that he has every right just as they do, but that he does not exercise it. Paul took no compensation, it appears, during his time at the church in Corinth.

The same pattern holds at Thessalonica. In 2 Thessalonians 3:8, Paul writes, "Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day, so that we might not be a burden to you." What is interesting is that while Paul did not accept money or gifts from the church at Corinth while ministering there, he was nonetheless supported by other churches.

To see this, go to Acts 18, just to the left of 1 Corinthians in your Bible. Acts 18 records Paul leaving Athens and arriving in Corinth, where he finds Priscilla and Aquila. He stays with them, according to verse 3, because they were of the same trade. He is working as a tentmaker and reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike. Paul comes to Corinth, takes no compensation, raises no money from them, and simply goes to work — teaching as time permits.

But something changes in verse 5. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the Word. I would suggest that when they came from Macedonia, they brought with them gifts from those churches that now supported Paul in his work, and so he set aside the tentmaking. That pattern is significant. Paul is going into a new city, a fresh city, likely with no believers and certainly no church. He is coming to establish one, and he does not want even the slightest suspicion that he is in it for the money, not even the slightest hint that he is trying to manipulate anyone in any way.

The Same Principle in Practice Today

My ministry through the week is something called Priority Living. It simply involves going into the marketplace at three different locations and teaching studies during the week. We come in, open it up, do the study, say goodbye, and see everyone next week. It is a little different from what we do here — generally topical studies rather than a book study, though we are doing a book study right now.

It is fascinating to watch people come in who are suspicious, who are not believers. After about five, six, or seven weeks, they will make their way to the front and ask: Where is the hook? What are you getting out of this? Does this cost something? Who is paying for all of this? When is the other shoe going to drop? The answer is that it is not going to drop. We never ask them for money and never have. Does it take money to make it work? Yes. Who supports it? Those who have been blessed by it, those who have been part of it, those who want to support it.

Compensation and the Freedom to Refuse It

Paul makes clear that those who perform sacred services are supported by the work of the temple. In the temple there were five main offerings, and in each one of them there was a benefit to the priest. Even in the burnt offering, where everything was burned, the skins were left for the priests, and they were fairly lucrative and could be traded. In the sin offering, where the fat was burned, the flesh was left. In the trespass offering, the fat again was burned and the rest was left. In the meat offering — flour and wine and oil — only a part was sacrificed, and the rest went to the priest. In the peace offering, a part was sacrificed and the rest was for the benefit of the priest.

Paul draws on all of this in his conclusion in verse 14: "So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel." Paul is saying that if God is using him to minister and communicate, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being compensated for that. The directive to the congregation is to support those who teach, but the freedom of the teacher is to say no thank you. That is the choice Paul made.

He addresses this directly in verse 15: "But I have used none of these things. I'm not writing these things that it may be done in my case." Paul is not writing back to the Corinthians so they will feel guilty and send him a check. He has made a decision — he is not in this for any sort of gain from them, and he does not want to be accused of manipulating them.

Paul's Compulsion to Preach

When Paul says he has nothing to boast of, he is not speaking of something sinful or proud. He is talking about the joy that comes from teaching, the privilege he has, the rejoicing in his calling. He says he is under compulsion — God called him to preach, and woe to him if he does not. "For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if it's against my will, I have a stewardship that's been entrusted to me." God is working, he rejoices in that, and this stewardship has been placed on him. He does not really have much of a choice — this is what God has called him to do.

He writes of this in Colossians 1:25: "of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God, bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might carry out the preaching of the word." And in Galatians 1:15, Paul writes of himself: "but when God, who set me apart even from my mother's womb, He has called me through grace." This is part of what God called Paul to do.

So what is his reward? "When I preach the gospel, I offer the gospel without charge so as not to make full use of my right." His reward is in the action itself. Paul says God will work the other things out.

Money Follows Ministry

There is a basic principle running through Paul's argument here: money follows ministry, it does not precede it. When you become an integral part of someone's life, or of what God is doing in their life, their most natural reflex is to give or to respond — usually in some material or tangible way. Paul is not out fundraising in order to do ministry. His ministry takes place, and the funds flow out of it. That was his principle.

This same principle shapes how ministry is conducted today. When someone comes in who does not know Christ, every possible hindrance should be removed. People come in suspicious, and the goal is to clear the way as much as possible. That even extends to the matter of money — if someone is a guest, there is no interest in their money, and the service will not be stopped to pursue it. God's people can be trusted. Peter called the opposite error preaching the gospel for sordid gain, and Paul speaks of hucksters trying to separate people from their cash. Paul wants none of that association.

Paul is clear with the Corinthians: he has every right to receive support from them, but he is not taking it — that is his choice. He is not in this for gain, and he will not allow the perception of financial motive to become a hindrance to the gospel.

The Overarching Principle

With that foundation laid, Paul moves to the overarching statement of the passage in verses 19 through 23, beginning: "For though I am free from all..."

he just stay home? And Spurgeon said something to the effect of, if God had painted a yellow stripe down the back of every elect person, I would just lift up shirts. But He didn't, so I preach to every man.

The Servant Heart Behind Paul's Method

Paul says, "I've made myself a slave to all men, that I might win more." He is speaking of his rights. He submits his rights to all men because his object is to win more. Now, Paul wrote the book of Romans. Paul wrote the book of Ephesians. Paul understands that salvation is from the Lord. He understands that there is nothing we can do to win a soul.

I was in a church a while ago, and the man up front — I happened to be a guest, so I try to honor whatever time they give me — this man, if he said "soul-winning church" once, he must have said it 500 times. In a somewhat fleshly move, I was able to point out in a message that no one can win a soul. God wins souls. All we do is proclaim the gospel.

Paul is not insinuating here that he is going to win anyone to Christ. What he is trying to say is, I want to provide God as pure a vessel as I can so He might work through me and some might be won.

To the Jews, Paul Became a Jew

Paul says, "To the Jews I became a Jew, that I might win Jews, and to those under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I may win those that are under the law." Paul says he is a servant. He has the principle down that Jesus laid out in Mark chapter 10, verse 44: "Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all." He said, I am a slave of all men.

He speaks first to the Jew because there is a special place in Paul's heart for his countrymen. He says in Romans 10:1, "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is for the Jews and for their salvation." And in Romans 11:14, "If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them."

How strong is his commitment and his love and his desire for the Jews? Romans 9:3 — "For I could wish myself accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh, the Jews." That is the depth of Paul's heart for his people.

Paul said, I understand that Christ fulfilled the law and these ceremonies and rituals hold no power for me anymore. But in every instance, Paul said, if I am with the Jews and they have a tradition, and following that tradition will keep the doors of communication open, then I am there. He will not violate his own conscience, and he will not violate God's law, but he will remove every unnecessary obstacle.

If I am with the Jews and we are at a restaurant, I am not ordering ham and eggs. But if I am with the Gentiles, I am going to say, "Bring ketchup with it," and I am going to rejoice in that — because for me, it is not a moral issue.

All Things to All Men — Without Compromising the Message

The same principle is true of the Gentiles. Paul says, "To those who are without the law, I will live as without the law, although not being without the law, but under the law of Christ, that I may win those that are without the law." And then: "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men that by all means some may be saved."

We need to spend a moment on this, especially in the climate we live in. Paul is not saying, nor do I take the message and change the message. Paul is saying, if you are offended by the message itself, there is not much he can do about that. If you find the gospel offensive, there is not much he can do to help you in that area. When it comes to biblical standards, church discipline, and all those areas, he says there is no flexibility there.

When Paul says he becomes all things to all people, he is not saying he gives up the truth. What he is saying is, I understand the message and I cannot compromise the message, but I want to do everything to make sure the messenger does not negate the message.

The Messenger Must Not Negate the Message

When I started teaching about fifteen years ago, I found myself on more occasions than I would like to acknowledge being so offensive in my presentation and illustration that people were rejecting the message because they could not get past the messenger. I did a lesson one night at a church in the East Valley, and I took one of these television preachers and spent 45 minutes burying this man — just obliterating him.

When I was done, a man came up and said, "What was the point of all that?" I said, "What do you mean? It's true." He said, "It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. It had nothing to do with what you were talking about. And from where I was sitting, it sounded very arrogant and very cocky. I have to be honest with you — I never heard one thing you said."

I drove home crying and said, "God, he's right." I told the truth, yes. But sometimes those of us in ministry can get in there and be so concerned about the truth that we forget the love part of it. The point is to communicate. The point is to transfer the information — the message of the hope we find in the gospel of Christ, the hope we find in the cross, and the fact that we find it there and nowhere else.

Paul was saying to me: you have to take those obstacles and remove them. There are people out there who cannot even get the opportunity to reject the message because they have so thoroughly rejected the messenger — and rightly so.

Why Paul Still Preaches to Every Man

Paul does not think he is going to win people on his own. He knows that there is not one person who will come to Christ that God has not first chosen. But he does not know who they are. One time someone asked Spurgeon — who obviously adhered to the doctrines of Calvinism; in fact, he called Calvinism nothing but a nickname for Christianity — they asked him, if he believed all this, why didn't he just stay home? And Spurgeon said something to the effect of, if God had painted a yellow stripe down the back of every elect person, I would just lift up shirts. But He didn't, so I preach to every man.

Being All Things to All People

Why would Paul not just preach to those who were chosen? One preacher answered it this way: if the chosen had a yellow stripe down their back, he would walk down the street, lift up people's shirts, and preach only to those who had a yellow stripe. But he said, "I don't know who they are." That is exactly what Paul is saying. He does not know, and none of us are very good at guessing who God is going to save.

You notice that in your own life. There are people you think are so close — just one more conversation, one more resource, and they will be there. And yet they never come. They remain lukewarm. Then there are others who seem the least likely candidates, people you would never have expected anything from.

That was the case for Tom himself. In the office where he worked, a Bible study was going on, and finally one day, out of desperation, he asked one of the men if he could attend. The reply was, "Well, it's for anybody." The message underneath that answer was clear: it had never occurred to that man to invite Tom, because it had never occurred to him that God would even bother saving someone like that. We simply are not good at predicting whom God will reach.

The Heart of Paul's Approach

So here is what Paul said: to the Jew, I am a Jew; to the Gentile, I am a Gentile; to the weak, I am weak — because God might use me as He saves some of them. Consider the privilege in that. God might use any one of us as an instrument in someone else's salvation. Because of that, Paul says he does all things for the sake of the gospel. That is everything.

Applying This to Our Lives

The "so what" of this passage touches a variety of areas. We have already discussed the matter of compensation and supporting those who labor for the gospel. But this is also a message to personalize in your own sphere of evangelism and your own understanding of missions. You are a missionary. Tomorrow you are going to your mission field — whether that is Intel, Motorola, a school, or anywhere else.

For the students in particular, this passage is not saying to go ahead and sin alongside everyone else on the grounds that otherwise you will never have a chance to share the gospel. That is not what Paul is saying at all. The message to students, and to all of us as adults, is the same: go and be salt and light. Relate to the people around you.

One of the things that will attract those around you is your distinctiveness. If you are acting exactly like every other student, why would you have any platform to tell them you have something they need? There ought to be something noticeably different about you. In the Old Testament, the people of God dressed differently, plowed their fields differently, and ate differently, so that the moment you looked at them, you knew — that is a Jew.

The principle, carried forward into the New Testament, is not necessarily about distinctive dress or diet or farming, but about a distinctive essence of who we are. People look at us and recognize something different. Jesus said it this way: they see your light and your good works in such a way that, as they see it, they glorify your Father who is in heaven. That is how we are to live.

In the World but Not of It

This is the old tension of being in the world but not of the world, and it is a genuinely difficult one to hold. But this is where we live. The moment we move away from this balance, we begin isolating ourselves. You have an extraordinary privilege — to be the vehicle God uses to share the gospel. And to do that, Paul is saying it did not matter what it took. He would set his rights aside, because all he cared about was whether you knew Jesus.

Relationship as the Vehicle

All of this implies relationship. If Paul is with a Jew and becomes a Jew, if he is with a Gentile and becomes a Gentile, that must mean relationship is at work. Someone this week made a comment in a business context about a presentation, comparing it to teaching or communication in general — as if the two were the same kind of thing. But they are not. Evangelism is not merely the communication of information.

If Paul teaches anything in this passage, it is that. It is not simply about delivering a message. It is about a relationship through which that message is communicated. That is why it matters how we live. That is why it matters that Paul was a Jew with the Jews and a Gentile with the Gentiles. This message comes through the person of a messenger who needs to have a heart yielded before God. That is the "so what" of everything we have looked at in this passage.

Father, will You do that in our lives? Let us be messengers who in no way hinder the message. What an honor, God, to think that You might use us to save the people around us — the men at the office, the kids at school, someone at the gym. Thank You for that. Let us be vessels You use. We ask it in Christ's name, amen.