Judging by the title, I bet you think this post will make you feel guilty, don’t you?  You’re expecting me to quote a Bible passage and then tell you to get out there and save some lost people.  And then you’ll beat yourself up because you’re not even “all things” your wife or your boss or your kids need you to be.  So on top of disappointing your family, your friends and yourself, now you’re going to disappoint God by not being able to save all the nonbelievers you know.  Ok, take a deep breath and let’s continue.

Yes, Paul does write the following in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23….

“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.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”  

However, as I was reminded a few nights ago, this does not mean that it’s up to me, or you, or even your local church to single-handedly save the world.   

I recently started the novel The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy.  It’s an awesome book so far, and on page two the narrator reports the following regarding the main character:

“Most people would have forgotten the incident in question in a week’s time. But he did not.  His life had come to such a pass that he attached significance to it.  For until this moment he had lived in a state of pure possibility, not knowing what sort of a man he was or what he must do, and supposing therefore that he must be all men and do everything.  But after this morning’s incident his life took a turn in a particular direction.  Thereafter he came to see that he was not destined to do everything but only one or two things.  Lucky is the man who does not secretly believe that every possibility is open to him.”  

We can learn a lot about the call of God from this passage.  To this point in his life, the protagonist seems to have been overwhelmed by the possibilities and vastness of life, and he hasn’t intentionally engaged in any significant activities.  That could be our life situation as well if we think being “all things to all men” means we get involved in every single Bible study we hear about, every outreach ministry in the community, and generally walk around with a nagging voice in the back of our heads droning “you’re not doing enough” to save ______________. 

The context in which Paul tells the Corinthians that he has become all things to all men is paramount.  Basically, the point he’s making is that Christians should use discernment and wisdom in the ways we minister to nonbelievers (or even to each other).  For Paul, becoming all things to all men meant that in some situations he might coform to the outward behavioral standards of the Jewish law (even though he was free from the law) in order to minister to Jews.  It does not mean that he must stay up all night giving his testimony to anyone he can find, make weekly visits to every church he planted, or disciple anyone who scratches on his tent door.  If that were the case, we would have fewer books of the Bible–Paul would have been too overwhelmed to write any letters! 

So what does this mean for you?  Simply put, God calls you to be faithful, not Superman or Wonder Woman.  You’re going to disappoint people, and that’s OK.  You can’t please everyone, and that’s not what the Lord wants you to do.  He’s given us unique dispositions and individual gifts to minister in specific ways, and he’s calling us to wisely and discerningly engage (“being all things”) with the different people he puts in our paths (“to all kinds of people”).   

It’s too early in The Last Gentleman for me to predict what’s going to happen, but the event that precipitated the above quote seemed random, a chance encounter.  But for those of us who trust a sovereign God, we know there are no chance encounters.  Therefore, live freely today in the knowledge that Jesus is the only one who can be “all things to all men” in the way we tend to interpret the verse. 

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