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To this end Paul enslaved himself to all, and in this way he imitated Christ, who came to serve and to give his life for others (Mark 10:45; Phil 2:5–8).
He became all things to all men to bring salvation to all. Paul, an imitator of him [1 Cor. 11:1], … spent his life for the advantage of those he wished to win.”170 Paul follows Christ’s model of taking on the form of a servant for our sakes (Phil. 2:7; 1 Cor. 9:19).
As Carson puts it, Paul’s accommodating approach to his ministry “is not a license for unlimited flexibility.”165 Garland is equally clear:
He does not think that fundamental and distinctive demands are negotiable, depending on the circumstances.… He did not tone down his assault on idolatry to avoid offending idolaters or to curry favor with them. His accommodation has nothing to do with watering down the gospel message, soft-pedaling its ethical demands, or compromising its absolute monotheism. Paul never modified the message of Christ crucified to make it less of a scandal to Jews or less foolish to Greeks.166
Here Paul is discussing his limited accommodation in ways that would not be offensive to God but that were strategically important for bringing people into life-transforming contact with the gospel.
By becoming all things to all people Paul means that he adopted the most appropriate and effective approach for each group of people with which he worked.
1 Corinthians asserts that “lawlessness” (especially in the forms of idolatry, sexual immorality, and greed) was prevalent in Corinth, and that may also have led Paul to emphasize that the fact that he is not under the law does not mean that he participates in such “lawless” behavior. Like Paul, the Corinthians must live under Christ’s lordship.
Acts 16:1–3 and 21:20–26 are suggestive of Luke’s understanding of how Paul would become like a Jew for the sake of the Jews, even if the latter text deals with an event after Paul wrote this letter.
Paul’s ability to adapt his life and culture according to the context in which he worked would have been strategic not only for the initial communication of the gospel but also for the ability of his converts to understand what it would look like for them to become members of Christ’s body.
Paul understands that the gospel does not belong to any particular culture. As the gospel takes root among different peoples and cultures, its essence will remain the same but its “look and feel” may be somewhat different.
Paul has willingly and strategically placed himself in the role of such a slave because he sees that such an approach, though extremely difficult for him to carry out, is of strategic advantage for the gospel.
Paul’s self-description also matches that of a slave whose cultural adaptation is part of his job requirements
While Paul would not adopt the religions of those among whom he worked, he would adapt himself to his environment as much as his faith would allow, much as a slave would be expected to adjust to the cultural reality of the family they served.
The weak, mentioned in v. 22, do not represent a generally recognized group of people like the others, but evidently do represent a subgroup within the church (according to our interpretation of the previous chapter).
Although Paul is free of all and has enslaved himself to all, he knows that he will not be able to save all people, so the final clause of the verse indicates that his strategy is intended to win as many as possible.
Paul makes him a slave of all not to gain some advantage for himself but for those he would serve.
Paul adopts the position of the powerless slave to bring salvation to those he serves
The decision to become a slave for the sake of the salvation of others reflects the pattern established by Christ.134
Shockingly, even though he is not obligated to any particular person or group, he has decided to act as the slave of all of them!
For a person to become a slave was to give up their identity and experience what has been referred to as “social death.”131 Essentially “the slave serves as surrogate body for the slaveholder
I am free and belong to no one.
to be free from someone is not to belong to them
