“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1st Cor. 9:22)
Try to look at them as customers, but with this truth in mind, the customer in this case is never right.
To be all things to all you meet does not mean emulating them or even rejoicing in their lifestyle, it does not mean joining in their revelry or becoming their best friend, it means in part to listen as they speak and to hear what it is they have to say. In a sense, treat them as a customer that has entered into your place of business without knowing what it is you sell.
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24)
Any and every conversation can be led to the Scriptures, and thereby to the cross of Christ, that is what we sell, that is what we offer to those we meet, and in this regard to be all things to them means to hear what it is they are looking for.
Those who do not serve the Lord have only two avenues of conversation available to them, themselves and the world, specifically what is happening in their part of the world, and the right questions, after listening and engaging in the initial conversation with them, will show you where they are at in that moment.
You have then become all things to them, you are friendly.
That’s really all there is to it my friends, if you have a heart for the lost, if you have been continuously studying to show yourself approved, if you have hid His Word in your heart, the Holy Spirit will take it from there.
“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.” (1st Thess. 5:14)
Would you not use the same approach with your brothers and sisters in Christ, listening as they speak, bearing their burdens for them, encouraging them to keep moving forward on the path, to keep seeking the face of God, to fight the good fight?
Those customers that come into your shop, the lost and even the wicked, are not known as such until you begin to speak with them, and then, after a very short time, sometimes only a few sentences later, you can begin to offer them what you have been given.
“Freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8b)
The price is high, the cost is their eternal soul, and they cannot pay the price, but they can be brought to the realization that what you are offering to them has already been paid for in full, it is a free gift with no strings attached.
Everything to gain and everything to lose.
What disturbs me is how so who few profess to serve the Living God will not take upon them this most simplest of tasks, they are willing to talk about the weather, current events, even themselves and the points that these they are speaking to bring up, but they will not lead them to the living waters they themselves profess to drink from.
You know within yourself the times you should have said something, we all do, but the question is this, what are your plans for those times that will arrive in the future when that stranger begins to speak with you?
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
Preaching is not always done behind a pulpit, it is not what this world has transformed that word into, a derogatory one meant to infer shoving religion down someone’s throat. It is being all things to all men so that some might be saved, and it starts with you being friendly, but firm, it starts with you finding out what the customer thinks he wants, and then revealing to them what they need.
Those who are embarrassed about Christ will not do this, for the rest of us, Romans 1:16 is a truth.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
