I hear a great deal of discussion surrounding the practice of "contextualization" - that is, the practice of taking the Gospel and making it more palatable to the unregenerate culture by imitating the speech, behaviour, and clothing styles of whichever American subculture one happens to be speaking to. Proponents of this practice oft-times point to 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 as the Biblical mandate for their cultural adaptation.
Here is the passage itself:
"Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
At first glance the text used looks like an open-and-shut case, an easy and true proof-text for becoming a yuppie to the yuppies, a punk to the punks, a high schooler to the high schoolers, a geek to the geeks, and so on and so forth. However, it is not proper to base one's entire philosophy of ministry on such a small portion of Scripture with no reference to the surrounding parts thereof. Indeed, by a consideration of the surrounding framework -the context, if you will - of this slice of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we shall discover a meaning much different than that which is commonly preached.
For the sake of brevity, I'll just paint this with broad brush-strokes. The church at Corinth had a lot of problems at the time of Paul's penning this letter, one of which was an abuse of Christian liberty to eat, drink, and to partake in all things about which there is no clear command in Scripture, often to the detriment of the conscience of others and the testimony of the church itself. Christian liberty is the general subject of chapters 8-10, and 9:14-23 deals specifically with the apostle's own right to receive money for his preaching of the gospel. Immediately before the oft-quoted passage above, we read, "18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more." Being "slave to all" here speaks not of an active attempt to assimilate the culture around him, but rather of giving up his individual rights for the sake of the gospel. Paul was not trying to convince the Corinthians to wear the culture as a passport into their hearts; he was rebuking them for eating and drinking food sacrificed to idols at feasts dedicated to idols. Far from totally avoiding culture, the Corinthians doing all the things that contextualization junkies would tell them to do. Thus does the apostle write, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor."1 Cor 10:23-24
The section concerning Christian liberty is summed up 10:31-33: "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved." Here Paul's definition of "all things to all men" is confirmed, and the arguments of contextualizers are exploded. Indeed, the apostle clarifies "Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God" with his own example, summed up in the words "just as I also please all men in all things." Does any further argument need be made beyond the text itself?
The apostle Paul did not send Timothy out to find out what all the cool kids were wearing and saying so that he too could learn to look and talk like them. Rather, he did his best to avoid giving offense to any man for fear of hindering the progress of the gospel through his lack of sensitivity. He did not invite Jews over for a pig roast, nor did he make scruples about what he ate when with a Greek. And that is what we're commanded to do: rather than expend our efforts adapting to the cutting edge of culture, we should preach the Gospel humbly and live so as to give no offense, commending the good news of Jesus to everyone we meet. Let that be attractive clothing that we wear; let that be our persuasive speech. "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"
