How far do we go in becoming like another to win them?  How many rights are we willing to surrender?  And when does our giving up our rights become a stumbling block?

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people 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” (1 Cor 9:19-23). 

Paul’s desire is that he will do whatever it takes to not cause a stumbling block for the gospel.  He has the right to receive money from the Corinthians, but he will give up that right so as not to fall under accusation of preaching the gospel for money.  On the issue of meat sacrificed to idols, he would forgo eating meat if it caused a seeker or new believer to stumble in their faith and destroy them.  Whatever was the case, he was willing to deny a right for the sake of the gospel.

But how far should someone take this?  How far did Paul take this?  Because it does have some modern day application.

Let’s consider the example of circumcision as it was the controversial matter of Paul’s day.  After Paul left Galatia, Judaizers came in after him and were preaching a Jesus + gospel.  You need Jesus + circumcision which was a sign of the Law.

One might think, that according to his teachings of becoming like all men to all people, he would encourage circumcision to reach the Jews.  After all, it was a stumbling block to them.

Paul forcefully spoke against this.

The issue was for the Jews, they were connecting circumcision with salvation by works.  In this case, to be circumcised would have harmed their faith.  It would have confused people’s understanding of salvation by grace or by law.  He was adamant against it we have a whole letter written by Paul to put down this false belief.  It is the book of Galatians.

“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal 5:2-4).

 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Gal 5:12).

“Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.  Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (Gal 6:12-15).

It was some of Paul’s strongest words. You are following a false gospel if you are circumcised for the sake of a false belief of salvation through works of the Law.

But then we see something that seems, at first glance, to go against Paul’s own words.  He had Timothy circumcised because of the Jews.

“Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.  The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.  Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers” (Acts 16:1-5). 

Wait…what?  Had they not just finished the church council?

In the chapter before in Acts 15, they had just been discussing circumcision as it was a huge issue.  Agitators had come into the church and were saying,

“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1).

It was the central issue of the council.  Did Gentiles need to be circumcised to be saved?  How much of the Law did they need to follow?

Note, this was about salvation issues.  The consensus was that they did not need to be circumcised.

But then the very next chapter, we see Paul having Timothy circumcised?  Why?

The difference was that having Timothy circumcised was about getting an open door for the preaching of the gospel.  Timothy was half Greek, half Jewish.  This was bad enough as people weren’t supposed to mix like that.  Since they knew he was partly Jewish, having him circumcised would open the door for him for the preaching of the gospel.

In this context, it was not about the issue of salvation.  It was the matter of an open door for the gospel.  In that case, Timothy surrendered his right to be uncircumcised, he endured the horrific ordeal of adult circumcision, in order that he might have the ability to preach the gospel without hindrance.

It was a very different context.

The same principles apply today.  If it is a matter of salvation, we do not bend.  But if it is a matter of an open door for the gospel, we surrender our free rights.

This brings us to one of the practices of today that is similar–the Insider Movement.  We’ll look more at this practice next.