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Transcript 141B — "To the Weak I Became Weak" [1 Cor 9:22]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Yes. Good evening. I Corinthians 9:22: "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 one." When he says that he became weak (I think we're talking about Paul), what does he mean?
HC: The question is raised concerning I Corinthians 9:22, when Paul said, "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak," what does he mean by this?
Now let's look at the context. Beginning with verse 19, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became as one under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those under the Law. To those outside the Law, I became as one outside the Law, not being without law toward God but under the Law of Christ, that I might win those outside the Law."
You see, Paul is saying that he capitalized on whatever identification he could make with those to whom he was bringing the Gospel. Paul was a Jew, first of all. And so when he talked to Jews, he emphasized the fact, "I am a Jew. I was a Pharisee. I was trained at the feet of Gamaleal." He identified with the Jews.
Now I don't know who he had in mind when he said "with the weak." Perhaps the Judaizers were the weak, or it could have been the Gentiles. But at any rate, he identified as far as he could with the Jews, without actually taking part in their sins. He said, "those under the Law, though I myself not being under the Law." He identified with them as Jews, but he did not, if they were engaging in acts that were contrary to God's Word, contrary to the Messiah, go that far.
Now by the same token, if he was preaching to the Romans, then he emphasized his Roman citizenship, because he also was a Roman citizen, in order that he might be as closely identified with them as possible. It's the same as if a pastor was brought up on a farm, and now he is preaching to a farming community. He could weave into his sermons the fact that he also was a farmer at one time, and thus develop an identification with his flock, that they might know that he could understand them in their farming problems.
CALLER: Thank you very much.
HC: You're welcome. Good night.