all things to all people

1 Corinthians 9:23 I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.

I'm afraid too few of us do this.

Remember Paul wrote this in a VERY socially stratified world. Jews did NOT mingle with Gentiles. NOBODY mingled with slaves. The wealthy had nothing to do with the poor. The educated didn't mingle with the ignorant. The aristocrats had little to do with anybody.

Paul seems to have moved among people easily. I think a great portion of why is because he chose to.

We live in a world that's pretty stratified. We tend to hang with people like ourselves. We don't move outside of our group.

But Paul tells us that we need to cross cultural, racial, ethnic, political, educations, social, generational, & economic lines & build connections with ALL people around us.

Why?

Because most of them are going slam to hell...

...and we may be the very person who points them in the direction that finally leads them to Jesus.

Where would you & I be if the person(s) who influenced us to connect to Jesus had decided it was too much out of the box for them?

Right, we'd be on the slippery slope to hell.

WE are that person for many of the people around us.

Care...

...connect...

...share Jesus in the greatest form of evangelism - friendships.