Evangelism Model

1 Corinthians 9

19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

In this passage, Paul is laying out the strategy for meeting people where they are in order to bring them to Christ. He places himself in the culture, not to conform to that culture, but rather to be in a position to bring people out of the culture and into Christ. He does so strategically, and he does so knowing that he will keep himself saturated with God’s Word so that he does not give in to the culture in which he is working to evangelize people to Christ. He also does not avoid the culture, because he knows that he can’t reach people for Jesus that way, either. It is a balancing act, but it is the biblical model for evangelism. I need to do a better job in following this model.