All things to all men?

[Sharky and George]

Hi Brothers and Sisters, I want to reach some people in an area of society where things are a bit different than the norm.

At this place (I only swear here) I use swearing sometimes to be like them in the hope that I will reach them with the Gospel as I love them and want them to be saved.

 

 

 

It niggles me sometimes that I am swearing but in faith I say that Paul said:

Quote

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

20 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.

21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

 

 

 

I make sure that I never swear anywhere else e.g. especially never in church.

Brothers and Sisters please do not swear unless you are 100% sure certain with faith and wisdom with a good honest heart that it will bring people to Christ - think first about the potential negative impact it could have on the church.

 

 

 

I want to get this part of society into church and saved instead of them walking past the building whilst saying the Gospel was staged. These people are open and willing to talk about their beliefs and that can be rare in this country.

Please pray for this opportunity and give me any advice.

 

 

Bless ya!

[Guest shiloh357]

1 hour ago, Sharky and George said:

Hi Brothers and Sisters, I want to reach some people in an area of society where things are a bit different than the norm.

At this place (I only swear here) I use swearing sometimes to be like them in the hope that I will reach them with the Gospel as I love them and want them to be saved.

 

 

 

It niggles me sometimes that I am swearing but in faith I say that Paul said:

 

 

 

I make sure that I never swear anywhere else e.g. especially never in church.

Brothers and Sisters please do not swear unless you are 100% sure certain with faith and wisdom with a good honest heart that it will bring people to Christ - think first about the potential negative impact it could have on the church.

 

 

 

I want to get this part of society into church and saved instead of them walking past the building whilst saying the Gospel was staged. These people are open and willing to talk about their beliefs and that can be rare in this country.

Please pray for this opportunity and give me any advice.

 

 

Bless ya!

No, that is wrong.   Being all things to all men doesn't mean that we get down into the mud with them and behave as they do.   The verse you are quoting is in the context of preaching the Gospel.    Paul is talking about empathizing with his audience, putting himself in the position of his audience mentally and emotionally so that he can minister the Gospel in  a way that speaks to them. 

Sorry, but you are engaging in a very awful application of Scripture.   

[Debp]

I agree with our two brothers above.   One should never get into crude or immoral behavior in order to try to fit in.   Just be friendly to these people as you are led by the Lord...that is, love your neighbor as yourself.  Seeing a difference in you might be something they need to see.  Perhaps they never had good role models before.   You can ask them to church, some of them actually might want to go!

[Sharky and George]

I get your point guys, thankyou.

I am preaching the gospel to them and loving them also.

They drink and smoke drugs but I love them.

 

Thanks again,

Bless you

[John_Leung]

4 hours ago, Sharky and George said:

I get your point guys, thankyou.

I am preaching the gospel to them and loving them also.

They drink and smoke drugs but I love them.

 

Thanks again,

Bless you

May the Lord bless you greatly in this ministry and gives you sufficient grace and wisdom to reach the people.  Also, may He through the Holy Spirit kindle their hearts and open their spiritual eyes.  May the Lord also protect and guard your mind and spirit with the armor of God as you fight in this spiritual war  (Ephesians 6:10-20).  It's not easy; it takes time, patience, persistence, and as you mentioned--love.  The classic argument you may have would be that "but Jesus dined with sinners...", but we aren't Jesus, and we have limitations, have fleshly reactions, and be easily tempted.  I'll pray for you.

[Michael37]

13 hours ago, Badjao33 said:

We should live our lives in a Christlike manor at all times in order to be an example to the world. 

In a Christlike manner (although He did say there are many mansions in His Father's house. John 14:2 )

 

11 hours ago, Sharky and George said:

I get your point guys, thankyou.

I am preaching the gospel to them and loving them also.

They drink and smoke drugs but I love them.

Speaking of manners reminds me of these verses which give us a principle to follow when making decisions about who to habitually associate with. 

1Co 15:33
(33)  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
Eph 5:6-12
(6)  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
(7)  Be not you therefore partakers with them.
(8)  For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
(9)  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
(10)  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
(11)  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
(12)  For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
 

While it is the unfruitful works we are not to have fellowship with, and which we are to reprove, it is difficult to disassociate the works from the people who do them so boundaries need to be set in order to avoid giving the impression we are "partakers" or "participants" in such things.

[Billiards Ball]

20 hours ago, Sharky and George said:

Hi Brothers and Sisters, I want to reach some people in an area of society where things are a bit different than the norm.

At this place (I only swear here) I use swearing sometimes to be like them in the hope that I will reach them with the Gospel as I love them and want them to be saved.

 

 

 

It niggles me sometimes that I am swearing but in faith I say that Paul said:

 

 

 

I make sure that I never swear anywhere else e.g. especially never in church.

Brothers and Sisters please do not swear unless you are 100% sure certain with faith and wisdom with a good honest heart that it will bring people to Christ - think first about the potential negative impact it could have on the church.

 

 

 

I want to get this part of society into church and saved instead of them walking past the building whilst saying the Gospel was staged. These people are open and willing to talk about their beliefs and that can be rare in this country.

Please pray for this opportunity and give me any advice.

 

 

Bless ya!

I swear to you today that THE GOSPEL OF TRUSTING JESUS CHRIST, NOT OURSELVES, saves, and not swearing.

Indeed, by not swearing in front of friends while enjoying their company, they tend to ask "why don't you swear, too," opening another opportunity to say, "I'm different, because..."

Would you watch porn or inject heroin to be "all things to all people"? Paul wrote that he could eat meat sacrificed to idols with his "homies" because eating some food is not a sin.

I'm THRILLED you have coarse, unbelieving friends you want to reach, rather than "living" only with believers, but Proverbs says that bad company corrupts good morals, as in hang enough and you'll be tempted to swear. Hang out with these folks, but don't IMITATE them to reach them, be like them but not stained by them.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Billiards Ball

[Sharky and George]

I will not swear anymore. I understand.

 

 

I have mental health problems as previously given advice for on other posts I have done which include anxiety so please can you accept the above and leave it at that as this is hurting me.

 

 

Please forgive me.

Bless you.

[John_Leung]

7 hours ago, Sharky and George said:

I will not swear anymore. I understand.

I have mental health problems as previously given advice for on other posts I have done which include anxiety so please can you accept the above and leave it at that as this is hurting me.

Please forgive me.

Bless you.

Swearing is still one of the hardest habits for me to quit aside from being over-competitive after 12 years in Christ.  It's too easy to utter a cuss word than to stuff it or replace it with another word, even though I know not to swear or not even intend to do so.

It's a daily battle, and it's also an opportunity to improve.  Hopefully you don't feel shamed or being judged by us, and surely I wasn't doing neither.  We all have our own improvements to make and battles to fight, so we, by His love and the Spirit's help, continue to battle on with faith.

Edited August 29, 2018 by John_Leung
Added content

[JohnD]

On 8/28/2018 at 1:06 PM, Sharky and George said:

Hi Brothers and Sisters, I want to reach some people in an area of society where things are a bit different than the norm.

At this place (I only swear here) I use swearing sometimes to be like them in the hope that I will reach them with the Gospel as I love them and want them to be saved.

 

 

 

It niggles me sometimes that I am swearing but in faith I say that Paul said:

 

 

 

I make sure that I never swear anywhere else e.g. especially never in church.

Brothers and Sisters please do not swear unless you are 100% sure certain with faith and wisdom with a good honest heart that it will bring people to Christ - think first about the potential negative impact it could have on the church.

 

 

 

I want to get this part of society into church and saved instead of them walking past the building whilst saying the Gospel was staged. These people are open and willing to talk about their beliefs and that can be rare in this country.

Please pray for this opportunity and give me any advice.

 

 

Bless ya!

I've sat in many a Church where no one would dare utter a cuss word. Even the word "cuss" would cause most to gasp. I sat near many from those same Churches at football games (especially when there was bad officiating). The cussing by those gaspers from Church could clear your sinuses. 

I am a veteran sailor US Navy man. I cuss, my Dad (who was Army) cussed, most everyone I know cusses. 

Now there is nothing wrong with judicious restraint and courtesy (which everyone I know, my Dad, and I all exercise). But the phony baloney hypocrisy is for the birds. 

Speaking of which the bird is a symbol of cussing. {Gasp}

I did a study on the sources of cuss words... most started out as legitimate words turned into something noxious. Sound familiar? Like the sexual innuendos at work where stupid people play with fire that might even get them fired.

In the 1700's an acronym was created to prevent the word fornication from being used in legal circles or documents. Now the word is in the Bible. But apparently these folks were too clean skirted to soil them with words the Bible uses. And it's interesting to read in these yellowed aged legal journals the acronym they came up with: Fornication Under Carnal Knowledge. Gospel truth! 

And look at what it's become. 

{GASP}

You know, I get really tired of people making the devil laugh with such hypocrisies.  I'm sure gasp will be a cuss word someday...  Black, Indian, cripple, retarded. etc. are already under the gun in recent decades by the politically correct police (hey, don't they realize that's been the religiously correct police's job for centuries).     

And yes... I know these words can be used in an ugly way to hurt people. 

So can tall, short, up, down, handsome, gorgeous, hungry, full... or any other word or name.

Shenanigan was once a respected family name. As was Wisenheimer.  

Sometimes the reputations of a name or word are besmirched by... er, us...

Benedict Arnold. 

Jezebel.

See?

The word "cuss" is a slur of the word "curse." 

Damn is from the word condemn. 

Oh I almost forgot one of my personal favorites... the acronym Sitting High In The water... was chalked onto ships needing more ballast (which was usually an organic compound) sometimes the aim from the poop deck was not necessarily over the side of the ship... 

Anyway, to the OP (now that I've carried on so) m y advice is to be real... be sincere... be yourself and the people you actually relate to will be the most open to your witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Anybody can spot a fake (not that you are one, I am just pointing out that people know when evangelists have ulterior motives and they really don't care about them as much as they are trying to appear to). Be blessed. ← a cuss word according to Proverbs 27:14 (if said at the wrong time in the wrong way)... 

P.S. I just have to add a conversation between the wife of President Harry Truman and the uppity Lady Astor of England. She said to Mrs. Truman, "My dear, you have no idea how put out we are by your husband's use of the word 'crap.'" To which she replied... "You don't know what I went through to get him to use the word 'crap.'"  

 

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by JohnD