BY ALL POSSIBLE MEANS

In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, the Apostle Paul describes his approach to evangelism. In doing so, he demonstrates his awareness of psychology: 

To the Jews I became like a Jew – to win the Jews

To those under the law I became like one under the law – so as to win those under the law

(Though I myself am not under the law.)

To those not having the law I became like one not having the law – so as to win those not having the law

(Though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law)

To the weak I became weak – to win the weak

Paul seems to know inherently the tendency of humans to be more receptive to those who are like them in some way - big or small.

In his famous book, Influence, Robert Cialdini describes "liking" as being one of the central factors of persuasion. In short: if we like someone, his or her opinion means more to us. And we tend to like those who are like us in some significant way. 

Cialdini tells of a social experiment in the 1970s. It was the hippie era, and the researchers hit a college campus to track the responses of random students asked for a dime to make a phone call.

The researcher would dress as a "square" or as a hippie before making the ask. If the researcher's outfit matched the student's, the dime was given more than two-thirds of the time. If the researcher was dressed opposite of the student, the dime was given less than half the time. 

When it comes to something as important as sharing the gospel, every little advantage matters. 

Paul explains his motivation for identifying with his various audiences as much as possible in this way: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." (1 Cor 9:22)

What would this look like in our own lives today?