So today one of the pastors (Arkadiy) at my church here in Odessa taught from this passage, which is a personal favorite of mine and one of my favorite professors from university. Arkadiy said that people sometimes wrongly use it to justify their desire to just "fit in" and do whatever the heck they want with their lives. But being "all things to all men", or contextualization, isn't going against God's law to win the favor of people. Instead, it's stepping into another culture, possibly even letting go of some of your rights so as not to be a hindrance to others. It's both a taking off and a putting on of parts of your life.
A super-basic way of how I am trying to "be all things to all men" is by learning the language of the people I'm living among. Sometimes, it just plain sucks. But other days it's amazing what the Lord will do when we start learning another language and are brave enough to use it to communicate. It's great. I am not saying that I am fluent. I'm not. At all. To God be the glory for my ability to say a single word in Russian- He literally makes it possible for me to speak. With God's help, I am able to talk to people a bit about spiritual things and about the Gospel, and I am seeing my growth in Russian and hope to continue growing in this while I'm here and when I'm back in the States.
Another way is not just learning about Ukrainian culture, but jumping into it with both feet, really living and working here as a part of it. That means that everything I do, from teaching, talking with people at school or English club or church, discipling (a fancy word for living life with followers of Christ and helping them love Him more with their lives), or even making new friends with people I meet- all of that happens within the sphere of Ukrainian culture. Maybe it means that my definition of "friendship" changes, as friendship here is highly valued and somewhat rare- it has its own distinct word and means that you would take a bullet for the other person... not quite how we use "friend" in America. Maybe being "all things to all men" means forgoing the quick 20 minute phone call to a friend, but rather have a 2-3 hour hangout over tea to talk about life, because that's more natural for them. If I really am seeking to "be all things to all men", I have to change certain aspects of how I live my life so that I can better relate to people in their own culturally-specific way that God created them to relate to each other.
So yeah- you're probably not in Ukraine. If you are, then maybe we can get coffee sometime? But if you're not, think about the cultures that you encounter every day- not only cultures with different languages and ethnicities, but groups of any kind: business people, teachers, students in your school/university, athletes, moms, retirees, musicians, goth people, emo people- look around you at the different cultures that the Lord has put near you. And share the Gospel with them, jumping into their culture, speaking their "language" (whatever that may look like). Don't require people to enter the doors of a church to experience Christ. Go and represent him in person. Be his ambassador and show up in their culture. Just think of how much more effective you would be as a minister of the Living God if you would just lay aside your rights, comfort, and preferences to "be all things to all men" as Paul was, and as Jesus was. How cool would that be?