What does 1 Corinthians 9:22 mean?

Paul has been describing how he limits his personal freedom in order to win more people to faith in Christ. He has become as a Jew and law-follower to win some of them. He has become as one who is outside of the law, a Gentile, to win some of them. Now he writes that he has become weak to win the weak.

Bible scholars disagree about what Paul means by "the weak." Some suggest that the weak is a description for all ungodly people (Romans 5:6), meaning that Paul lived, in a sense, as an unbeliever might live in order to reach unbelievers. They don't suggest he lived in sin, but perhaps that he shared in their cultural practices. Given all Paul has said about the need to avoid sin and the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:27; 1 Timothy 3:2), it seems unlikely he'd send mixed signals, spiritually speaking.

What makes more sense in the context here is that "the weak" refers to those Christians who cannot bring themselves to eat meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:4–7). Such persons suffer unnecessary restrictions because their faith in God's grace and confidence that idols are imaginary is underdeveloped (1 Corinthians 8:8–11). Taken this way, it means Paul has opted out of eating such meat in order to win the weak. He not only saves them from sinfully violating their own convictions, he avoids offending them or giving them cause for spiritual confusion (1 Corinthians 8:12–13). He cooperates with their restrictive behaviors, to avoid placing any unnecessary barriers in their path.

Paul's conclusion is stated clearly. He has become "all things to all people" in order to save some by leading them to faith in Christ. He has never changed the content of his message about becoming acceptable to God through faith in Christ alone (Galatians 1:8–9; 2 Timothy 2:14–18; 1 Corinthians 16:13). Instead, Paul is describing a willingness to continually change his own behavior, setting aside his own rights, in order lead as many as possible to Christ.