Gospel Commentary for Friday, October 31, 2025

“Don’t Be Extremists?”

In modern psychology, we often hear recommendations about avoiding burnout, protecting personal space, and “loving and forgiving oneself.” Of course, there is wisdom in these boundaries—prudence and self-care are necessary, healthy, and even advisable. But sometimes all this seems to stand in sharp contrast to Paul’s apparently extreme, almost fanatical desire to become “all things to all people.” He takes this passion to the very limit, even saying he would be willing to separate himself from Christ if that could save another person. (There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life…) Elsewhere, he writes: “I will gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” This is detachment and self-giving with no half measures—it’s all or nothing.

It seems that, according to the logic of Scripture, the good of others comes before every other consideration. Today’s Gospel shows us another kind of “extreme”: sometimes even the rules must be set aside for the sake of another person’s good. The greater good is always found in the other, no matter what it costs. At first, this might sound like risky moral flexibility—a form of relativism all too common in today’s culture. But that’s not really Christ’s message. His words point us toward something deeper: putting the good of others before our own, letting others go first even at the cost of our own comfort or interest.

We need to protect ourselves, yes—but also to expose ourselves for the good of others. The balanced, yet passionate and “extreme,” answer might come from Paul himself: “Put on the armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10)—the Cross as our defense—so that we can fight against evil and give ourselves completely, becoming all things to all people, in order to reach the greater good: to win some for Christ.