There are many things that happen in church that are truly awesome!
People who go to church say things about it like, “It’s such a blessing to me.” Or, “I’ve been encouraged and built up there.”
While church-goers have strong opinions about how great church is and how important it is for them to go, few of them are good at inviting others to share in it with them. They don’t invite friends to church events, and why would they? The things that happen at most churches are mainly geared for the insiders—for those who already go.
What about the outsiders?
Paul was traveling through Greece when he found a group of philosophers and stoics in Athens. This group was about as far removed from Paul’s First Century Jewish context as possible.
But Paul did something truly remarkable. After carefully looking around at his surroundings and the people who were there, Paul said to them…
As I was going through your city and looking closely at the objects you worship, I noticed an altar… (Acts 17:23, GW)
Why was this remarkable? Because Paul was intent on building a bridge to an audience that held a completely different world-view. A bridge to a people who had a very universal opinion about God.
Contextualize?
Paul made the effort to learn where these people were at and what they were thinking. He then adapted his approach for the hearers in order to clearly communicate the message of the Gospel in terms they could best understand. He later expresses his motivation for this…
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22, NKJV)
This isn’t instruction for us to become social chameleons, or compromise our beliefs so we fit into the crowd, but it is a model of how we are to adapt what we are doing and saying to the unique context we are in. It’s sensitivity to who we are talking to, while still understanding the essential power and importance of the Gospel.
The Gospel is an eternal, transcultural reality, but…
While the Gospel transcends time, it comes to us within the context of a human culture. We must carefully seek to discern the difference between Gospel truth and cultural tradition. It’s then that we can present the Gospel in a manner that is relevant to those who are on the outside.
This should get every insider excited, well at least looking around.
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