“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”
This verse used to throw me
off. Does that mean that Paul would pretend like he was an uncircumcised
Gentile to the Gentiles and pull out his Pharisaic attitude around the
Pharisees? Well – not that’s not it. He wasn’t called to pretend or act. He was
called to simply become relatable to these men. To the Jews, he would find
common ground and explain to them how he, as a Jew, found the Messiah, and was
able to systematically explain his reasons for doing so. To the Gentiles he was
able to become relatable by his Roman citizenship, and his knowledge of the
ways of that culture.
In
order to be more effective, we should have a common ground. Think of the
effectiveness that the well-learned Christian scholar has to witness to a
skeptic scientific atheist with questions. Think of how simply the gospel can
be preached to the regular citizen on a street, and how you wouldn’t put a
scholar who would assail them with facts instead of being simple.
The key
is to be relatable. We find common ground. John 4 is an example of Jesus
himself doing this. Both he and the woman were at Jacob’s well, and he quickly
found ground with her in that they both wanted water from it.
Today,
I will look up more things about the people and nation of Costa Rica (where I’m
going for six months), in order to be more effectively relatable to the people
there.
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