Evangelism 101 - All Things to All People

If you have your Bibles turn to 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

One of the biggest arguments my wife and I have ever had was over when was the right time to pack for a road trip.

I start packing a week before we leave. As soon as I don’t need that shirt again before the trip, it is going into the suitcase and I want to have the car completely packed before I go to sleep so that my only worry when I wake up is getting dressed, getting some coffee, and getting on the road.

My wife grew up packing the night before the trip started. It was a communal event for her and her sisters to pack their bags late into the night while her dad slept, resting in preparation for their trip. This posed a problem for our first road trip together as the room I was trying to sleep in was the room she was trying to pack in.

And my goodness, we almost cancelled the trip over the disagreement. I felt so insulted by her, even though there was no intent from her to do so. I am happy to report that we have worked out some peace treaties in that war, but the strong feelings we had over something that wasn’t so serious was a result of culture shock.

We’ve all experienced culture shock to some extent whether it is in a new job, a new school, a new marriage, a new child, a new state, or perhaps a new country. We get caught off guard with the differences between what we expect and what is reality. My family has experienced culture shock every time we have moved, including coming back to Ohio after 8 years in Texas. You probably have experienced some culture shock by some of my seemingly strange customs.

I have been trained as a missionary and have lived in places where I am the foreigner, and any time I have interacted with a new culture, I have found that I must adapt to the culture I am interacting with if I want to have meaningful conversations. It takes time. It takes work. I have also found that I must work to find different ways to faithfully proclaim the gospel to different people. It is when I ignore the simple fact that people are wildly diverse and tried a “one size fits all” evangelism method that I have found my efforts to be extremely discouraging.

However, when I engage with the individual person and seek to actually know them - where they come from, what they believe about life, who their family is, what they believe about God - then I find two things: 1. that I have better and deeper conversations with them and 2. that I grow to truly love them and want what is best for them.

Last week we started talking about evangelism and what it means. We began with the Gospel, what it is and how we must believe it and love it if we are to be effective evangelists. Today we are going to be talking about people. Us individually as evangelists and those we come into contact with.

When we seek to proclaim the gospel we must be thinking about who we are speaking to and be willing to engage with them where they are. We must be willing to set aside our culture and preferences to view others as more important than ourselves. We must be willing to do the work of adapting to new things and learning to love those who are different from us.

But don’t take my word for it.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 together.

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (ESV)

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

The Apostle Paul is one of the first missionaries of the Christian church and by far the most known. He traveled from city to city, often engaging with his own people, the Jews (or those who are under the law), but just as often interacting with those who were not like him (or those not under the law). And to each of them, he set aside his own preferences in order to meet people where they are. He was willing to look like his own people and he was willing to look like people who were not his own people. He did the work to adapt to the people he met.

Why? To grow the biggest church? To fulfill the Law’s commands? To pad his number of converts so he can have a bigger mansion in heaven?

No! he did it for the sake of the good news of the Kingdom of God so that they all could together share in the blessings of being citizens of that Kingdom.

And brothers and sisters, if we wish to see souls won for the kingdom, after we grasp the beautiful truth of the gospel, then we must be willing to see and adapt to the context of the people we are engaging with.

2. Check your Context

Who is your audience?

What do they understand about Christianity? Life? The Gospel?

What is their background?

What underlying assumptions are they bringing to the table?

We can no longer assume that Americans have a basic understanding of the Biblical story or an agreement to the moral Law of God (10 Commandments)

We have to do the work of truly understanding the worldview that people are coming from.

Lean in to asking people good questions and being genuinely interested in them as people!

Listen well to their answers (1. because that’s being a good neighbor and 2. because it gives you insight into their preconceived notions of the world)

Some true statements that may not be helpful in evangelism

God Loves You

Meaningless to those who don’t understand the nature of God - or love!

You are a sinner

Meaningless to those who don’t understand sin or think we shouldn’t feel badly about it

You need a Savior

Meaningless to those who don’t understand what they need to be saved from

The Bible Says...

Is great unless the Bible is considered to be simply an archaic, patriarchal, collection of fairy tales

This doesn’t mean you need to dress up the Gospel to make it cool or palatable, but it does mean you will present the Gospel in different ways to different people.

You don’t have to follow the 4 Spiritual Laws to faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

You should never change the Gospel, but how does this good news engage with this individual’s

values, hopes, and fears?

How does this fulfill the deep longings they have yet to satisfy?

We must be willing to set our own thoughts and desires aside in order to let the Gospel shine clearly

Maybe you have strong political opinions. Leave those at home.

Maybe you have an aversion to a specific type of person. Set that aside for the sake of winning souls from darkness.

Become all things to all people that by all possible means you might win some.

To evangelize the lost, you must

1. ask important questions to get to the bottom of what people believe

2. be willing to set aside your own identity markers so that the gospel shines clearly through your words and actions. Be determined to remove any stumbling blocks to this person.

3. Be faithfully creative in the ways you engage with the lost and proclaim the good news to them.

If someone must be offended, let it be only by the Gospel message and not because you were unwilling to let go of something far less important like politics, or your own cultural preferences. People need to be shaped to be like Jesus, not to be shaped like you.

Now please hear me clearly, I am not saying to change the message of the gospel in order to bring people to your side. That’s really something that is anti-Christian. I’m also not saying that we should try to imitate the culture around us, creating some weird off-brand of secular art.

I am saying that we should be unashamedly Christian, all the while recognizing that that transcends all of my personal opinions and preferences. I am willing to set aside politics. I am willing to set aside nationality. I am willing to set aside my cultural ideals. I am willing to set aside my family identity. I am willing to set aside my thoughts on the economy. I am willing to set aside what makes me comfortable. I am willing to set aside anything that gets in the way of the gospel being proclaimed in such a way that it is heard and understood.

If the clearly proclaimed and understood gospel offends people, then I am okay with that. But I am not okay with my own preferences and cultural identity getting in the way and offending people before the Gospel even gets the chance to.

And the Gospel is this

Ruler

Revolt

Rescue

Response

It’s okay if people are offended by bold proclamation of the gospel. It’s not okay if people get offended because I’m being a jerk. Offending people is not the goal, winning brothers and sisters by faithfully proclaiming the gospel is the goal.

Who’s Your One?

So, how do we work toward becoming all things to all people in our own evangelism? If you have been praying for someone you know is lost this past week, wonderful! Please don’t stop.

In this coming week I encourage you to step out in faith and reach out to them. Tell them you’re praying for them. Invite them to join you for a cup of coffee or a meal this week. Write them a note of encouragement. Text them and ask how you can pray for them. And be willing to ask them good questions to get to the bottom of what they believe. Get to know them and get to love them. As gospel opportunities arise, tell them about the good news of Christ.

But for this week I just want you to focus on reaching out to them and communicating with them.

Keep praying daily for a greater love for and understanding of the gospel

Keep praying daily for your ONE

Let them know you care about them by reaching out to them

That’s it. That’s your homework for this week. Next week we’ll focus in on some questions to ask, but this week we’re just focused on prayer and initiating conversation. And share stories with me and the other members of the church about your conversations with your ONE. We encourage and strengthen one another when we share in joys and sorrows. It allows us to rejoice together and pray together! If you can see fruit through prayer then maybe I can too. And if you can survive an embarrassing or discouraging situation then maybe I can too. And if I am in a better place than you, then maybe I can come alongside you and strengthen you.

Closing

Brothers and sisters, if we wish to be people who win more brothers and sisters, if we wish to be faithful to the commands of Jesus, we must be willing to put in some work and step outside our areas of comfort. We must be willing to ask questions to get to know people. We must be willing to give up our opinions and preferences. We must consider others to be more worthy of honor than ourselves. We must become all things to all people.