Know Your Audience

[Lovekr07]

'Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas ? Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. '



1 Corinthians 9:1-23

https://www.bible.com/bible/111/1CO.9.1-23



As an evangelist who makes his living by preaching the Gospel, Paul had a right to receive food, drink, a wife, etc from the churches where he preached the Gospel. However, he did not use his rights and offered the Gospel free of charge in hopes of winning more for the Lord. He did not want anyone to be able to say that he only did it for profit.

In the above passage, Paul said that he became all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some. He became like a Jew to win Jews, like a gentile to win gentiles, like the weak to win the weak, etc. He met people where they were so that they would feel like Paul understood them and so that he could preach it in a way that they understood. He had to relate his sermons to where they were. That is a good model for us to follow as well. It is always good, if possible, to know our audience and adjust our approach accordingly.

 

[Tenchi]

He met people where they were so that they would feel like Paul understood them and so that he could preach it in a way that they understood. He had to relate his sermons to where they were. That is a good model for us to follow as well. It is always good, if possible, to know our audience and adjust our approach accordingly.

Yes, I agree. Though, it isn't one's evangelistic model, or approach, after all, that saves anyone, but God, and God alone. He is the only One who "gives repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25), who draws and convicts people (John 6:44; John 16:8) and it is His power far more than anything else that is needed in delivering the Good News of Salvation to the lost (Acts 2), right? Without Him, we can do nothing (John5:4-5).

Christians sure are eager, though, to situate themselves in God's place, making their "approach" to evangelism vital to the salvation of the lost. They have to be "relevant" and "accessible," carefully developing solid friendships within which the Gospel can then be shared. Only then, apparently, can God achieve a lost person's redemption. This isn't what God says to us in His word, however. He doesn't need our evangelistic systems, or strategies, or lines of approach when we share the Gospel with others, only our constant, daily submission to Him that He might properly purify us as vessels for His use and fill us with who He is, His power working through us to the salvation of the lost.

Thinking on this stuff, I often consider the evangelistic story of Acts 2. The disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, went down into the street and in the power of the Spirit shared the Gospel with total strangers, people of other languages and cultures, folks of varying experience, ages and interests and through the disciples the Spirit used their preaching to save 3,000 people! The disciples used no evangelistic systems, no friendship building processes, no idiotic "preach the Gospel and, if necessary, use words" approach, but simply were vessels in and through whom the Spirit rescued the lost. What was vital for the disciples in this first evangelistic campaign of the Church was that they were under the control of the Spirit, moving without resistance in whatever direction he led them to go. It is this being led of the Spirit, this submission to his will and way, that is the essential "key," not just to evangelism, but to the entirety of walking with God.

Romans 8:14
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Matthew 4:1
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness...

Luke 4:1
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit...

Acts 16:7
7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

1 Thessalonians 1:5
5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit...

So, then, do I speak to an eight-year-old about the Gospel in the same way I do with a college professor? Obviously not. As you've pointed out from Paul's words, we meet people where they're at, taking into account as we share the Gospel with them who they are. But this is by no means essential to what God does in saving the lost, as so many of those wanting to make an industry of Christianity want to urge us to think in their "affordably-priced" books, and podcasts, and video series.

It's interesting, too, how careful Paul was to clarify that meeting people where they're at never entailed spiritual or moral compromise.

1 Corinthians 10:7-9
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play."
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.

 

[Lovekr07]

Yes, I agree. Though, it isn't one's evangelistic model, or approach, after all, that saves anyone, but God, and God alone. He is the only One who "gives repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25), who draws and convicts people (John 6:44; John 16:8) and it is His power far more than anything else that is needed in delivering the Good News of Salvation to the lost (Acts 2), right? Without Him, we can do nothing (John5:4-5).

Christians sure are eager, though, to situate themselves in God's place, making their "approach" to evangelism vital to the salvation of the lost. They have to be "relevant" and "accessible," carefully developing solid friendships within which the Gospel can then be shared. Only then, apparently, can God achieve a lost person's redemption. This isn't what God says to us in His word, however. He doesn't need our evangelistic systems, or strategies, or lines of approach when we share the Gospel with others, only our constant, daily submission to Him that He might properly purify us as vessels for His use and fill us with who He is, His power working through us to the salvation of the lost.

Thinking on this stuff, I often consider the evangelistic story of Acts 2. The disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, went down into the street and in the power of the Spirit shared the Gospel with total strangers, people of other languages and cultures, folks of varying experience, ages and interests and through the disciples the Spirit used their preaching to save 3,000 people! The disciples used no evangelistic systems, no friendship building processes, no idiotic "preach the Gospel and, if necessary, use words" approach, but simply were vessels in and through whom the Spirit rescued the lost. What was vital for the disciples in this first evangelistic campaign of the Church was that they were under the control of the Spirit, moving without resistance in whatever direction he led them to go. It is this being led of the Spirit, this submission to his will and way, that is the essential "key," not just to evangelism, but to the entirety of walking with God.

Romans 8:14
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Matthew 4:1
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness...

Luke 4:1
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit...

Acts 16:7
7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

1 Thessalonians 1:5
5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit...

So, then, do I speak to an eight-year-old about the Gospel in the same way I do with a college professor? Obviously not. As you've pointed out from Paul's words, we meet people where they're at, taking into account as we share the Gospel with them who they are. But this is by no means essential to what God does in saving the lost, as so many of those wanting to make an industry of Christianity want to urge us to think in their "affordably-priced" books, and podcasts, and video series.

It's interesting, too, how careful Paul was to clarify that meeting people where they're at never entailed spiritual or moral compromise.

1 Corinthians 10:7-9
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play."
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.

Amen! Yes, to God be the Glory! It is all to be done by HIs Spirit. I am also remembering that in Acts, the Spirit enabled them to speak in the languages of those that were there so that they were able to hear the Gospel in their own languages. I believe that the Lord can also enable us to speak in a way that is as if we were speaking in other's languages by meeting them where they are culturally, intellectually, socially, religiously, etc. So, God gets the glory then as well, because that may be HIs method that we are using.

Thank you so much for those great points!!