Acts - Week 7 / Thursday

Reading for today: Acts 14:1-20

Opportunity and opposition---we see it again and again in this passage. When Paul and Barnabas fled to Lystra and Derbe to escape the planned stoning in Iconium, they had a really interesting experience.

Paul saw a man who had been lame from birth, and discerned that he had faith to be healed. So he told the man to stand up, the man did, and was miraculously healed. This miracle made these pagan Gentiles believe that the Greek gods had come down, and so they proceeded to prepare to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas.

When Paul and Barnabas finally figured out what was going on, they ran out into the crowd attempting to convince them of the wrongness of what they wanted to do. The message Paul and Barnabas try to convey was quite different from the message they normally spoke to a Jewish crowd. They realized they had to use pictures and language that this crowd would understand. Today, we would talk about being relevant. That's an important thing to remember when we are trying to connect with people.

Use language and terminology that they will understand. If somebody does not have a churched background, don't try to talk to them in "church jargon." Whether we like to admit it or not, we tend to have a language of our own, and quite frankly, it doesn't connect very well with someone who has not grown up in the church.

The greatest thing you have to share is your own story of salvation. Learn to tell it in language that will quickly connect with your hearer. I'm not talking about watering down the gospel. I would make a plea for making the gospel understandable---whomever your listener may be.

Tomorrow: The first missionary journey comes to a conclusion