Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

Here, from verse 16 on, we have a clear sample of the sort of message Paul preached to the Jews of the diaspora, that is, the Jews who lived elsewhere than in the geographic area of Israel. As he says in verse 16, he included the Gentile proselytes, those who believed in the God of Israel, because all of these people had a foundation in the Torah and the Tanach to understand that Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy. This was very different from preaching, as he later did, to total heathens who had no foundation. This is an example of contextual ministry, adapting the presentation, though not the truth of the Gospel, to the specific situation and audience. Paul himself described it this way: “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 men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-22) The danger in this approach is that some people have lost sight of the Gospel in the process, calling themselves “seeker-sensitive.” We must not let go of the reality of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Grace is grace only when it’s necessary! Churches that never speak of sin are dangerous indeed. From Peter at Pentecost on, apostolic preaching in the New Testament pulls no punches, but lays out human depravity and the necessity of repentance before there can be any thought of salvation. Today we seem to live in fear that someone will be offended. We need to realize that the Gospel is offensive to anyone who wants to hold onto their sin, just as Jesus said. (John 3:19-21) Contextual ministry is an important tool, but we must never let that idea take precedence over the reality that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

As someone involved in cross-cultural ministry all my life, this couldn’t be more relevant. Missionaries are faced with the issue constantly. Frankly, the personal evangelism techniques I was taught in seminary in the US have been remarkably ineffective in Japan, because the average Japanese has zero foundation to hear and understand the Gospel. I know that some with the gift of evangelism have made good use of such tools as the “4 Spiritual Laws” tract, but they are an exception. I have to start with the idea of a Creator, a transcendent God to whom we are accountable, because Shinto has a multitude of gods and Buddhism is fundamentally atheistic. However, I have had some successes. God is amazingly good at meeting people where they are! I am never to give up, but rather be sensitive to Holy Spirit, listening to Him and speaking what He is saying, so that the lies of the enemy may be exposed and people be brought into the freedom of the Truth. (John 8:32)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your faithfulness to me on every level. I pray that I would be fully available to You at all times to do or say whatever You desire for whatever context I find myself in, so that Your purposes may be accomplished for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!