Paul explains his strategy: '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.' Radical cultural flexibility in service of the gospel.
I'm a missionary in Southeast Asia. The temptation is to impose American Christianity on the culture. Paul is saying: no. Learn the culture. Adopt the culture. Strip away the cultural baggage from the gospel and present the gospel in cultural form they can receive.
I've learned to eat their food, wear their clothes, learn their language at a deep level. Not as a performance, but as respect. Not as a strategy to manipulate them into belief. But as recognition that the gospel is bigger than Western expression. Jesus is Asian. Jesus speaks their language. Jesus understands their cultural questions. My job is to step aside and let Jesus meet them in their context.
No comments yet. Be the first.