I recently ran across the quote mentioned above while re-taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course. It caused me to pause and shudder for a moment. I began to think about the nature of culture and the tendency within most of us who claim to care about global evangelization, to fail to examine our own hearts and cultural bias before we engage the lost. I had to ask myself how many times I had such a great presentation of the Gospel to share, that I failed to meet people where they were so that they could truly identify with the message.
I am not suggesting that we as Christians go into the world unprepared to share the message of Christ, that would go against Scripture where we are exhorted to "always be prepared to give an account of the hope we have in Christ Jesus," (paraphrase) but rather that in our preparation of the Gospel, we don't become so foreign to those with whom we wish to share, that it becomes an irrelevant message because the bearer of the message has become irrelevant.
As someone wiser than I once said, "Sometimes, in order to share the Gospel effectively, people need to know what you are for, rather than what you are against." Again the idea is the same, if people can't relate to you as the messenger, they will never accept the message you bring. If all they they see is someone who is condemning, then the message of grace, mercy, and love is lost.
The Gospel can penetrate any culture, but sometimes it does not because its messengers are unwilling to penetrate the culture and identify with it. I am not talking about doing those things which may run contradictory to Scripture, but I am talking about following the example of Christ; it is an example of ONE who renounced and sacrificed all, to become all, that in all, HE might save all who would believe.
So may my prayer today be yours as well. "Lord, help me eat more caterpillars!"
