Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Bringing the Gospel to the People of Your New Culture

Bringing the Gospel to the People of Your New Culture

Last updated on: May 31, 2018 at 7:22 pm by Jim Erwin

Bringing the Gospel to the People of Your New Culture 2018-05-31T19:22:19-05:00 Jim Erwin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bringing the Gospel to the People of Your New Culture

As God will place us in the new culture, one of our responsibilities will be to share Jesus with the people in our new culture. How are we to do this? How can I share Jesus with someone whom does not speak my language clearly and to whom I cannot speak their language clearly? This is a difficult task, but it can be done.

In Acts 8, we have an example of how it was done. We see several ingredients of bringing the Gospel to the people in my new culture.

INGREDIENTS TO BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO PEOPLE OF MY NEW CULTURE

Familiarize myself with foreign cultures. (8:25)

Philip took time to familiarize himself with the foreign culture. He had spent time in Jerusalem and then in Samaria.

Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.
(Acts 8:4-8 NKJV)

As Philip was learning to reach people who were different from himself, God was bringing the people of Samaria to Him. Then God gave Philip a new assignment. God said that He wanted Philip to go and speak to someone from Ethiopia. In this case, the person would have no connection to Jewish traditions. In all likelihood, this person from Ethiopia was a Gentile and not a Jew. As such, God is showing His servants that He wants to reach the entire world, not just Jews. Since this eunuch was a Gentile, of Ethiopian heritage, the approach would have to be different. Philip had learned new approaches with the Samaritans and now he could adapt these approaches for the Ethiopian – for Gentiles.

Focus on the direction of the Holy Spirit (8:26-29)

We have to listen to the Spirit
We have to obey the Spirit
We have to go where the Spirit leads us
We have to talk to the people that the Spirit tells us to talk to.

Fix my eyes on the needs of the person (8:30-31)

Philip, after He obeyed the Spirit, started to look at the needs of the person. He saw an opportunity when it came to understanding the Scriptures.

Something should be said about the translation that the eunuch was reading. He apparently was reading the Septuagint (Greek translation) of the Old Testament. As a Greek translation, it was different than the Hebrew. Just as expressions in English are different than the original Hebrew and Greek.

Many people have needs and they look to God for answers. When it comes to God’s Word, they have problems understanding. As Christians, we want to tell them what to think and what to do. But many times the people just need guidance to find the answers themselves. As they struggle, we can be there to answer questions and direct them to where God wants to help them. Not in a way that says that we know everything, but in a way that says that we know how to find God.

The Ethiopian asked for GUIDANCE not necessarily answers. We have to let the people discover for themselves who God is, and what He wants from us. It is also a more polite form of evangelism. When we tell people that they need Jesus, and then command them around with their relationship, we can lose our opportunity for God to use us. We are there to help and let the person who needs Jesus to FIND Him.

Notice the conversation that happens. The Ethiopian shares what he is learning and he is asking questions. Philip is providing answers and all the while, directing the Ethiopian to Jesus.

Find them a way to see Jesus as their answer (8:31-35)

Three primary ways in which Philip helped the man:

1. He listened to the questions that the man was asking.

2. He helped the man understand what the Bible was saying.

3. He used the Bible to point the man to what he really needed, Jesus.

Of course during this time, they only had the Old Testament, and even then, they were just scrolls of some of the books. As a result, Philip had to start from Isaiah 53 and share with this man about Jesus. He used the very verses that the eunuch was familiar and helped him see that Jesus was the answer to the man’s needs.

Forge them with the community of Christianity. (8:36-39)

Baptism is the way we identify with the Christianity. When we get baptized, we are saying that since we follow Jesus, we want to join the community of Jesus. In this case, there were probably a few witnesses of this baptism. This baptism occurred while they were traveling south. The eunuch wanted to define himself with the Christian community before he returned to his homeland. Perhaps he was one of the people who helped forge a new Christian witness in Ethiopia. Philip did not force baptism on the eunuch. Instead, the eunuch saw the need for community with other Christians. This is a natural result of following Jesus. We should not want to follow Jesus in isolation. We should want to follow Jesus in community.

When we accept Jesus, we accept the community of Jesus. We want to join Him and His family.

Fluctuate myself to the leading of the Holy Spirit for the next encounter (8:39-40)

When we have finished the task of mission with one person, the Holy Spirit will prepare us for the next encounter. He will take the experience and use it for the next person that He wants us to reach. The Holy Spirit goes from person to person and reaches the world for Jesus. He will prepare us for one-on-one encounters.

I have to be ready to reach the next person for Jesus. I have to fluctuate myself to whom the Holy Spirit wishes for me to reach. I cannot just say: “I have witnessed to my family and now my task is over.” No, the task is continual and life-long. We go from person to person, family to family, city to city and even country to country – culture to culture. We are called to reach others for Jesus.

Previous Post

March 15, 2006

Intercultural Integration - How a Foreigner Should Show Compassion for the Native Citizen

Next Post

March 30, 2006 God's Love Has a Child Named Grace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Chronicles 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Kings 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Chronicles 2 Corinthians 2 John 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy 3 John Acts Advent Amos Book Review Colossians Comics Culture Watch Daniel Deuteronomy Ecclesiastes Ephesians Esther Exodus Ezekiel Ezra Galatians Genesis Guest Post Habakkuk Haggai Hebrews Hosea Humor Inspiritational Isaiah James Jeremiah Job Joel John Jonah Joshua Jude Judges Lamentations Lectionary Lent Leviticus Link Love Luke Malachi Mark Matthew Micah Movie Review Nahum Nehemiah Numbers Philippians Political Watch Prophecy Watch Proverbs Psalm Revelation Reviews Romans Ruth Science Watch Sermon Series Sermons Simple Thoughts Song of Solomon Titus Top Ten Uncategorized Video Review Zechariah Zephaniah

Select a Month May 2026 October 2025 September 2025 June 2025 February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 January 2022 June 2021 January 2021 October 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2009 June 2008 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 September 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Bethany" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

House of affliction House of stone House of bread House of mercy