1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
I am both thankful for and concerned about all the talk about relevance today.
On the one hand, there is a real danger that Christians may lose touch with society. We don’t want to become like the Amish who seem quaint and irrelevant to the real world. There is value in observing and discussing what contemporary people are thinking, asking, feeling, wanting, and doing and then make appropriate adjustments in our methods. We will do better at this if our hearts and attitudes are moldable like new wineskins (Mark 2:18-22).
For example, though it’s a somewhat complicated study, there is evidence in the New Testament itself that the speakers and writers did not limit themselves to the terms they inherited from Judaism for communicating the message about Christ but also adopted new words for communicating the truths about him more effectively to the Gentile world (e.g., reconciliation). In that spirit I have been thinking that the word “repent” no longer means the same thing to people today as it did to the people in the Bible. Modern angry mobs holding hateful signs have filled the word with a different and unhelpful connotation. The truth of repentance must never be eliminated, of course, but I’m wondering if there are other English words that can communicate its meaning more accurately today.
I want to focus specifically on the danger of distorting the central message of the gospel.
On the other hand, though, we also need to be careful what we do with the information we gain about our society. Some things must not change, regardless of what people think or want. We may immediately think of matters of morality, and that is certainly true. Sin is still sin even if our society no longer thinks so. Today, however, I want to focus specifically on the danger of distorting the central message of the gospel. That is something we absolutely must not do (2 Timothy 1:14; Acts 20:30; 2 Corinthians 4:2).
God has given us a powerful passage that can help us stay on track in this regard:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).
The passage tell us something about what different people in the first century culture wanted. Even without research studies, Paul knew the Jews wanted signs and the Greeks wanted wisdom. Yet in spite of what they wanted, Paul proclaimed Christ crucified. What’s more, he proclaimed it even though it was frequently rejected. The Jews often stumbled over the idea of a crucified Messiah, and the Greeks often thought it was foolish. Yet Paul did not allow either what people wanted or how they responded to cause him to change the basic message of the gospel. He recognized that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and that those who were called by God would respond to it. Though secular wisdom or impressive signs might draw a crowd, only God’s wisdom and power could save people (v. 18). The authentic message of God may seem foolish and weak to the secular mind, but in fact it is vastly wiser and more powerful to do the thing that truly needs to be done—save people (vv. 23, 25).
This passage reminds us of the important truth that God is involved in conversion. He calls people, and one way he does it is through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). He works on people’s hearts and minds (John 16:8-9; Acts 16:14). When God is working, the “veil over their hearts” can be removed so that they can see the light of the gospel, even if it is not what secular people normally seek, want or respond to (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). And of course, God also works powerfully for salvation through the gospel.
Yet Paul did not allow either what people wanted or how they responded to cause him to change the basic message of the gospel.
These considerations suggest we should be putting at least as much time into clarifying the gospel for ourselves as we put into understanding our culture. Losing touch with our culture will handicap us, but losing the gospel will be our demise. Instead of assuming we understand it clearly, we should always be striving to understand better and communicate it clearly.
Evangelism is not a matter of us convincing people to do something. Such an understanding can lead us to subtly change the message into something we think people will be more interested in. For example we may highlight all the benefits of being a Christian and downplay the cross and lordship. In contrast, true evangelism is telling what God has done in Christ regardless of how we think people will feel about it. God’s gospel is indeed good news, as the words gospel and evangelism indicate (“evangelism” comes from the verb form of gospel). But the good news also entails recognizing, confessing, submitting, and even dying with the King.
What we can see in secular society around us might cause us to look for additional forums to communicate this message besides places of public monologues. It might lead us to look for new terms, illustrations, or evidence (cf. Acts 17:28). Recognizing all the religious shams people have seen and experienced in our day may lead us to give special attention to establishing credibility through good deeds, godly lives, and caring relationships, although all these are things we should be doing anyway.
But as we seek to connect and communicate effectively with contemporary culture, we must not lose sight of the priority of faithfulness.
But as we seek to connect and communicate effectively with contemporary culture, we must not lose sight of the priority of faithfulness. We must be extremely careful not to let anything about our culture keep us from telling the message about Christ that God has entrusted to us. The gospel is the only way people can be saved (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:24-25).
Empowering Subjects 