Use Wisdom

 Use Wisdom

In the book of Colossians we read, 

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:3-6.

Jesus said,

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16.

When I look at these two portions of scripture I see a cautionary note. We are called to proclaim the Gospel. While at the same time we are called to be cautious. 

There are people out there that don’t want anything to do with Christians or God. Some are outrightly hostile to the gospel message, as such we need to be cautious around them.

When we present the gospel we need to be respectful. We need to respectfully listen to them and answer their questions. Pointing them to the saving grace of God through Christ Jesus.

If you consider yourself a Christian is this how you proclaim the gospel message?

Please think about it.

Do you force it

  Do you force it?

The apostle Peter wrote,

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”1 Peter 3:15.

Are you prepared to respectfully give a reason for why you believe in Jesus? Sadly many who claim to be Christians are not. Worse still many calling themselves Christians want to force their faith on people. They even try to force governments to pass legislation that will force their faith on people.

All this does is force people away.

We as Christians must strive to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a respectful way. If we want to see how we simply have to look at how the apostle Paul did so in Athens (Acts 17:17-34). Paul respected the beliefs of the Athenians while presenting the Gospel of Christ. The results were mixed. Some wanted to hear more. Some sneered at what he said. While some believed him.

When you present the gospel of Christ do you respect the beliefs of the people you’re presenting that gospel to?

OR do you try to force your beliefs on someone?

Please think about it.

Presenting the gospel in Athens

Presenting the gospel in Athens

For me the greatest sermon ever spoken was by the Apostle Paul in Athens. Where he was invited by Epicureans and Stoic Philosophers, NOT other believer or other Jews. To present what he believed at the Areopagus.

This incident in Pauls life shows first of all how believers in Christ Jesus should present the gospel. In a non-threatening, non-judgmental way. If Paul had been doing it any other way he would most likely not have been invited. 

Instead he met the those seated in the Areopagus where they were at and presented the gospel message.

The book of Acts records,

"So he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  

A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  

Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  

You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean."  

(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  

For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  

And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.' 

"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill.  

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." 

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."  

At that, Paul left the Council.  

A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others

Acts 17:17-34

Note her that some “sneered” not believing is raising from the dead. Some wanted to hear more. And some became believers.

Is this what happens when you present the gospel message to those around you?

Please think about it.

Do you do your best?

Do you do your best?
The apostle Paul writes,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.
If you claim to be a Christian a true believer in Christ Jesus you are the lense through which people see Christ. Thus the need to present the word of God in the purest way humanly possible.
We cannot afford to misinterpret scripture. To twist it to say what we want it to say. To listen only to what we agree with. St. Augustine said,
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” St Augustine.
Additionally we must live the gospel every day. Our deeds must reflect the unconditional love of Jesus.
If we are not doing this then we are falling far short of what God wants for us.
Please think about it.