A Blog from the LMI Youth and Schools Outreach Worker Danny Roberts
As we emerge into a much-changed world, it is important to cling to the fact that God has not changed.
I am writing this in the spare room/office of my home, in what is now the eighth week of lockdown. This period has been one of reflection, a chance to be able to reassess my thoughts, my intentions and my motivation.
One of the many elements of my work with Logos Ministries International (LMI) is teaching overseas. I have had the opportunity to go to many different parts of the world, and help the global church through teaching and training church leaders. Like many of you reading this, I love to travel to different cultures to see how they work, how they live and how they worship God in their context. It is one of the things I will really miss this year due to the global travel restrictions.
Overseas cultures can be very different, and yet, we can also see many similarities with what we know from our culture here in the UK. As technology has advanced, in some ways the world has become a more similar place. I remember walking around a supermarket in China on one mission trip, when two girls came over to me (seeing a 6-foot tall, white person was a little strange for them). They approached me with no grasp of English, yet a very familiar word came out of their mouths – “selfie”.
The advancement in technology has allowed us to connect to the world in a way that has never been experienced before. It has given a voice to the voiceless; it has opened our eyes to a world we may never otherwise have seen. However, it has also given rise to a new age. An age where facts and information are blurred together with opinion and hearsay. An age when the reality of God has taken on a completely new meaning. Truth is relative and “God” is no longer just the God of the Bible, it is the many gods of the eastern world. It is a state of mind. We have witnessed how social media has changed young people to believe that they are a god. They say what they want, do what they want. They add and delete people in and out of their lives without a second thought and with no repercussions. They are the “gods” of their own world.
We see the world changing rapidly around us and it poses questions for us to consider, especially as hope rises that lockdown will soon be lifted. Can reaching people and telling them about Jesus be done in the same manner it has always been done in our own culture? And, once we begin to travel again, what will evangelism overseas look like?
I trust we all agree that the evangelistic, good news message of the gospel never changes. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.” The Bible gives us hope and assurance that, as our lives and the world change so dramatically, we can rest on the never changing promises of God.
However, as we look at society, there is a realisation that the way in which we present the gospel will need to change. This can be hard; change is a difficult thing to do sometimes. Nevertheless, we are thankful that God’s word, like in so many areas of our lives, gives us an example to follow:
1 Corinthians 1:23 tells us, But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
The message of the gospel does not change but the responses from people, as explained to us by Paul, differ – why? I would put it to you that the responses are different because the way in which we convey the message needs to be different. Let us look at the evidence:
As our society has changed, the way in which we convey the message needs to change with it. This is nothing new; we see the examples in the Bible.
In Acts 2, we see Peter presenting the gospel to the Jews during the time of Pentecost. He shares the gospel in a clear way, speaking of God (v36), speaking of repentance (v38) and speaking of salvation (v40). It says at the end of the verse 41 that those who received his word where baptised, and around 3,000 people were saved that day.
Peter spoke to the people in the way that he did because he knew the culture, he knew that they would understand who he was talking about when he said “God”. He knew they would understand what was meant by salvation. Their teaching from the Torah has put their understanding on the right path. Peter knew a stumbling block, or obstacle, for the Jews would be the cross. We see that confirmed for us in the fact that some understood and believed, while others did not.
In Acts 17:16-34, we see a contrast to this. When he was in Athens, Paul was motivated to start preaching to the people. He shared with them about the gospel. What was their response?
Acts 17:18 – What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
They had no idea what he was talking about! So Paul begins his famous Mars Hill message by talking to the people about the alters they had, and especially their alter to “the unknown God” (Acts 17:23). He then proceeds to share with them about who God is, starting back at creation. In verse 29, he explains that God is a living being, not an idol or an ideology, but someone who hears us and responds, who leads us and guides us. He then proceeds to explain the fall of man and our need for salvation.
You see, the gentiles were on a different path altogether, so to the Greeks what Paul was teaching initially was unheard of, complete rubbish or “folly” as we read in 1 Corinthians.
Paul had to adapt his message, teach them what he meant by God, salvation, and repentance. And what was the result? Acts 17:32-34 tells us:
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Some did not believe but some accepted what he said and were saved! You see, the message never changed, but the manner of delivery did.
The challenge I give to you as we look at these passages is this: As we recognise the rapidly changing nature of our society, culture and world, it is important that the way in which we convey the gospel changes according to the situation.
During the year, I have the privilege, along with other members of LMI’s Youth & Schools Outreach Team, to travel to secondary schools all over the country, taking RE classes, SU groups and other events. I was taking RE classes in a school not too long ago and we were looking at miracles in the Bible. As an icebreaker at the beginning of the lesson, we put up some pictures of different miracles that took place in the Old Testament. One pictured showed a man surrounded by lions. A hand went up in the room and the answer came out, “that’s Jesus heals the 10 leopards!” My colleague and I did everything we could not to completely lose our composure! My colleague replied, “No, it’s Daniel in the lion’s den”. “Oh”, came the response, “never heard of it”. As amusing a moment as it was, the missing knowledge of the Bible, possession of which was once a given across our nation, really struck me, and I have witnessed it many other times since in secondary schools all over the UK. The culture that we live in today is not dissimilar to that encountered by Paul at Mars Hill. When we tell them of God, repentance and the claims and challenges of Jesus, many respond with the answer, “What?”
It is said that one key to excellent public speaking is to make sure that people know the words that you say and understand what you mean by those words. We recognise that when we travel overseas we have to adapt our language and adapt our approach so that it will be understood. I believe that we need to show the same willingness to adapt when addressing people in our culture today. Our culture needs to hear the gospel like never before. And, as we emerge out of lockdown into this new and much-changed world, our method of evangelism needs to change to deal with it.
We have an amazing opportunity at this time. A time when more people than ever before are openly asking those ultimate questions about life, death and meaning. It is our job, as commanded by God in the Bible, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Yes, we are sad that we cannot do that through mission teams and overseas endeavours this year, but the new openings we have to reach into our local areas during this time of lockdown should bring a new hope and excitement inside of us. We need to look to reach the culture we are in effectively. Assessing the situation, putting them on the right path through clear explanation, and trusting that God will open the ears of those who hear.
Danny Roberts is a mission worker for Logos Ministries International. Originally from Liverpool, England, Danny moved to Northern Ireland in 2012 to marry his, now wife, Faith. They have three children, and he lives in a rural village called Dromara, at the foot of the beautiful Mourne mountains. Danny works for Logos Ministries International where he is involved in mission work all over the UK and further afield. He works as part of the Youth & Schools outreach Team that goes into secondary schools all over Northern Ireland taking RE & SU classes, as well as youth meetings in church settings. He also works as part of the Mission Awareness department which includes sharing in churches all over the UK about the need to be involved in mission, as well as teaching and training church leaders globally through leadership training seminars.