July 18, 2026 - Meet Them Where They Are
- brooks16055
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
1 Corinthians 9:17 NIV
[17] If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
This just made me think this is why we should be willing to volunteer in our church community. I have been called to be a youth leader in my church but I would never want to be a paid youth leader. I would prefer to "simply discharge the trust committed to me."
1 Corinthians 9:20-22 NIV
[20] To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. [21] To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. [22] To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
Simply, we need to be flexible and adapt to the audience we are dealing with. It does not mean to do things that go against God's law to be like those you are interacting with. But you need to know and understand how to interact with them. Someone who has never been in church may not understand terminology that you may be used to often called Christianese. Or if they have been hurt by someone or something in the church using Christianese can turn of their ability to hear what you have to say and even promote hostility. There are also cultural things that can help or hinder your delivery of the gospel. When Paul talks to the Athenians, he refers to their alter to an unknown God as a doorway to present Jesus. Or when speaking to the Jews he refers to the Old Testament and makes the connections for them to see that Jesus fulfills the scripture. He also respected the laws that they lived by even though he knew that he was no longer under that law. Recently I have listened to a Living Water podcast that talked about how to witness to Jewish non-believers. I will share it below to help you better understand what it looks like to adapt to the person and culture that you are talking to. People respond better to people they can relate to. Someone who has never heard about Jesus may need you start from a place of determining where they find their idea of right and wrong. As a youth leader I also understand the need to adapt to the age of the person I am talking to as well. I think that developing a connection with people before even talking about Jesus allows us to better relate to them and improves trust. We need show that we care. That is our best witness. Caring includes getting to know them and relating to them as who they are. Jesus meets us where we are. We should do the same thing for others.
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