Chameleon Christians

In our reading from 1 Corinthians 9 this week, Paul says,

”I am a free man, nobody’s slave; but I make myself everybody’s slave in order to win as many people as possible.” 

He goes on to tell us how he adapts to be able to communicate with different cultural groups in his time. 

Like us, he lived in a multicultural society.  There were Jews and gentiles but they represented a wide variety of national and cultural background.  He also recognised that there were socio-economic sub-cultures as well.  He used the weak as an example of these.   What Paul did is adapt his ways to identify with whatever culture he was sharing with. 

Last week Graeme spoke of the Christendom Church.  In the past people believed that whole nations were Christian and that there was no need to convince people to believe in Jesus, but simple to engage them in the church.  If this ever was true, it certainly is not today. 

In Paul’s time no major group described themselves as Christian.  He said it was his purpose to win as many as possible to the gospel.  In the past Christendom church the mission was in some other country where people didn’t believe.  In the Christendom world it was not even necessary to be sure of your own faith, but simply to be part of the church.

Today the cross cultural mission field is in our streets, because all the cultural diversity and belief systems are right here.  The church must change its basic thinking.  While we live in a multicultural society made up of people from all over the world, we also have to recognise that rich, poor, old, young, baby boomer, gen X, gen Y, church, school, workplace, musical taste, criminal and every  other segment in society represents sub-cultural groups.  All these have language forms, behavioural norms, moral standards and pecking orders, unique to themselves.  People often belong to more than one of these groups and are crossing over all the time and adapting their cultural norms without even thinking about it.  But to cross to a cultural group that is foreign is difficult because we don’t know how to behave.  Paul has made it his mission to cross over to other groups deliberately so that he can achieve his purpose of winning as many as possible. 

Christendom thinking runs deep in all of us, but the Christendom world is gone.  It is time to think like Paul.  What we have to offer people is the Gospel of Jesus Christ by words and deeds so that they become disciples, preparing for the mission field of people needing to hear the Gospel and become disciples.  We must learn to cross cultural boundaries in ways that allow us to communicate with our neighbours successfully.  You will notice that this mission is so important to Paul that he compares to athletic training.  He is so intentional about this, so committed to this that he trains and learns and disciplines his life to fulfil this purpose.

In the Christendom world, Christians often crossed cultures and told people to be like them because they were Christians.  You will notice in our reading it is Paul himself who adapts to communicate with each new culture.  Our mission is not about imposing our cultural values, but sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we may win as many as possible.  That will be less about telling and more about listening and sharing.

Adrian.