Our readings in this series are from the book, Understanding the Times Here is a brief excerpt from pages 6 and 7:
“Paul was well-versed in Greek and Roman culture. He understood his times. He knew the local beliefs, mastered the vernacular tongue, understood the workings of Roman polity, and could converse readily about all manner of topics. Like the sons of Issachar, Paul understood his times, and knew what he had to do to further the interests of Christ and His Kingdom.
“Rather than try to avoid seeming strange, Paul went to the very places where adherents of competing worldviews gathered, and he confronted them there with the message of the risen Christ. We find him talking about Jesus in synagogues, marketplaces, at gatherings for prayer, in private audiences, and in the gates of the city, where town officials convened to judge on civil matters. Paul understood that, despite their settled mindsets and cherished (but unexamined) worldviews, lost people need to hear the Gospel. He would not be deterred in his mission by the fact that others might find him or his teaching foreign or strange.
“And despite the entrenched secularism of our times, and the likelihood that we, too, will be regarded as strange when we advocate for a Kingdom not of this world, we must embrace our strangeness, work to understand our times, and carry the Good News of Jesus into the nooks and crannies of our secular age with confidence and joy.”
Right now you can order Understanding the Times in book or PDF format at no cost. Order copies for yourself and for a study group or companion.
