Kingdom Conversations

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews, I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means, I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

Making Barriers Bridges

This week kicked off of our new sermon series “Kingdom Conversations.” The point of this series is to equip each of us with the skills we need to go and make disciples in our current cultural climate. This is a world that needs every follower of Jesus having kingdom conversations because much of our nation is either actively or aggressively engaged in every other kind of conversation, and many others are tuning out completely.

Before we can evangelize, we need to be aware of the ways in which we are communicating, and what we are communicating, can create barriers that keep others from hearing the gospel message we’re here to share. If we argue online, even if we are right, are we pushing others that see our conduct away from King Jesus? The truths we want to share are valid and are vitally important, but we as followers of Jesus have to decide what is truly of eternal value. We need to refocus our communication in order to build bridges that lead to kingdom conversations.

Many Christians want to make disciples but have never really done so. After a while, we become embarrassed by our lack of evangelism and we become too afraid to admit or ask how. The truth is we compartmentalize so much of evangelization when it comes to the gospel. Every one of us evangelizes. We’re quick to evangelize movies, restaurants, recipes, and anything else we love and want to share. It’s less teaching ourselves how to do something from scratch and more using what we know towards leading people to the kingdom.

Evangelizing

Instinctively, we all know to try to overcome potential barriers people might have when we are evangelizing them to a TV show or restaurant. It doesn’t help them to try to lie to them or not be upfront about some of the possible stumbling blocks. Instead, we try to tell them it is worth it. We tell people, “you just have to get through the first five episodes, and then it gets amazing!” We say, “Hey, there’s a long line to get into this restaurant, but the wait will be so worth it.” When it comes to Jesus and Christianity, many already have barriers, but we can attempt to build bridges to win people over.

This is not the same as people-pleasing. Followers of Christ are never going to neatly fit into society’s categories. Others may find us too conservative when it comes to our sexual ethic, and at the same time oddly progressive when it comes to our views on justice and our care for the poor. Jesus is our example of one who never fit the mold others tried to place him in. In the end, he was put to death by a people that could not reconcile who he was.

Nor is the answer disengaging completely. Paul reminds us in Romans 10:13-14, “For, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” We need to be actively engaging with our neighbors and co-workers, and most often this happens in the context of relationships.

Real Relationships

Paul taught the Corinthians that he became all things to all people. He did this by imitating Christ in a way that allowed others to feel seen and known all for the sake of the gospel. He, a Jewish man, learned the customs of the gentile world to relate the good news to them in a way they could understand. So, the question for each of us becomes, “who can I relate to?”

To fix what is broken in our world, we need to have real friends in real groups that are different from us. This doesn’t mean we never talk about anything else. Quite the opposite, in this divided climate we need to be able to have civil discussions about the issues we all care about. If we feel we have a remedy for someone else’s cause we need to build a bridge to help them, instead of pushing them away. It’s going to take real relationships to break down the barriers many people have between them and the gospel.

The goal of this series is not to teach you what to think, but how to engage culture. This is meant to be the start of all of us to have more meaningful conversations in our everyday lives. This isn’t about you getting the right ideas in your head, but rather that you would be engaging in the lives of our neighbors and co-workers that think very differently than you do. Our desire is the people of God would fulfill the great commission by having civil conversations at every opportunity.

Throughout this series, we will address several current hot-button issues and how the Bible gives us an example to follow of taking a barrier and turning it into a bridge. We hope you will join us on Sundays in person or online and join our community groups where we will be discerning how to live and engage in more kingdom conversations in our everyday lives.