The Loving Approach to Evangelism

When Paul was evangelizing Jews he preached from the Jewish Scriptures (Acts 17:2).  When he was evangelizing Gentiles he did not make his case on what he as a Jew believed he made his case on the basis of what his Gentile audience believed.

In Acts 17 while discussing Christ "in the marketplace" Paul encountered some Stoic  and Epicurean philosophers who took him to the Areopagus to share his views with fellow philosophers (19). Paul began his speech not by "confronting their sin"  but by commending them for being "extremely religious." He based his commendation on the fact that these people had so many idolatrous objects of worship (22-23). If he had been talking with Jewish philosophers  his approach may have differed because Jews were expected to know and honor the Old Testament's prohibition on idols. But these were Gentiles so holding them accountable for things they didn't themselves believe would have been unwise, arrogant and rude. Though their idols offended Paul as a Jew (16) he complimented them for their sincerity.

Paul then noted that one of their "objects of … worship" contained the inscription, "To an unknown God." This acknowledged ignorance on their part provided Paul with an opening to present the Gospel. "What … you worship as unknown" Paul said "this I proclaim to you."  Rather than shooting at what one believes is wrong in another's life or way of thinking love looks for the best, looks for truth and then builds on it.  The loving approach to evangelism finds an area of expressed need, uncertainty, or longing and then seeks to meet it as Christ would.

When Paul presents the gospel to these people he doesn't do so on the basis of Scripture as he did earlier with Jews (1-2). Rather he quotes pagan philosophers (28) for these are the sources that have credibility to these folks, not Scripture. Paul builds his case on truths he finds in what the Epicureans and Stoics already believe. He presents Christ as the fulfillment of their own beliefs and the goal of the innate longing God has placed in all people at all times (26-27). While some "scoffed" at his claims others were intrigued enough to want to consider it further (32).

When evangelizing people who do not share one's own presuppositions this is the wise approach to take. Unfortunately Christians who take the "one nation under God" mindset too seriously are lulled into thinking that Americans generally share their presuppositions.  Being duped by the quasi-Christian civil religion, they treat average American citizens almost as if they were Christians who simply weren't living up to their calling. They think they are doing the people a favor by holding them accountable to things that are foreign to them.

Instead of respecting the integrity of people's beliefs, building on what is true about them we simply point out what we think is wrong. Rather than looking for the best, believing the best, and hoping for the best, we zero in on what we believe is the worst. Rather than serving people by taking the time to understand their worldview from the inside and looking for an opening within this worldview we assume they think like us and speak to them from within our own worldview. We unwittingly undermine the credibility of the gospel and do not communicate the central thing we are called to communicate God's love.

People who are shaped by the civil religion of America are no closer to the kingdom of God than people shaped by the civil religion of Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism, It's nothing more that the civil religious veneer of the culture.  Our job is to serve our fellow Americans by building bridges that connect us with them and entering into their unique worldview jut as Paul did with his Gentile audience.