SPEAKING THE GOSPEL INTO THEIR HEART

 The young couple looked to be in their late twenties, very well dressed, happy, and confident. “May we take one of these Bibles?” they asked. “Absolutely,” was my reply.

“We’ve never had one. Are they free?” Those words struck my heart like a knife… ”we’ve never had one!” I didn’t expect to hear these words in this context. You may think this conversation happened in some far away land with someone from an entirely different background. Not so. This young couple’s family had been in the U.S. for generations and had grown up in the heart of the upper mid-west in Minnesota. They had never been to church, never owned a Bible, and had never heard the gospel in their life. To say the least, they looked at things from an entirely different perspective from me. Their worldview was entirely different from the biblical worldview and mine.

If you are endeavoring to take the gospel to the lost of North America this scenario is no surprise to you at all. You have probably had numerous encounters similar to this one. The realities of immigration, the absence of a Christian witness for generations in many parts of North America, and other factors have drastically changed the landscape into which we seek to take the gospel.

We tend to expect a different culture when we venture into another country and seek to contextualize the message of the gospel so that the likelihood of the hearer understanding and accepting the message of the gospel will be greater. Yet, for many years, in North America the approach has largely been more of a one-size-fits-all when it comes to sharing the message of salvation.  Current reality in North America screams to the would-be evangelist that many different approaches are necessary to reach the masses of unreached and under-reached peoples, who now call the U.S. and Canada home. Consider the different ways in which Jesus approached the Samaritan woman (John 4) and the rich young ruler (Mark10:17-22). He understood the way they looked at the world and spoke to them accordingly. Paul used many different approaches to speak into the hearts of his hearers (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

One of the keys to developing more contextualized approaches to sharing the gospel is the understanding of worldview and those elements in their worldview that cause them to be positive toward Christianity (bridges) and those beliefs and practices that are contrary to biblical teachings (barriers).  Worldview has been defined in a number of ways, however the heart of the meaning is the overall perspective from which we view and interpret the world. Worldview is the heart of what we believe, value, and do. We often try to change behavior or beliefs but even when change occurs it will only be short-lived at best, if there has been no change at the core level (worldview). This kind of change only comes about through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As discipleship takes place in the life of a believer, their core beliefs are transformed into the image of Christ. The more we understand their perspective at the core level the better able we are to share elements from Scripture that will speak into and replace their worldview with a biblical worldview. This is the heart of real discipleship.

Understanding a people’s worldview is more of process than an event, more art than science. It is also important to remember that a person’s worldview is not static. Major changes in the life of an individual such as trauma or transition may have a profound impact on their worldview. It would be a mistake to assume that someone who grew up in the rural south and relocated to an urban center in the Northeastern U.S. would have the exact same worldview as a person who lived his or her entire life in the same town in the rural south. Likewise, an immigrant who has lived in North America would not have the exact same worldview as someone from the same group who has never left their homeland. Therefore, it is important to understand their current worldview in light of the influences the change and new culture have had on them.

The more time you spend in relationship with those you are seeking to reach the greater your understanding of their worldview. One effective way of securing information to help you understand worldview is through interviewing individuals among the people you are trying to reach. You will want to use a well thought out interview instrument designed to generate answers that will divulge information, which reveals what is at the heart of the people. For information to assist you in developing an interview instrument contact me at gmurphree@namb.net.

As you begin to understand the worldview of a particular people, you will begin to see that there are elements in their worldview that cause them to be positive toward the gospel and Christianity. These elements we call bridges because they provide connection points from the biblical worldview to the individuals’ worldview across which the gospel can flow. This will help you to know which Scripture or Bible stories to share that will have the most impact. An example of a bridge from a typical American couple in the beginning of this article was their view of Scripture. Even though they didn’t own a Bible they viewed it as being a holy book from God. Therefore, they received truth from the Scriptures taught to them and eventually were saved.

There will also be elements in their worldview that are contrary to biblical principles. As you develop a plan for evangelism leading to new churches, you will want to consider these. It is likely that unless you deal with these issues they will not be able to cross over the barrier or barriers and come to Christ. The discipler would need to guide the new believer to replace that existing belief or practice with biblical ones. One such barrier found often throughout the peoples of North America today is the attitude that there are no absolutes and therefore no right or wrong. Obviously before one would be ready to admit their sin as an offense to God, you will likely have to deal with the issue of absolutes.

North America is one of the most diverse mission fields in the entire world with an incredible mosaic of families that have lived here for generations to those who are the newest immigrants. God bless you as you seek to better understand the worldview of those around you and develop plans to evangelize and see churches emerge that will have real and lasting impact on this generation and those to come.

 Written by Greg Murphree. Greg is a member of the Church Planting staff at NAMB.