Only what they can understand
Growing up in church, I can distinctly remember many times our pastor would tell the congregation the importance of “sharing the gospel” with everyone you meet. “After all,” he said, “you never know when a person’s last day on earth will be. What if you missed the chance to tell them about Jesus?” I could feel the pressure mounting in my adolescent brain…would I be responsible for someone’s eternal destination, based upon whether or not I gave them the whole gospel message every time I talked to them?
I was insecure enough having general conversation with my peers, let alone having the self-confidence to talk to them about Jesus. I knew I wouldn’t have any answers to their questions, but I was more concerned they would laugh me off anyway. I didn’t expect a rehearsed speech about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection would be of any interest to them, either.
Whenever we learn a new subject, we don’t haul off and jump straight into the deep end. Instead, we start with the basics. This is true at all of our education institutions: you start with the 101 class, move up to 102, then 103, and afterward you can progress to the upper level courses.
Jesus took the same approach during His ministry. Throughout all four gospel accounts, His teaching is mainly in parables. A parable is an earthly story meant to convey a heavenly meaning. Jesus used many parable-stories to explain what God was like, or what the Kingdom of Heaven would be like, or how we should relate to each other. These parable stories connected something tangible the audience could relate to, in order for them to understand the spiritual lesson.
We may be tempted to think that Jesus taught everyone every thing about Him at every encounter. However, that just wasn’t the case:
Mark 4:33-34
He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, He explained everything to His own disciples.
When speaking to the crowds, Jesus would present truths in a manner that the crowd could relate to, but then decide for themselves if they wanted to pursue more. Being a disciple – or a “learner” – was an opportunity afforded to those who returned for more teaching and explanation. Outside of the 12 disciples that Jesus chose as His closest students, there were others that followed Him. As one example, we see Jesus sending out 72 followers to spread the message of the Kingdom coming near (Luke 10).
However, someone in the crowd could also set aside the parable-story and not pursue what Jesus was trying to share. Jesus was leaving it to the listener to decide his or her next step.
I take a lot of comfort from seeing Jesus take this approach, especially when reading the words as they were able to understand. Jesus didn’t back up the theological dump truck and flood the crowd with all truth about Himself and the Kingdom. Instead, He met them where they were and gave them the space to digest His teachings further.
Have you ever asked a question and the answer you got back was way more than you bargained for? Or you were introduced to a new concept and you couldn’t wrap your head around it at first. Maybe you needed time to ponder what was said, or perhaps you didn’t fully trust the source…but for whatever reason, there was only so much of the topic you could handle in one sitting.
I think the same situation exists the first time someone hears about Jesus. Seeing Jesus for who He is will completely change the way you view the world, and it can be hard to wrap your head around it. Questions are to be expected, and some people need more time than others.
So don’t feel like you have to overwhelm another person in a gospel presentation. Share something you know – like how Jesus has impacted your life in a way they would be able to understand – then let them see it in how you treat them and others. They may come back with questions, or they may decide not to. Our job is to simply be available to share the gospel…we are not to carry the burden of what they do with it.
Keep Pressing,
Ken