Here at Ta Ethne we read a lot. From the Huffington Post and Slate to Red State and the Washinton Examiner. We peruse both CNN and Fox, World Magazine, Christianity Today, Renewal and Patheos. Scientific American and Smithsonian? Check. Christian Pirate Radio and White Horse Inn? Check. All of these are on our list as well as many others. Why? So that we understand our culture. We will read the same article from different perspectives, liberal to conservative, Christian to atheist. Not only are we able to glean insights that way, we begin to understand how we can take the truths of Scripture and share them with others in a relevant way.

I speak at a lot of churches. Many of them have good pastors, who explain Scripture’s meaning to their congregants faithfully. Unfortunately, I don’t see many who can tell their people how to apply those truths to everyday life, and even fewer who can explain to their flock how to tell those truths to unbelievers in a way that is relevant and engaging.

If you want to know how to reach people for Christ, one needs to know where they are so you can meet them there and move them forward, Paul was a master at this and so was Jesus. Here is an exercise that may shock you. Pick a story, any story about a church or ministry or prayer. Read it on at least 3 different sites, one liberal, one conservative, and anything in between. Then, scroll down and read all the comments. Look at the hatred, the sarcasm, the ungodly and immoral values being touted in a superior way by those who do not know Christ. Go to YouTube and watch an inspirational video and read the comments posted there as well. It is better than talk radio in that you begin to see the worldviews expressed with no restraint by those for whom civility has disappeared.

Then go in prayer before the Lord. Pick up your Bible and read. Pray again, asking God to show you how to share His love, His truth, with those who hate Him and are under condemnation. It will change your life. You will begin to become salt and light to a world that is dark and diseased. You will be following in the footsteps of the New Testament apostles as you enter a world that needs Jesus desperately, but doesn’t even know that they do.