In this weeks thoughts, I want to take us to Acts 21:37-22:21. This is where Paul addresses a mob of people who are opposing him. I want to focus in on a couple things within this passage. The first is the language Paul uses and the second is how he relates to the people.

This first point might seem pretty simple, but Paul addresses the crowd, or mob, in Aramaic instead of Greek. He does not do this in order for more people to understand, but he does it to relate better to the crowd. The group of people he is addressing is Jewish, and he knows their preferred language is Aramaic. I would venture to say that when we are talking to people, we should use language that is understandable. I will come back to this in a minute, but first let’s get back to the second point, on how Paul relates to them.

Paul relates to the mob of people by telling them he is one of them, and that he used to persecute Christians. He appeals to the Jewish community by showing he is one of them. He uses this platform to then share his conversion to following Jesus.

This are two pretty simple things, using a more accessible language and relating to the audience, but I believe they are extremely important when sharing about our faith. We should take notes from Paul and find ways to relate when sharing the Gospel message, don’t forget you were a sinner in need of repentance too, relate to people! We can also use language that is less confusing to people, or at least explaining church words that we have grown up around that people might be unfamiliar with.

Let’s get to know some new people and find ways to relate with them, and share the good news of Salvation!

Thanks for Reading,

Pastor Josh