It seems that on this site everyone is either in extreme attack mode or extreme defensive mode (which, in turn, becomes attack mode). That is understandable given the nature of the discussions at hand. However, recognizing that we all may be overly sensitive and may (possibly) read more into people's words than are meant, I would hope that we could take a step back in an effort to give one another the benefit of the doubt.

The discussion at hand is a precarious one. On one hand, in the one new man, there is no Jew and there is no Greek. (Col. 3:11). There is only Christ who is all in all. The Lord is Lord of all, with abounding riches for all who call on Him (Rom 10:12). On the other hand, when preaching the gospel, Paul became "all things to all men" in order to reach unbelievers with the gospel of Christ. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 9. He became a Jew to reach the Jews. He lived under the law to reach those who lived under the law. He became weak to reach the weak. He quoted Greek poets when speaking to the philosophers in Athens. (Acts 17) He had Timothy circumcised when traveling into Jewish regions because Timothy's father was a Greek. (Acts 16).

Yes, it is true that the gospel is just Christ Himself. But we should not say that as a slogan "We must preach Christ alone" in retort to those who would use "methods" or "culture" to reach people. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul was being extremely practical, not simply speaking "high truths." When he said he became all things to all men, it was a practical statement. He compares preaching the gospel to the training of an athlete. His "methods" were so that his preaching wasn't mere "shadowboxing." The phrase, "the gospel is just Christ Himself" is a true one, but if we are not reaching people, we might be "shadowboxing." What we think is "just Christ" may actually be our own unexamined practices, habits or culture.

As a little example, one friend I brought to a meeting (indeed, a diverse one!), said at the end: "The most amazing thing is that the whole group has the exact same intonation when they speak or read!" And its kind of true. Anyone who has spent a decent amount of time in our meetings (and especially the second generation) will know exactly when to pause in prayer for that "amen" from the group, they will be in perfect sync with eachother on where to pause when reading together, and so on... This is, of course, a stupid little example. I bring it up to note that we often pick up practices and preferences that are habits and cultural and which may or may not be "just Christ."

So, the question is this: is it even possible that we have certain unexamined habits or preferences that appeal to one cultural group more than another cultural group, which habits or preferences are more than "just Christ"??? Paul's example is that different practices, demeanor's or approaches will appeal to one group more than another. On one hand, we should seize on this fact in order to reach EVERYONE!!! On the other hand, we should be cautious of this fact and ask the Lord to expose our hearts and our unexamined assumptions about our own habits, preferences and practices - individually and as a group - that He might expose us where we may be turning some away by those unexamines practices and habits. Sometimes, what we assume is "just Christ" can be more than that. We should take a humbled position before the Lord, who is the Author and Perfector of faith. Any single cultural practice or preference (and I don't just mean racial culture) can be "worldly" in one context, "of Christ" in another context, and "neither here nor there" in yet another. They can be hinderances to Christ and they can be useful for the gospel. It depends on their source. And here's a tip: if you don't examine whether certain practices or habits (which we all have, including as a whole group - if you deny this, you're lying to yourself) are of our preference or whether they are of Christ, then you have no idea what their source is... A little examination (done in humility and love toward one another) under the Lord's light is ALWAYS in order...

Maybe we can all step back a bit and have a less black-and-white discussion (no pun intended).

In Love,

Peter