God never called us to preserve man made delivery systems.  God has commanded us to take His Truth to people in relevant ways so they will find forgiveness and freedom and hope.  And it is our responsibility to deliver that message in language that is clear, in a way that is meaningful and helpful for their lives today. 

I want to give you some examples of what God did.  He commands us to do it.  To not think about the delivery system is to absolutely defy what God wants us to do. Jesus is the first example and when Jesus attempted to share the Truth in a culturally relevant way, the religious leaders did not care for the change all that much!  So they condemned him. 

Matthew 9:10-13.  While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

Jesus ate with Sinners and Tax Collectors and back then, tax collectors were the lowest of the lowest!  They were fellow Israeli’s who betrayed their people and joined Rome in extorting Jews for money.  It was all about money.  And Jesus was partying with them. 

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

When Jesus came, he did not come as a cultural weirdo!  He wore the clothing of the culture. When he came, He changed languages.  He shared God’s truth and He met their needs in a tangible way!  And in so doing, He taught us how to deliver the message.  You communicate God’s truth in the context of your culture!  You choose a deliver system that gets it to as many people as possible.  

2 Corinthians 5:20  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf:  Be reconciled to God. 

What is an ambassador?  It’s a person who knows and understand the laws and the culture, the will, the expectation of a nation.  And then they represent those values in a foreign nation.  If you are good ambassador  you have to know the language, the customs, you have to know how the people in this new land think and understand.  A good ambassador takes the truth of his nation and reveals it to another nation. 

When you became a believer, you were given citizenship in heaven.  You become part of the kingdom, the family of God.  And you are living in a foreign land.  You are from a nation of light and you are living now in a land of darkness. 

God chose to make his appeal to a world that he loved enough to die for, through us.  He declares his hope through us.  The CHURCH IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD!