Meet People Where They Are

Continuing my study in Acts 8 I was reminded of a principle that was taught to me early in my Christian life. We need to develop relationships with people in order to know where they are in their spiritual quest. Some may appear to be ignoring the spiritual part of their being, but even that tells us something about where they are at.

In Acts 8, Philip (the evangelist) is sent to a desert road where he meets up with an Ethiopian eunuch (a leader in his society). The Ethiopian was reading from the Scriptures in the passage we now label as Isaiah 53. This passage talks about a suffering servant whose life was removed from the earth. Philip asked the Ethiopian if he understood the passage he was reading and the eunuch said how could he if there was no one to guide him.

Acts 8:34-35 tells us how Philip responded to the Ethiopian. “And the eunuch answered Philip and said, ‘Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?’ And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” Philip started with the questions the Ethiopian had. This is Philip meeting the person with where they are in their understanding of Scripture and God.

That’s what the women who shared with me in college about the good news of Christ started with. They had spent some time getting to know me, and figuring out where I was spiritually. I didn’t give them much to go with, but eventually, one of the women were able to speak to me in private and discovered all my doubts about the ability to be clean before God. She started from there and shared the gospel message from the Word of God, showing me from the Word, that Jesus was the only way to measure up to God’s expectations for us. Due to her meeting me where I was, she was able to present the gospel in a way that made sense to me . . . and I responded to the Word and came to believe.

I need to be that kind of person also . . . one who gets to know people, build relationships with them and, because of the knowledge of them and the leading of the Holy Spirit, share with them about Christ in a way that meets their needs. I also need to start and end with Scripture because God’s Word has all the answers to life’s questions. I, too, like Philip, need to meet people where they are.