Making God Understandable

It is important to learn about people and find ways to make the gospel of salvation through Christ understandable. This is a way to make Christ relevant to our culture. Be aware of what is part of a person’s life that may be used to aid or hinder a comparison explaining the love of God. That way Christians can choose the most effective way to tell about God’s relationships with people.

One example of how important this is comes from what some of the first missionaries to an African village learned. These missionaries went into a village explaining that God stands at the door and knocks, waiting for people to answer the door. This comes from Revelation 3:20 which says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

After some time had passed the missionaries wondered why no one had accepted Christ. Then the missionaries learned that in this village, because there were no doors on the homes, friends who visit each other would call out in the doorway to let each other know they were there to visit. However, thieves would stand outside and knock to see if anyone was at home. Knocking in this village signified a thief, therefore, these missionaries accidentally made Christ out as a thief and someone who the village would fear.

Another situation that Christians should be sensitive to may involve people who have grown up without a good father-figure but may have a mother who has been a good caregiver. God is often referred to as being “Father,” but for people who have broken relationships with their fathers this terminology may not adequately represent God. People may think of God being a father based on their skewed experience instead of what a Christian would intend for the term “father” to portray God as. In this situation the people may be able to relate more to a comparison of God being like their mother who has worked hard to provide and love her children instead of the absent father-figure.

One last example is for an orphan. A person who has never known his or her biological parents may better understand the love of God if it is compared to adoptive caregivers instead of a natural father or mother. Explaining how God loves people who are not his own as if they are his own son or daughter would be understood by someone living in that situation.

These are just a few examples of how to make Christ understood while being sensitive to peoples’ culture and life experiences. It is important that Christians take the time to learn about people and know what will be the best way to portray Christ in an understandable and meaningful way.

In short, this blog is just discussing ways for Christians to make connections between peoples’ lives and the Gospel message in a way that explains it to them in a very effective way. Feel free to comment about other connections Christians can make between peoples’ lives and God in order to explain God’s love effectively!