All Things to All People — Colossians 3

0:00 Alright. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. It's a real privilege to be with you again after some time. Some of you may not know this, but we're, Lord willing, we're planning on traveling back to Zambia in a couple of months in October, lord willing.

0:20 And so this could be the last time we're with you for a while. So it's it's just really great to be here. I'd like to introduce, obviously, most of you know my wife and our two kids, Johnny and Tally, and then my friend, Lisu. We've been friends since elementary school back in Zambia, and he came to The US to do a course in business leadership in Texas and took the time afterwards to come and visit us, and we're really glad that he he came here. Some of you may have seen these pictures up here in the past before.

0:57 These pictures are from my wedding back in 2015 with my wife. We were married December 2015. And I just wanna share some of the the cultural aspects that go along with that. Backtrack to August 2015, my wife and I were already couple and I went to her parents. I had to bring some people who know me really well to her parents to basically negotiate a bridal price for my wife to be.

1:34 The way it works is I bring people from the assembly or just different people who know me really well. They have their people, relatives or even close friends from the assembly. I get to their house, which is in the background there. I get to their house, go through the front door, and everyone else is there already. They take me to the couch and they sit me right in the middle between these two really tall guys.

2:03 I'm thinking, oh man, what am I getting myself into here? So the the way it works is that all the guys you bring do the negotiating on your behalf. And as a groom, you don't say... Or groom to be, you don't say anything. And and they they negotiate all the bridal price and stuff.

2:23 And then when it's complete completed and you've settled settled everything, you you bring a little bit of cash out, put it in a bowl with a cover on top of it, and you hand it to the parents. And that is called which means closing the door. Basically, that means is that her parents will not consider any other guy for their daughter. She's she's sealed. She said she's mine, basically, until the wedding.

2:53 And so now fast forward to December, these pictures happened the day after the wedding. And the way it works is that the wedding is an all day event. We started at about ten in the morning and went through till six or seven in the evening. And the day after, you know, we can't just go straight to the honeymoon. They do this big meal.

3:20 All the ladies from the assembly, from even the community gathered together with my wife, and and they teach her how to cook. And it's like showing her just different different types of meals and stuff, which I found interesting because, you know, that's why I married her because she knew how to cook already. But anyways, that's that's just the way way things are done. And then... And so that that's what they're they're doing there.

3:48 And it it's a big meal, very big, lots of there are lots of dishes with all kinds of of stuff. What they're cooking there is a thing called enshima. It kind of looks like mashed potatoes when it's done, but it's all... It's a lot thicker and more more firm. You can roll it up into a ball and you eat it with different condiments.

4:30 And you know, that's what the Lord Jesus did for us as well. He paid a bright... A big price for his bride, the church, which we spent time remembering this morning. The reason why I talk about this is because if if I did not go through those different cultural issues such as the bridal price negotiations, etcetera, I might not be married to my wife today. And when it comes to our lives in this world, you have to ask yourself the question, why did the Lord Jesus leave you and I in this world?

5:14 Why didn't he just take us home? Why didn't he just rapture us the moment that we were saved? The moment we trusted Christ as our savior. Growing up in this world, he has left us with a purpose. And being in this world, we are influenced by so many different things.

5:30 The culture that we grew up in, the country, the language that surrounds us, the food that we eat. All these different cultural influences affect us, who we are at this very moment. And so if I could title this, I would title this, you've all heard the phrase, in the world but not of the world. And I've added a little extra part there, rather, sent to the world. Because the idea is that God has not just left us in this world to just simply exist, but he's left us here for a purpose.

6:08 And we'll find out exactly what that purpose is. In other words, subtitled the gospel in my culture. And if we could just start by looking at Colossians chapter three verses nine to 11. Colossians three verses nine to 11. Paul writes saying, do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

6:46 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. When we look at our our culture today and the way things are going, it seems that everyone is focused on what the outward appearance of a certain person is. What is their skin color like? What is their background? What is...

7:13 But you know what the Lord Jesus or what the Bible teaches us about the Lord? Is that He does not judge us based on our outward appearance, but He looks at the heart. And when he looks at the heart, he sees us as all the same. Sees us as number one, made in his image. And being made in his image gives every single person in this world value.

7:36 Now, unfortunately, it's a marred image. We are stained by sin, and that also is what makes each and every one of us equal. But most importantly is what he did to to correct us. And so God gives us three instructions for us to effectively be a light for the gospel in our respective cultures. What are these three instructions?

8:02 And this is really kind of... I've been thinking about this a lot, especially since we're planning to go back to Zambia in a couple months. And I know we've been back for visits over the last few years we've been here, but it it will be interesting just getting re acclimated to the culture there. And I'm just... I'm thinking, how can I be effective in the culture over there when I go back?

8:27 But put that on back to us here. How can we be effective in our own culture to share the gospel and get the gospel to people? So what are these three instructions? Number one, to know your true identity within culture. Number two, to follow Christ over culture.

9:34 Paul is talking here to the Ephesian believers. And in the context, the context beforehand, he has gone into detail describing the grace of God in our salvation. That we're saved by grace and not of works, and through faith, etcetera. And now he's describing two groups of people that have been known that you read about them throughout the whole Old Testament, and that is Jew and Gentile. When you go throughout the whole Old Testament, there's on...

10:07 Basically, there was two groups, Jew and Gentile. But there's a distinction between the two. The Gentiles were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. They were without God and without hope. And you can see from the screen the the separation between the two, actually between the three of them.

10:30 Between Jew and Gentile, and between both of those and God. And this is what Paul is reminding the Ephesian believers here that one time you were separated from Israel, but not only that, you were separated from God himself. Now when you look at the Old Testament, were there Gentiles who were saved? Yes, there were. Think of people like Nebuchadnezzar, Rahab, etcetera.

10:56 But even Gentiles who were saved and had come into the nation of Israel, there was still a distinction between them. They could only go so far into the temple. They had to stay out in in the outer court, the court of of the Gentiles. They could not go as far as the Jews. And so while they were still saved and they served the true God, there was still this distinction between them.

11:21 And it's a distinction and a separation that God himself made in the Old Testament. And part of the purpose was, you know, so that he could have a people for himself by which Messiah could come and be the savior of all. But now things are different. If we look in verse 13, says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made the both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from the two thus making peace.

12:09 And that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who are far off and to those who are near. For through him, we both have access by one spirit to the father. Things are different now. There's a new entity in play here, and it's called the church.

12:34 It's something that is distinct from both Jew and Gentile. It is something brand new. A lot of people today would confuse the two and say, oh, the church has replaced Israel. That the church has taken over. God's not dealing with the nation of Israel anymore, etcetera, which is not the case at all.

12:55 You'll notice in verse 15 what it says. It says, so as to create one new man from the two, And that he might reconcile them both to God in one body. That is both who? Both Jew and Gentile. And so what happens when Jews and Gentiles, both of whom need a savior, both of whom need Christ, what happens is when they trust Christ, they become part of this one new man, this new body, also known as the church.

13:27 And the church at at the time of Pentecost was something brand new. You don't find it in the Old Testament. It was something brand new that God was starting to do. In in the next chapter, chapter three, Paul calls it a mystery. Something that was not known beforehand, but God has now revealed it through his apostle...

13:48 Apostles and prophets. And this is very under... Important to understand because you... There's a lot of confusion where people in the church today will take something that was meant for the nation Israel and apply it to themselves. But that is not the case.

14:08 But the point that I'm getting here is this is your identity if you are a believer in Christ. You may have a background as a Jew or as a Gentile, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, he has made us both one. And so that means... What does that mean? That means there's no room for any of the distinctions that the world might make, whether it's along racial lines, or ethnic lines, or or cultural lines, etcetera.

14:37 Now there's beauty in all of that. God has made this incredible amount of diversity. It's like a kid on Christmas day and seeing all the packages and and the presents and they're all different colors. And that... It would be kind of boring if they were all the same color.

14:53 Right? But it but it's all very colorful. And and this is what... How God has created each and every one of us. But yet we are one, especially if we are believers.

15:07 We are one. We are part of the same family, part of the same entity that is the church. Now if God can reconcile a distinction that he made himself between Jew and Gentile and bring unity, how much more so all the divisions and the distinctions just within the Gentile group that we have made, the man made distinctions. Absolutely so. Absolutely.

16:14 So once we've trusted Christ, we've been put into the church. And what does that make us? In verse 19, it calls us to be fellow citizens with one another. Again, this is our identity. This is who we are primarily.

16:29 Philippians, Paul says that our citizenship is in heaven. That's our primary citizenship. It's not this world. It's not whatever country we're from in this world. It is heaven.

16:40 And it continues saying that you are members of the household of God. We're related to each other. We're family. And then finally, in verse 21, we're built together in Christ. And the church is a new thing.

16:55 It was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ being the chief cornerstone. And just to briefly say, a lot of guys today would go around saying, I'm apostle so and so, prophet so and so, but I can't be because they were for the foundation of the church. They were there for the very beginning, and we still have that foundation with us today. It's it's right here in the words that they wrote down for us.

17:21 God's book. And so I don't know how long... How far this building is getting, you know. The apostles and prophets are the foundation. I might be this piece of dry, whatever, drywall over there.

17:36 Maybe you're this light or whatever. And I don't know how close we're getting to the top, but God is building his church. People are getting saved, and and I think he's gonna come back soon for his church. Don't know when, but he's coming back. And so do we understand our identity?

17:54 When I was in Zambia about to to get married, I was with my father-in-law in the car and we're driving. We went to go... We were going to pick up my wife. They were at a tailor. And we're waiting for them in the vehicle and I noticed some boys outside the window and they were talking and they were pointing at me.

18:13 I can't understand what they were saying because they were speaking a different language, but I understood one word. They were saying, which in in Zambia that means a Chinese person. And so... And my my father-in-law confirmed, he's like, Sunny, they they think you're a Chinese man. Like, oh, really?

18:38 Okay. You know, because my hair is so black and squinty eyes and whatever, you know. So anyways, I I rolled down the window and I I looked at them and greeted them in the language I know, which is Lunda. I say, oh, Like, oh, that's a white person, a white person. And then they ran away.

19:02 And so, but the... What I'm getting with that is that, let's say that was possible. I was able to be born again, if you will, into a Chinese person... Family. That would be my identity as a Chinese person.

19:17 But I would still have maybe some characteristics, some things of my old American nature or whatever, if you will, as a residual there. But as I'm in the Chinese family, that's my new identity and I learn and I grow slowly over time, my actions conform to my identity. And I think it's the same in the Christian life. We have a brand new identity in Christ. We've been born again.

20:17 And is there a brother or sister that you might need to be reconciled with practically? Second point is follow Christ. We are to follow Christ over culture. And let's turn to John chapter 17. John chapter 17 verse 11.

20:48 This is the Lord Jesus when he's praying right before his crucifixion. And he's he's spending time praying to his father for his disciples. And he says in verse 11, now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world and I come to you holy father. Keep through your name those whom you have given me that they may be one as we are. You notice that he says, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

21:19 The Lord Jesus, when he ascended back to his father, he did not take his disciples with them, but he left them in this world. And this... In this world would mean the physical location of this world. He left them here. And being in this world, we are...

21:36 You could say it's our location. We are here to integrate with culture. Some Christians will say, no, we should completely separate ourselves from the world, from culture, and not have anything to do with them at all. But that's not what the Lord Jesus would have of us. He has left us in this world for a purpose, and we'll get to that.

21:58 We are in this world to make an impact for him primarily. And we are here to integrate with the culture around us to make relationships with people. So look at verse 14. I've given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.

22:31 They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. And so though, while God has left us in this world, we are different from the world. We are not of the world.

22:48 This would refer to our world view. Not conforming to the culture, especially when it comes to beliefs and moral behavior. We live in this world. We're a part of this world. Whatever culture we're living in, we're a part of that.

23:05 But when culture goes contrary to God's word, whether in beliefs or moral behavior, we do not conform to it. We conform to his word. We stick to this word. That is why where we follow Christ over culture. In verse 17, he says, sanctify them by your truth.

23:29 Your word is truth. Sanctify means to set apart, to make them different from the world around us. If we are not different from the world around us, then why bother trying to convince them to come and join us, to be saved? And why would they think... They would think, you know, why why should I accept what you have to offer?

23:50 You're no different than I am. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. Rather, and I added this myself, rather, sent to the world. In verse 18, as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. God did not leave us here to merely exist, but to go into the other world, to share the gospel with people, to be a light to this culture.

24:17 I often wonder, I think, you know, when you look at end time events with the with the rapture and then you have the tribulation afterwards, you can easily see why the world descends into such chaos during that time. Because the the church is to be salt and light in this world. The Lord Jesus said, you are the light of the the world. You're you're the salt. And if the light and the salt has been taken out of the way, is there any wonder that it goes the way it goes in the tribulation?

24:53 We are we are left here for a purpose, so that others may be saved as well, so that they may trust the Lord Jesus as their savior also. John three seventeen, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And we have that same mission. The the same mission that the Lord Jesus started is ours as well. I like this quote by Hudson Taylor, was a missionary in the eighteen hundreds to China.

25:25 He was very different from a lot of missionaries at that time who had a very kind of a superior racial attitude to the Chinese people who were there. He took a totally different approach. He said, I'm going to make myself as Chinese as possible, so I can reach as many as possible. He dressed like them. He cut his beard like them.

25:45 He walked and talked and ate like them. And he said this, why should such a foreign aspect be given to Christianity? The word of God does not require it, nor I conceive could sound reason justify it. It is not the denationalization, but the Christianization of this people that we seek. We wish to see Chinese Christians raised up men and women truly Christian, but with all truly Chinese in every sense of the word.

26:15 We wish to see churches of such believers presided over by pastors and officers of their own countrymen, worshiping God in the land of their fathers in their own tongue and in edifices of a thoroughly native style of architecture. Let us in everything not sinful become Chinese that we may by may by all means save some. He had a heart for the Chinese people whom he was trying to reach, and he wanted to become as much like them so that he could get the gospel to them as much as possible. And and this is applicable to every every culture, every country in this world. And so what about you?

27:00 What is God saying to you based off of this passage? Are you in some way integrating with the culture? Have you unnecessarily separated yourself from the culture? Have you... Or on the other hand, have you let the culture influence you too much?

27:19 Is there some sinful part of culture that is pressuring you to conform sinfully? Are you being a light for the gospel? Is there someone you need to share the gospel with? And finally, we are to witness effectively to culture. Let's look at first Corinthians chapter nine.

28:25 To those who are without law as without law, Not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I become all things to all men that by all means, I might that I might by all means save some. The apostle Paul had a heart for reaching people, and he wanted to reach them where they were at. We have a saying at at the Ezekiel Project when we're teaching evangelism, and we were just out at in New York City where we did a seminar training in evangelism.

29:11 And we say, take the people from where they are to... Take them from what they know to what they do not know. Reach them where they are at. And Paul, if if he wanted to reach the Jews, he became like a Jews, like a Jew. So often when he went to a place, he would go to the local synagogue and witness to...

29:33 And try to share Christ with them. To the Gentiles, he became like a Gentile. To those under the law, etcetera. But he never compromised himself sinfully. He never got engaged in the culture in a sinful way.

29:49 I look at our own culture. So many churches, so many people have compromised. Think of the whole LGBT agenda going on. So many churches have gone on promoting that kind of lifestyle and promoting that within the church as well. And believers have compromised on these issues.

30:13 That is not what this passage is talking about here. We want to reach them where we are. We want to get to know them. For example, people of that community. To listen to them, to show compassion on them, but we cannot compromise what the word of God says.

30:31 Unfortunately, our culture has redefined love to make love mean affirmation, that we agree with them. But then my question is, why doesn't it work the other way around? Why why are they still loving even though they don't affirm what we believe? But when it comes to them, we can still love them. I saw a sign at University of Michigan saying, it had that phrase, love the sinner or hate love the sinner, hate the sin.

31:09 And it had crossed out hate the sin and just just love was remaining. But that that's not true love at all. We are to love the sinner, but still hate the sin. Because it's a sin and it's not just focusing on them, it's our own sin as well. It's our sin, their sin, whatever sins that might be that put our savior on the cross.

31:39 It's why he had to die to save us from that sin. But we want to become all things to all people, so that we might by all means, save some. First Corinthian, or verse 23, now this, and why did Paul go through all this trouble? Says, now I do this for the gospel's sake that I may be partaker of it with you. Some examples of this are in in Ezekiel chapter three.

32:45 He saw what they were going through being in captivity. He observed the sins that they had amongst them. That is the reason why God had, you know, destroyed Jerusalem and brought them brought them captive. And it was only once he had gotten to know where they stood and put himself in their shoes that he's now started his ministry and the rest of the book of Ezekiel details his ministry. Paul does the same thing in Acts chapter 17 in Athens.

33:19 He goes to Athens and it says that his spirit was provoked within him because he saw all these idols all over the place. And he doesn't go straight and and preach the gospel to them. The first thing he does is walk around the city, observing the culture, but especially the religious culture that was going on there. And he sees all these idols and he notices one altar to the unknown god. And that's actually a picture of an altar to an unknown god.

33:50 And he says to to the Athenians, he says, I noticed that altar and him, the God that you do not know, him I preach to you because he is the God who created all things, who created even the material that you use to make all these different idols. He took them from what they knew and brought them to what they didn't know, and that was the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He even knew them so well he quoted their poets. And and so these are just good examples for us as we look at our own culture and we think how can we apply the gospel to within our own culture. What things about our own culture, what things even about an individual person, tattoos on their arm, what they're wearing, you know, phrases on their shirt, just to be constantly thinking, and I have to work on this in my own life too, constantly thinking, how can I bring that into?

34:53 Or how can I bring the culture or the gospel into that that culture, whether as a group or or that individual's culture as well? And finally, we are to run to win the prize. In verses 24 to 27, Paul says, do you not know that those who run-in a race all run, but but one receives the prize. Run-in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.

35:25 Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. Paul wanted to keep himself disciplined so that he could reach people.

35:51 He wanted to be disciplined in so many areas. In this context, he's disciplined in getting to know people where they're at to bring the gospel to them. But it's also related to his own physical body. So as I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. He wanted to keep his body there so that as a useful resource to be able to serve the Lord effectively.

36:19 God has given us our... All our resources, whether that's finances, whether that's food, whether that's our own physical body, to be used in service for him, and we are to take care to take care of that. But the whole purpose is not not to glorify ourselves, it's to glorify the Lord and to... So that we can be effective in the ministry that God has called each one of us to. In New York, this is Union Square Park.

36:48 When I was a student at Tepsy, we we went... Chris Schroeder took us to Union Square Park. And he said, look over there. There you have the Hindus. Over there you have the Hare Krishna.

37:03 There's the Orthodox Jews. There's the Muslims. There's... And he he went on and on. And then he read the verse from Acts seventeen sixteen.

37:15 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. See, this situation that Paul found himself in was not unique to Athens. It it it's within our own culture here. It's within every single culture. People are worshiping things other than God.

37:42 Whether it could be themselves even. It could be the natural world around them. It could be a specific idol that they are worshiping. But not the one true God. Not the one who created them.

37:58 Not the one that has the best in mind for them. And so what is God saying to you based off of this passage? What are we doing to reach people for Christ? Are we blooming where we are planted? Is there someone that you need to share Christ with?

38:51 He got through the story of how Jesus was betrayed by Judas. And at that point, all the people there were clapping and cheering because to them Judas was the hero. In their culture, if you were able to deceive a friend and betray them, you were looked upon as the hero, and they naturally assumed Judas was the hero of the story. And he tried witnessing, he tried getting the God, it wasn't going through. Until finally, he decided he would just give up and come back to The States and leave it to God.

39:30 However, these two tribes didn't want him to leave. They wanted him to stay. And they realized... Because they were fighting each other, they realized that all of that was causing him to to leave. And so they decided to make peace with one another to try to persuade him to stay.

39:47 And in the process, the way they made peace was that the chief of each tribe would give his oldest son to be the son of the chief of the other tribe. And that was how they made peace. And and that's where the connection made. Don Richardson was like, this is it. This is what God did for you.

40:05 He sent his son as the peace child to bring peace between you and God. And that's how he brought it in. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. And that is what God has left us to to do as well. I want to, just in closing here, share briefly about the work that the Lord is leading us to do back in Zambia.

41:02 It's a name that Chi Chi's mother actually came up with. And it's based off of a verse, Ephesians five verse 14, which I'll just read it quickly here for you. Ephesians five verse 14. Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Kutona means to wake up, to open your eyes.

41:35 It can be referred both both literally, the physically, but also in terms of having your eyes open to spiritual things. And that's the reference Chi Chi's mom was saying. Because so often, when I've been working with people in the past, teaching them how to study God's word for their own, for example, they'll say expressions like, the light bulb went on. It's just... It's like...

42:01 Or like a bomb went off in their head and you're... You understand, oh, wow. I never knew God's word said this or that. And so that's the idea behind that there. I wanna just...