Finding common ground . . .

Last Sunday I ate brunch at church beside a visitor from another city. We quickly discovered common ground; we both enjoy daily exercise. She had to leave early, but the woman beside her, another stranger to me, struck up a conversation by asking me if I sew and make quilts. Later, I chatted with a man who runs a local mission for homeless people. We’ve both read a book about homelessness and he knows the author. I’ve read another one about a mission in another city and he told me about the speaker at our national prayer breakfast. I was excited, came home and ordered her book. I’ve read about half of it. Yesterday a new neighbor dropped by to introduce herself. Again, it took only moments to find common ground and we are friends.

Today I’m thinking of the value in having a varied background and interests. Without it, getting into a person’s life is difficult if not impossible. We need to speak the same language literally and figuratively in order to communicate. Common ground is a great way to connect.

Paul, who was first known as Saul, was a Greek by culture. He was Jewish by birth but raised and educated in one of the leading centers of Greek learning. He was acquainted with the Greek way of thinking and knew many of the commonly used sayings from classical and contemporary writers. He used these to connect with the people he met.

The first one mentioned was a group of people who lived in Athens, some local and some foreign. They spent much of their idle time talking about new events and ideas. When Paul arrived on the scene, they peppered him with questions about this “new teaching” and he said to them:

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ (Acts 17:22–28)

With this common ground, Paul went on to share the Gospel with them. The Bible says some mocked but others wanted to hear more and some joined him and believed.

The second one is in a letter to a young pastor in Crete. He faced opposition and from his rich knowledge of the area and its people, Paul encouraged him with this instruction:

“They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. (Titus 1:11–14)

Paul’s understanding of this culture enabled him to give advice that may have been too harsh for other situations, but not for this one.

Not only did he read and know other cultures, Paul understood human nature. He could talk to non-Jewish people based on their common ground as human beings. He explained it this way:

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:19–23)

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Lord Jesus, I realize how life’s events give me links to other people. This includes struggles that are common to humanity and a multitude of sinful attitudes that are shared by most of us. You have given me an incredible variety of experiences and continue reveal my own heart with its quirks and foibles. Unless someone cannot understand the words, rarely should anyone give me a blank stare when You give me insight in how to connect with them. Wow, I’m grateful — even for the stuff that seemed useless at the time. You are amazing! Amen.