Well, good morning, team.
Last week, we explored the art of having the gospel heard as good news.
And we particularly looked at Paul in his gospel engagement with the Athenians.
And a central observation was how he connected the gospel to his hearer's world.
Offered Christ as the answer to a question they were asking.
We also noted how the profuse richness of the gospel itself and its abundant themes and variations resource us to do just that.
That is, particularize and personalize the gospel message to each heart at its point of hunger.
Now today, we continue our study by considering six stars to navigate by in our witness-bearing encounters.
That is, beacons which can illuminate our path of engagement.
Principles to bear in mind to help us in our desire to love our neighbor well.
Not simply by seeking to share the good news with them, but how we do so.
And I do hope that a common spirit comes through in these habits offered for our cultivation.
A spirit which I trust is the spirit of Christ.
That said, let's proceed with prayer.
Lord Christ, we thank you that you are our portion and you are indeed the best of portions.
May we enjoy you as such and out of that supreme enjoyment, proclaim you as infinitely enjoyable.
Lord, would you grant us insight and application as we consider these principles together this morning.
And Lord, may we so enjoy the gospel ourselves that it is of great comfort to us, your people,
and great credit to you, our marvelous Savior.
And we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, our first guiding star is proceed with good questions.
Now, I'm probably not capable of overstating the importance of this.
Now, it is a challenge, at least for me, but it is vitally important.
It alone can transform the encounter from a disquisition.
And few can abide being subject to something so one-sided.
From a disquisition to a dialogue.
A dialogue which goes back and forth with the natural sustaining and pleasing rhythm of breathing.
To ask a question is to show interest in the other.
It is to invite their thoughts and feelings.
It is to beckon them to build something together.
And by proceed with questions.
And by proceed with questions, I mean begin and continue with questions.
And last week, we observed the importance of connecting the gospel to the concerns of the other if the gospel is to be heard as good news.
But unless we are content to be heard as good news.
But unless we are content to simply speculate, how are we to discover what their concerns are?
Unless we coax them out with questions.
Apart from such revealing questions, we risk casting Christ as an answer to an issue that they don't have.
Hence, it is pivotal to begin with questions.
But once begun, we also want to continue with questions.
For this is the means by which, among other things, the conversation can continue in the natural sustaining rhythm of give and take.
And by good questions, I mean questions which feel natural and appropriate to ask.
And also seminal or germinal.
That is, questions that can give birth to interesting and enjoyable interaction.
A good question is like a womb in which things come to life and gestate and are born.
In similar metaphor, Socrates, a master asker of questions, spoke of questions as midwives.
Facilitating the birth of something.
A truth.
An insight.
An epiphany.
A realization.
A refinement.
A conviction.
Well, let's look at an example of this in Acts 8 with Philip.
Picking up where we left off previously with Philip on his desert road errand.
And happening upon an Ethiopian reading aloud from his chariot.
That's in verse 30.
Acts chapter 8 verse 30.
Which reads,
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,
Do you understand what you're reading?
Notice Philip launches the interaction with asking a question.
Do you understand what you're reading?
The question, what are you reading?
Is a good question, especially in the academy, as people are reading all the time.
And typically, what we read reflects what interests us.
Also, Philip's question of the eunuch and those like it have the promise of engaging the other's point of reference.
Where they are coming from.
We don't ask them to attend what we think is important.
Rather, we reflect in our question that we are willing to attend to what they feel is important.
What if we don't start with questions?
What if we simply launch into a disquisition?
What effect will that have on the interaction of our interlocutors' experience?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, surely they will feel no more than a prop in our own drama.
An object, not a subject.
And notice, as a result of Philip's question,
he is invited by the eunuch to say more.
You see, we want to ask and to respond in a way that results in an invitation to continue.
Not our buttonholing, rather their beckoning,
should be the dynamic that moves the conversation along.
We want to let the other, in virtue of their interest,
keep drawing out our further thoughts and questions.
So let's not assume that they want to hear more.
Let them elicit it.
And again, this is simply what it means to show love in a conversation.
Preferring the other in love.
And not only does Philip begin with a question,
it is the continuing ethos.
It's not, for Philip, simply a formal technique.
It's rather the whole spirit of his interaction.
As the narrative continues,
so verses 30 to 35,
so Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet
and asked,
Do you understand what you're reading?
And he said,
Well, how can I, unless someone guides me?
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this.
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb before his shearers is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
Who could describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.
And the eunuch said to Philip,
About whom, I ask you,
does the prophet say this?
About himself?
Or about someone else?
Then Philip opened his mouth,
and beginning with this Scripture,
he told him the good news about Jesus.
So, amazingly,
Philip finds himself in the chariot next to the Ethiopian,
with the passage of Isaiah the prophet opened before him.
I can imagine myself thinking,
What an entree!
I sure know what to say on this topic.
I've thought a lot about this.
Now is my chance.
But Philip does not say in his zeal,
Oh, listen to this.
I know a thing or two about this topic.
Then launch into a disquisition.
Even at the point where he has so many things he could say,
he holds his tongue and lets the eunuch start with his question.
Had I been in Philip's place,
verse 34, I assure you,
would no doubt have recorded my speech.
In fact, I probably would have started talking
before the eunuch finished uttering his last word in Isaiah's text.
But not Philip.
He does not open his mouth yet.
Rather, he lets the eunuch speak and ask his question.
Then, verse 35,
Then, not before,
Philip opened his mouth.
Friends, this is other-centered witness bearing.
It cares for the other as a person.
It doesn't treat them as a project
or merely a prospective proselyte.
Wise witness bearing
is as much about knowing
when to keep our mouths closed
as when to open them.
And making it our determined practice
to proceed with good questions
could help us realize that ambition.
Here are some questions I recently asked
and found helpful toward discovering
what someone cares about.
Remember, we want to start to connect
the gospel with what people care about.
How do we discover what people care about?
Well, we ask good questions.
Here are a couple that I've used recently.
What was some value that got inculcated
when you were young
that has continued to have for you
a significant afterlife?
If you'd love to share,
I'd certainly love to hear.
Or another I asked this week.
If you were to see your life,
till now,
as a several-act drama,
freeze frame a scene or two
that you would say
have been most determinative
for who you are
or aspire to be.
I asked that one
because the guy introduced himself
as an actor.
I thought it would be apropos
to put it in those terms.
Led to a really good conversation.
Found out a lot about the guy.
Here's another.
If you came across Aladdin's lamp
and were given three wishes,
what three things
would you change about your life
or about the world?
See,
coming up with good questions
is seldom a spontaneous attainment.
Typically,
it requires some advanced pondering.
But I find it is so worth the investment.
For if I have some good questions at hand,
good, salty conversations
are far more likely to emerge.
As a witness bearer,
make it your practice
to concoct and collect
good questions
and launch and lard
your conversations with them.
You know,
a great study to do
would be to go through the Gospels
and look at the questions
that Jesus asks.
That'd be a good way
to be tutored in that.
So there's the first.
Proceed with good questions.
The second star
to navigate by
is
frame
the interaction
collaboratively.
You know,
it's often the case
that as witness bearers,
we find ourselves
inhabiting
a very different worldview
from our neighbor
with whom we're engaging.
Our beliefs and behaviors
are often at odds
and our attempts to persuade
can set us in opposition
and we experience the engagement
conflictually.
We kind of face off
as conversational antagonists.
Far more fruitful,
I've found,
is to frame the discussion
collaboratively
such that we range ourselves
shoulder to shoulder
collectively
addressing the question at hand,
each offering
what they have
to contribute.
How might one do this?
Well,
sometimes
I open a conversation
like this.
Do you ever feel
like life
tosses us up
in the midst
of a drama
and we have to
scramble to figure out
what the drama
is about
and what our role
is in the play?
Do you have
a sense
of what the plot
is
and you're part
of it?
Or sometimes
I might use
a different metaphor.
Do you ever
get a sense
that life
feels like a huge
puzzle that we're
trying to put together
with no picture
on the box
to go by?
Do you think
you've found
any corner pieces?
Is a picture
taking shape
for you?
And sometimes
I'll continue
the metaphor
by taking up
some single
puzzle piece
of life.
Perhaps
the phenomenon
of consciousness
or a sense
of being
in a moral world
or a hunger
a hunger
for justice
or beauty
or intimacy.
Some perplexing
feature
and hold it up
and say
hey
what do you
make of this piece?
What picture
might this point to?
Do you think
the blue here
with a bit of white
suggests ocean
with the crest
of a wave
or could it
perhaps be
sky
with a wisp
of cloud?
In other words
what kind
of universe
do you think
we might be in?
A purely
material one?
Or do you feel
these puzzle pieces
point towards
something else?
Some
transcendence?
Do you see
even feel
how such a
framing
makes a difference
as to how
the interaction
is experienced?
You see
it puts us
alongside our
neighbor
laboring together
to understand
our existence
and unravel
together
its mysteries
not above them
decanting
our pronouncements
from on high
and neither
are we locked
in antagonistic
combat
in some
gladiatorial
fight to the
death.
During the
Hundred Years
War
between England
and France
the English
developed
a decisively
effective
weapon
the longbow
and that
was the
winning weapon
in battle
but it was
wielded
not by the
aristocratic
knights
rather by
the common
yeoman
but to win
the battles
the English
gentry
had to get
down off
their high
horses
and stand
shoulder to
shoulder
with their
compatriot
peasant
and protect
him as he
and his
longbow
delivered the
victory
and historians
credit this
simple act
of standing
shoulder to
shoulder
on the same
footing
with sparing
England the
violent class
revolution which
roiled France
in blood
subsequently
1789
and the
witness bearer
will recognize
a similar
potency
to diffuse
antagonistic
spirit
simply by
reframing our
interactions
collaboratively
getting down
off our
high horse
and standing
side by
side
tackling
together
the mysteries
of existence
so
in your
encounters
frame
your
interactions
collaboratively
it's a
star to
navigate by
and here's
a third
star to
navigate by
listen
well
listen
well
and really
in order for
our first two
guiding habits
to have
any integrity
we really
must listen
well
I mean
if we
don't
listen
well
our
asking
questions
is only
formal
if
their
speech
is only
an
irritating
delay
for our
speech
then
our
asking
questions
is just
hypocrisy
if we
frame the
discussion
collaboratively
but don't
attend
to their
contribution
our
so
framing
the
interaction
is merely
an offensive
technique
I find
often
at the
root of
my
own
failure
to
listen
or to
listen
well
is
sometimes
my
disbelief
that
what I
will hear
is going
to be
anything
worthwhile
that I
really have
nothing to
learn from
my
conversation
partner
now
why would
this
attitude
be
almost
certainly
in
every
instance
wrong
well
because
we know
that
every
other
and
no less
non-believing
others
are
yet
image
bearers
and as
such
have
capacity
for the
good
the
true
the
just
and
beautiful
and
indeed
they may
have
a far
greater
giftedness
for
penetrating
the depths
of those
realities
than
we
have
we
have
something
to learn
from
everyone
and we
have much
to learn
from
many
so
let us
listen
well
let us
ask
ourselves
occasionally
what
have I
learned
from
unbelievers
lately
which has
been
consequential
in my
life
perhaps
even
fundamentally
reframing
if I
answer
that question
honestly
I will
have good
reason to
and want
to
listen
well
and if
I answer
it in the
negative
I suspect
I might
just be
an
epistemological
bigot
that is
thinking I
can learn
nothing
from
unbelievers
then I
just have
bad
theology
I've
completely
missed
the
implication
that every
human being
is an
image bearer
and is
capable
of knowing
truth
or perhaps
my problem
is simply
I simply
interact with
brothers and
sisters of
the sanctuary
and I
fail to
get out
much beyond
church potlucks
oh brothers
and sisters
let's not
let that be
the case
we are not
to be of
the world
but we
are to be
in it
we are to
be in it
so a
fourth star
to navigate
by
in our
witness
bearing
is
lead
with
affirmation
and look
for
resonances
lead with
affirmation
and look
for
resonances
we've
observed this
in Paul
with the
Athenians
remember
he led
with
affirmation
chapter
1722
men of
Athens
I perceive
that in
every way
you are
very
religious
and just
as the
apostle
would be
with his
Athenian
hearers
we
will
inevitably
come
to challenge
and critique
it's going
to be
inevitable
there's going
to be
something
that we're
going to
critique
but
Paul
does not
open
with
critique
and we
would be
wise to
follow him
in this
we also
notice
Paul had
found
within
the Athenians
beliefs
notions
which were
consonant
with
biblical
truth
instincts
that they
had
which ran
along the
grain
of the
gospel
he cites
some of
their poets
and philosophers
affirmatively
and he
builds
his case
in part
out of
their
hunches
beliefs
and values
now what
we might
ask
gave the
apostle
confidence
that he
would find
such
common
ground
even
among
his
pagan
hearers
some
resonances
that he
could appeal
to
and work
with
now this
is important
for us to
have this
confidence
in Romans
chapter 1
Paul relates
that God
has revealed
himself to
humanity
and although
we seek
to smother
the truth
of God
to evade
his claim
upon us
we suppress
this truth
incompletely
and
inconsistently
there
remains
truth
about God
that we
know
notice the
present tense
of verse 32
we know
these things
indeed
our
ongoing
suppression
of these
truths
belies
that it
remains
exerting
counter pressure
and ready
to bob
up to the
surface
of our
consciousness
if we
relax our
efforts
to repress
it
now we
might call
these
vestigial
truths
or echoes
of the
knowledge
of God
and we
through our
rebelliousness
would mute
these echoes
but we
can never
finally
silence
them
we
can never
fully
rid
ourselves
of the
truths
and tokens
that derive
from the
reality of
God
you see
sin
is not
omnipotent
it can
deface
but never
completely
efface
the divine
fingerprints
that are
inscribed
upon
us
image
bearers
neither
the imprint
of the
creator
in
broader
creation
however
much we
try
radically
to
redecorate
our
consciousness
there is
always
furniture
mental
moral
material
that
persists
in
pointing
to
the
divine
presence
!
and so
!
residences
will
always
remain
and when
discovered
we can
affirm
them
it's kind
of like
we need to
hold these
things up
into the
light
and point
out
look
there's a
watermark
here
we didn't
see it
first
point
these
things
out
in
conversations
as
witness
bearers
look
for
opportunities
to
affirm
yes
that
seems
right
to me
yeah
that
instinct
feels
solid
to me
you know
that
strikes
me
as a
critical
thread
in this
matter
let's
pull on
that
together
it
seems
to be
a
promising
lead
so you
want to
look
for
opportunity
to say
such
things
and
lard
your
interaction
with
them
and
even
if we
find
little
to
agree
upon
perhaps
affirm
that
you
share
the
conviction
that
this
is
a
critical
and
consequential
topic
which
deserves
our
best
attention
and
reflection
so
let's
receive
even
as
we
give
so
lead
with
affirmation
and
look
for
resonances
well
here's
another
a fifth
star
to
navigate
by
and
that
is
be
prepared
to
tell
your
story
be
prepared
to
tell
your
story
at
times
the
faith
that
we
commend
is
regarded
by
our
neighbors
as
unimaginable
and
it is
inconceivable
to
them
that
they
could
ever
arrive
at
it
the
conviction
is
like
that
of
the
old
new
england
farmer
who
when
asked
how
do you
get to
a
certain
town
he
responded
!
you
can't
get there
from
here
well
one
helpful
way
of
bridging
that
gap
in
imagination
is
by
telling
the
story
of
how
you
in
fact
managed
to
get
there
you
see
your
story
can
take
the
unimaginable
and
break
it
down
into
small
concrete
steps
I
can't
get
there
from
here
well
sure
you
can
I
did
here's
how
like
Indiana
Jones
in
the
last
crusade
who
remember
that
scene
he
threw
sand
across
on
the
invisible
bridge
across
that
chasm
similarly
our
personal
stories
may
render
visible
a
path
that
as
yet
may
not
be
seen
in
telling
our
story
it
can
be
helpful
to
show
how
where
we
started
out
is
not
that
different
perhaps
from
where
our
hearer
now
stands
and
finds
themselves
so
when
Paul
addressed
Jews
who
found
his
faith
unimaginable
he
emphasized
how
he
had
been
as
he
put
it
just
as
you
are
in
Acts
22
chapter
3
he
says
I
am
a
Jew
he
tells
to
the
crowd
that
he
is
a
Jewish
crowd
that
he
is
conversing
with
I
am
a Jew
born
in
Tarsus
of
Cilicia
but
brought
up
in
this
city
educated
at the
feet
of
Gamaliel
according
to the
strict
manner
of the
law
of
our
fathers
being
zealous
for
God
as
all
of
you
are
this
very
day
he
would
go
on
to
tell
them
that
his
initial
reaction
to the
Christian
faith
was
just
as
negative
as
theirs
likely
more
so
verse
four
I
persecuted
this
way
to
the
death
binding
and
delivering
to
prison
both
men
and
women
as
the
high
priest
and
the
whole
council
of
elders
can
bear
me
witness
now
why
is
this
kind
of
identification
so
vital
you
see
Paul's
hearers
and
ours
must
sense
that
we
get
how
indigestible
our
message
may
sound
to
them
they
need
to
sense
that
we
really
comprehend
and
feel
the
reasons
that
compel
them
to
reject
our
message
and
if
we
don't
acknowledge
the
reality
and
intensity
of
the
bones
stuck
in
the
throat
we
really
won't
have
any
personal
credibility
with
them
it
will
reinforce
the
perhaps
presumed
or
at
least
strongly
suspected
alienness
of
us
not
just
our
message
of
us
interestingly
if we
compare
the two
accounts
of Paul's
telling his
story
that occur
in Acts
one
before the
temple mob
that we
just looked
at
and then
one
before
King
Agrippa
that occurs
in Acts
26
we
notice
some
variation
he
is
adapting
his
testimony
to
his
audience
now
remember
that
every
gospel
testimony
presents
Jesus
as the
answer
to
some
question
and
the
fulfillment
of
some
deep
desire
and
in all
likelihood
our
stories
of
God's
saving
dealings
with
us
will
have
all
kinds
of
themes
and
themes
as
intricate
and
multiple
as
the
distributaries
in the
Nile
Delta
but
which
course
should
our
narrative
take
along
which
of the
many
possible
themes
should
we
unfold
our
story
of
faith
well
let
us
select
our
theme
according
to
which
we
think
might
be
most
resonant
to
our
hearers
in
other
words
we
seek
to
contextualize
our
story
within
what
we
know
of
their
story
and
just
as
the
gospel
itself
has
wonderful
adaptability
and
applicability
so
also
does
our
experience
of the
gospel
and
we
adapt
it
and
apply
it
according
to
our
audience
so
it's
well
worth
thinking
through
the
story
of
how
God
brought
you
to
himself
what
are
its
themes
which
of
those
themes
might
resonate
with
your
as yet
unbelieving
neighbors
see
as witness
bearers
we
want
to be
prepared
to
speak
our
story
and
maybe
be
prepared
to be
able
to
speak
it
variously
along
several
themes
depending
upon
the
resonance
of
each
does
that
make
sense
good
no I'm
glad
I'm
glad
well
as our
final
guiding
star
keep
fresh
and
vivid
how
the
gospel
is
good
news
for
you
keep
fresh
and
vivid
how
the
gospel
is
good
news
for
you
well
we
we've
emphasized
how
for
the
gospel
to
be
heard
as
good
news
we
need
to
connect
it
to
our
neighbors
cares
well
how
does
the
gospel
bring
good
news
to
those
places
which
absorb
them
whether
places
of
longing
reflecting
the
stirrings
of the
image
of God
or
places
of
languishing
reflecting
the
experience
of the
brokenness
in our
fallen
world
we
are
all
as
fallen
humans
in the
image
of
God
a
melange
of
anguish
and
aspiration
a
composite
nursery
of
insecurities
a
china
cabinet
of
fragility
and
an
orphanage
of
longings
and
it is
to
these
soarings
and
sighings
that we
want to
bring
the hope
of the
gospel
but how
will we
grow
in the
skill
of applying
this
the gospel
pan
pharmacon
or the
universal
healing
bomb
to the
ailments
and the
longings
of our
world
how do
we do
it
how do
we get
good at
doing
that
well
by
applying
the
gospel
to
our
own
ailments
and our
own
longings
does that
make sense
yeah
we
we need
to keep
fresh
and vivid
how the
gospel
is good
news
for us
in these
very things
and not
just
generically
but with
all of
its
comprehensive
particularity
and
concreteness
so
when we
ourselves
and we
will
we
ourselves
and we
will
experience
the ache
of longing
then we
need to
ask
of
ourselves
does
does this
not
reflect
the agitation
of a soul
that
shall
never
find
its
full
fulfillment
in
any
earthly
object
see
I'm
preaching
the gospel
to myself
surely
such
earthly
objects
only
stir
up a
hunger
they can
never
satisfy
plunge
myself
in
earthly
pools
as
ever
much
I
may
they
never
satisfy
they
never
have
they
never
will
this
is
my
unrelieved
experience
the
longing
lingers
the
restlessness
always
remains
and
shall
ever
remain
until
it
finds
its
rest
in
the
eternal
God
the
eternal
God
alone
whose
welcome
and
rest
the
gospel
proclaims
and
which
peace
and
joy
I
have
truly
felt
in
my
in
most
places
by
the
power
of
the
Holy
Spirit
what
am
I
doing
I'm
preaching
the
gospel
to
myself
I'm
applying
the
good
news
to
my
aches
so
I
feel
its
comfort
more
vividly
and
I
get
to
the
point
where
I
can
say
can
I
say
one
thing
have
I
desired
that
will
I
seek
after
that
I
may
dwell
in
the
house
of
the
Lord
forever
surely
in
his
presence
his
fullness
of
joy
and
at
his
right
hand
are
pleasures
forevermore
need to
preach
the
gospel
to
ourselves
to
feel
its
vividness
to
feel
that
it
is
good
news
and
when
we
experience
the
ache
of
sorrow
that
slowly
ceaselessly
grinds
our
fondest
earthly
hopes
to
dust
by
its
many
millstones
when
the
quiet
accumulation
of
disappointment
scatters
across
the
landscape
of
our
life
like
the
trail
of
cherished
belongings
discarded
from
covered
wagons
heading
west
over
the
Rockies
when
our
lot
is
the
rubble
and
ruin
of
shattered
hopes
and
aching
loss
can
we
then
yet
affirm
with
Habakkuk
that
gospel
wonder
though
the
fig tree
should
not
blossom
nor
fruit
beyond
the
vines
the
produce
of
the
olive
fail
and
the
fields
yield
no
food
the
flock
be
cut
off
from
the
fold
and
there
be
no
herd
in
the
stalls
yet
I
will
rejoice
in
the
Lord
I
will
take
joy
in
the
God
of
my
salvation
can
we
take
joy
in
the
gospel
can
we
welcome
from
afar
that
sure
and
unfading
gospel
hope
that
Christ
will
himself
wipe
away
every
tear
and
sorrow
and
sighing
shall
flee
away
can
we
hear
within
our
soul
that
voice
of
many
waters
proclaim
behold
I
am
making
all
things
new
and
when
our
sands
are
low
and
the
silver
cord
shall
soon
be
snapped
and
the
pitcher
be
shattered
at
the
fountain
and
the
all
devouring
grave
looms
before
us
and
would
snuff
out
all
things
dear
to
us
upon
this
earth
and
we
must
be
wrapped
in
death's
shroud
make
our
home
in
the
grave
and
mingle
once
more
with
kindred
dust
will
we
yet
hear
those
words
in
faith
whispered
by the
master
I
am
the
resurrection
and the
life
whoever
believes
in me
though
they
die
yet
they
shall
live
oh
friends
as
we
keep
fresh
and
vivid
these
glorious
gospel
truths
in
our
own
life
we
as
witness
bearers
shall
be able
to testify
to them
with
that same
freshness
and
vividness
among
our
neighbors
when
the
gospel
is
good
news
to
us
gloriously
ecstatically
we
shall
be able
to share
it as
indeed
glorious
good news
to
others
amen
thank you
team
next week
we will
continue on
with our
final
session
first
steps
in getting
started
and lord
willing
we will
be
together
then
do
make
haste
so
we
can
make
it
to
the
service
thanks
and
blessings
team
and
lord
willing
see you
next
week
blessings
on
you