Reimagine Transformation Through the Life of PaulSample

Meeting People Where They Are

Do you ever feel like you’re speaking a foreign language when you try to share your faith? Maybe the people in your life don’t understand church terms, or they seem to live by a completely different set of assumptions about life, truth, and meaning. The issue isn’t that the gospel has lost its power—it’s that we sometimes forget to speak it in a way people can actually understand.

When Paul spoke in the Athenian marketplace, he got the attention of some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. These weren’t casual bystanders—they were serious thinkers who’d spent their lives wrestling with life’s biggest questions. Some dismissed him as a “babbler,” but others were curious enough to invite him to speak at the Areopagus—the epicenter of intellectual life in Athens.

Paul could’ve written these people off as arrogant or too wrapped up in their philosophies to hear truth. He didn’t. He saw them as seekers—people asking real questions, even if they didn’t yet have the right answers. The Epicureans were searching for happiness and freedom from pain. The Stoics pursued virtue and harmony with the natural world. They were all grasping for meaning in their own way.

Paul didn’t water down the gospel to reach them—but he did adjust his approach. Unlike his sermons to Jewish audiences, he didn’t begin with Scripture. He began with them—with their beliefs, their longings, and even their altar to an unknown god. He met them where they were, both intellectually and spiritually.

That tells us something vital about how to share our faith: we don’t need to compromise the truth, but we do need to communicate it clearly, in a way people can receive. Paul spoke their language—literally and culturally. He knew their worldview well enough to build a bridge from their search to God’s answer.

The same is true for us. People around us are coming from all kinds of starting points. Some are carrying relational wounds. Others are disillusioned with unfulfilled career goals. Some are facing health crises. Others appear to have it all but feel hollow inside. Everyone’s story is different—but each one is searching for something.

That’s why we must become students of people. What questions are they asking? What keeps them up at night? What brings them joy? When we truly understand where someone is coming from, we can gently point them toward where God wants to take them. This week, choose a person who seems spiritually closed off and spend time learning their story.

Reflection Questions:

1. How can you show genuine interest in others’ stories as a bridge to spiritual conversations?
2. What “languages” (interests, experiences, struggles) could you learn to better connect with those in your community?

Prayer:
God, help me become a better listener and learner. Give me wisdom to meet people where they are and lead them to Jesus. Make me a student of the hearts around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.