Chameleon for Christ
Chameleon for Christ by Rev. L. John Gable
August 11, 2019
I’d like to give you an insight in to a dilemma every pastor I know encounters from time to time, at what point when meeting someone new do you disclose that you are a pastor? I know I have told you stories about this particular dilemma before and I’ll admit that I go back and forth on my own response, largely depending on how I read the given situation. There are times when I choose to disclose early on in the conversation which invariably leads either to a shrug of the shoulders or an opportunity for me to share Tab stories, you know how much I love to tell Tab stories. I can also think of times when I have chosen to keep my profession to myself only to have it disclosed much later in the conversation and then it is always interesting to watch as people mentally scan their brains trying to remember what they might have said or any swear words they might have uttered earlier in our conversation. I have even discovered that the “to tell or not to tell” is not always the pastor’s dilemma alone. Early in my ministry Kris and I were invited to a social gathering at a friends’ home. When we arrived the hostess took me aside and said, “Do you mind if I don’t introduce you as my pastor? I want people to like you!”
So the dilemma persists, to tell or not to tell, and it seems this is not just for pastors and parishioners as Paul seemed to have wrestled with something of the same himself, and for good reason.
We know Paul as the great evangelist of the early church, but he also had a back story. Recall, prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus he was an accomplished Pharisee and a great persecutor of the church. So once he started preaching and teaching about Jesus he had some credibility issues to deal with. While once a well-respected Jew his Jewish audiences now viewed him with contempt as a traitor. His Gentiles audiences thought that he only spoke foolishness by proclaiming there to be only one true God and one Savior Jesus Christ. And even his Christian audiences were suspicious of him fearing that his preaching may be nothing more than a ruse for further persecution. So, gaining a hearing was no easy task for Paul.
So we read in our passages from I Corinthians the approach he took to the dilemma of to tell or not to tell. He writes, “To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win some Jews. To those under the law (we might think of them as God-fearing Gentiles who followed the Jewish dietary laws) I became as one under the law so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law (meaning Gentiles) I became as one outside the law so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that I might by all means save some. I do all for the sake of the Gospel.”
Was Paul being wishy-washing here, saying one thing in one place and something completely different in another, trying to please all the people all the time? On the surface that may appear to be the case, but I don’t think so. He makes his motive very clear in each instance. His purpose, whoever he was with, in whatever setting he found himself, was to proclaim the Gospel message so as to win some to Christ. He was willing to make himself adaptable if in any way he could make Christ presentable and acceptable. He was willing to modify his behavior, depending on the setting, without abandoning his message. In this he was willing to become what I will refer to as a “chameleon for Christ.” Willing to change his colors, if you will, depending on his audience (Jews, Gentiles, Christians) without changing motive or message, that of bringing some to faith in Jesus Christ. Not to push the analogy too far, but just as a chameleon knows who it is despite its adaptation to a changing environment, so Paul knew exactly who he was, a man in Christ, “a slave of Christ Jesus” to use his own language, willing to be adaptive in order to share the Gospel message. So rather than being wishy-washy, I think Paul’s approach is both brilliant and masterful.
This dilemma of how we are to remain true to ourselves and to Christ in the various settings in which we find ourselves belongs not just to Paul or to pastors, but to each and every one of us, doesn’t it? Which of us has not found ourselves in the awkward position of being in a setting or a conversation with friends, at work, at school, in casual conversation with a stranger in which we find ourselves feeling uncomfortable with the way the conversation is going, the direction of the decisions being made, the tone or language being used when referring to others with whom the group seems to disagree or disparage? What do you do in those awkward moments when your thoughts are conflicted, your gut is turning and your impulse to say, “Hey, as a Christian and I’m not comfortable with this” just doesn’t seem to work, or you can’t summons the intestinal fortitude to say it? Whether the topic is social, or racial or political or theological, we’ve all been there, haven’t we?
In here we can nod our heads in genuine agreement with one another when we hear the teachings of Jesus and the truths of our faith about love and justice and kindness and welcome of the other, but putting those truths in to practice or standing up for them out there becomes a bit more of a challenge, doesn’t it? How do we live, as the Amish say, “Out among the English?”
There are many approaches we might take to this dilemma we find ourselves in. One possible solution is simply to absent ourselves from any such behavior and those who practice them, to surround ourselves only with other Christians or those with whom we always agree. But that too poses a problem because even we who call ourselves followers of Jesus are too often practitioners of attitudes and behaviors unbecoming of our Lord or our bearing of His name. And were we to excuse ourselves entirely from the culture around us what opportunities would that leave us to be witnesses for Christ, salt and light in the world?
Some among us, when finding ourselves among those with whom we disagree, choose to “speak out” or “get up and walk out”. Others of us choose simply to sit silently, or worse yet, to nod our heads or give a passive smile when an off-color joke or a discriminatory comment is made. We take the “go along to get along” approach in the hope that the topic of the conversation will change, quickly. I will confess when I do that I find myself feeling as though I have missed an opportunity to speak a word of faith or at least of reason or moderation.
Is that what we think Paul was doing when he says he was trying “to be all things to all people”, just agree with everyone on everything so as to avoid the confrontation? I don’t think so; rather I think he was doing something you and I can do as well. In each of his given situations he clearly knew who he was (a man in Christ, a slave of Christ) and he knew what his purpose and intention was (to win others to faith in Christ), so he was willing to change his approach, perhaps even his behavior in each given situation, without changing his message or intention. As he writes this word of advice, “Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.”
Paul knew exactly what he was doing. To use the language of Young Life, he was trying to “earn the right to be heard” by his various listeners by coming alongside them, by entering in to their worlds, by engaging in their discussions; not in order that he might become like them, but that they might become like him and more importantly, like Christ. He was being a conciliator, a bridge-builder, by seeking to overcome cultural or ethnic divisions and bringing all sorts of disparate people together with the desire that some, if not all, might hear the message of Jesus and respond. That is an effort and an approach to evangelism and faith-sharing that can’t be done from afar or from ivory towers or elevated pulpits, but must be practiced one on one over coffee and conversations and it requires spiritual adeptness, some awareness and emotional intelligence.
I think Paul is inviting us and challenging us to walk a very fine line here, but he is giving us the tools to do so. So often we in the church ask the question, how can we get them, meaning those outside the church, to become more like us? Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Perhaps the better question is, how can we become more like them in order that they might become more like Jesus? Paul is modeling exactly what Jesus has done for us. Jesus came to us so that we might come to Him. He became like us so that we might become like Him, so Paul is arguing/encouraging us to go to others, to come alongside them, to engage in those conversations, with the clear intention, and this is where the fine line comes in, with the clear intention that in those settings we might represent Christ.
How do we do that? In Paul’s world, he acted like a Jew when he was with Jews, like a Gentile when he was with Gentiles, like a Christian when he was with Christians, not an easy balancing act to be sure, but his intention in every setting was the same, that he might show Jesus Christ.
Is it possible for us to do the same? I’ll admit the challenge is a bit more difficult for us even than it was for Paul. For him many of the points of disagreement in his day centered on adherence to dietary laws, and in his age Jews and Gentiles and Christians would never mix and mingle; not so in our age. Those groups and a myriad of others overlap in every setting we are in, so how can we use Paul’s model in our circumstances?
First and foremost, we need to remember who we are and Whose we are. Regardless of where we are, who we are with or the topic of conversation or decision-making we find ourselves in, we need to remember that our identity is found in Jesus Christ and we can’t abdicate that. We are Christ’s ambassadors in every one of those settings, so we need to keep in mind that our desire, as representatives of Christ, is to represent Him well. We may be privy to conversations or even decisions with which we do not agree or that seem contrary to our faith, but we do not need to be party to them. We can and must speak and act and vote our conscience in ways that are clear and informed by our faith. Of course we must speak up or speak out when words or actions are racist or sexist, hurtful or harmful. We need to counter negative talk with positive truths (spoken and posted) and stand up against racism and discrimination in its myriad of forms, but we need also to strive to do so in a manner that represents both the truths and the character of Christ, which means every circumstance we find ourselves in might require a different or nuanced response. Am I in any way suggesting that we don’t need to speak up and defend our faith or our sensibilities? No, of course not; but I do believe we would do well to learn to listen, not just talk or debate in order to win arguments. While a timely word wisely spoken is often beneficial, I am not always convinced that winning arguments for Christ actually furthers the cause of Christ. We must also practice respect, particularly with those with whom we disagree. “A gentle word turns away wrath” reads the Proverb. Is this being soft and wishy-washy? I don’t believe so. Paul was not avoiding the issues of moral and immoral behavior, rather he was saying, “I am willing to walk alongside these people in order to win some of them to Christ. I am willing to go with them in order to bring them to Him”, and I believe we can do the same.
I will admit, these are difficult situations we find ourselves in. They require us to be adept and perceptive in each given circumstance; willing to accommodate but not to acquiesce on matters of faith and truth and fairness; to change our methods but never our motives, that of sharing the Gospel truths and pointing to Jesus in both our words and our actions; becoming enough like the culture to find a place at the table, but not so much like it that we lose our distinction or distinctiveness; openly showing the difference Jesus Christ can make in the way we live our lives, not by hiding, but by living fully in Him and in the world and in all of this, trusting the work of the Holy Spirit to use us, even when our words and actions seem to be inept and inadequate.
I believe that while we, as followers of Christ, need to stand firmly in and for the cause of Christ in our speech and in our actions, I also believe we need to find ways to change the tone of the conversations we find ourselves in. We need to be careful that in our efforts to fight dragons we don’t become dragons ourselves. Words matter and tone matters, theirs and ours alike. This is what I believe Paul was doing, and we can do as well, when he writes that he was trying to be “all things to all people that we might by all means save some.” As long as we know who we are and Whose we are and Who we represent in every given situation that looks very much to me like trying to be a “chameleon for Christ”.