“The gospel is offensive enough—I don’t need to offend or hurt people even more with my clumsy delivery of the truth.”

Speaking as a friend: Learning to talk to non-Christians with sensitivity and humility - WORLD

Discussion

We are called to be honest and share the Gospel, but the author illustrates two points very well. First of all, “Christianese” can go over like a lead balloon because the words have different meanings outside our circles. Second, we need to understand the culture we’re addressing and respect it—in a lot of areas of the world, “face” is hugely important, and you’ve got sometimes to present the Gospel without making the recipient ashamed.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.