Different "spokes"

Back in the day we used to say, "Different strokes for different folks." It was a way of acknowledging that people are unique, and they have their own likes and dislikes, their own way of communicating and of receiving input. That's true, too, when it comes to our desire to share the gospel in a meaningful way with others. We have to speak the language that will best communicate.

The apostle Paul knew that. In the city of Athens, for instance, he interacted with at least three different "audiences": the congregants of the local synagogue, the merchants and customers in the marketplace, and the teachers and legislators of the areopagus. He was speaking the gospel of Christ in each case, but doing so in a way that was designed for the particular audience. In a grammatically poor way, we could describe that as "different spokes for different folks."

How we communicate with teens and young adults about Christ is likely to be different from sharing the same message with the seniors among us. For the former the medium might be the internet or music; for the latter it could be in the context of a fall foliage tour. The message of Christ doesn't change. But our way of sharing it needs to be appropriate for the folks we're trying to communicate with.