9. The rhetoric of work.
In a world that operates on “looking out for number one” business ethics, a success at all costs mentality and an emphasis on quantity over quality, Christians in the workplace truly have a holy calling. The way we do our work, how much or how little we work, and the principles we hold at the workplace do make a difference.
10. The rhetoric of family.
In a society antithetical to conventional family units, nuclear families will be an increasingly rare commodity.
Blogger Trevin Wax wisely noted a couple of months back that as societal approval of promiscuous lifestyles increase, the ability to say, “I’ve been married for so-and-so years,” will become something that makes people stop and think.
11. The rhetoric of similitude.
While it may sound from the first 10 points as though gospel-rhetoric means “separation,” that’s not strictly true. Paul became like the Jews to reach the Jews, like the Gentiles to reach the Gentiles—we are to become like those we are trying to reach in order to win them to Christ.
This is not only a biblical principle, but a statistical one—folks are more likely to respond to the invitations and ideas of someone whom they perceive to be like themselves than someone they perceive to be different. That doesn’t mean compromising gospel values, but it does mean shedding the religious exterior of the church.
Churches need to be willing to stretch the evangelical mold, breaking ties with conservatism and embracing the Jesus who always stood between the lines. We are fully in the world, but fully not of the world.
12. The rhetoric of culture.
Finally, we need to recognize that our culture has its own Bible, its own story: culture. If we don’t know our culture, we can’t speak into our culture.
In one of our only glimpses of Gentile-preaching, we see Paul veering away from OT quotations and instead quoting known poets and religious emblems. The reason is simple: They understood these things. These quotes and statutes and pictures already meant something to them, so why not build on them?
Trying to explicate the gospel in religious language will always end in failure; that’s like trying to build a bridge to a second bridge. Culture is our short-cut to the human heart: Know it, sift it, preach it.
