In the book of Acts, Luke documents 4 different instances where Peter and Paul both adjusted their approaches based upon who their audiences were. And they adjusted their approaches based upon the assumptions of their audiences. They tailored and adapted their approaches accordingly, but their core message remained the same.
That’s all I’m suggesting.
In Acts 2, Peter was preaching to Jews…who held their scriptures in high regards…and he leveraged their scriptures to connect their existing beliefs to a current event ~ their Messiah had come, they killed Him, and God raised Him from the dead.
In Acts 10, Peter was preaching to Gentiles, and he didn’t leverage scripture at all…he didn’t quote from scripture at all…because they didn’t consider the Jewish Scriptures authoritative. So Peter focused on the well-known and verifiable events surrounding Jesus’ life and death, and His resurrection. And he drove it home that Jesus came for Jews ‘and’ Gentiles.
Peter’s messages differed in their approach, but both messages had the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus as their central theme because that’s what mattered most. And that’s still what matters most.
In Acts 13, Paul is in a synagogue preaching to Jews, and he walked them through their scriptural history from Egypt to King David ~ and then he pivoted to the fact that their Messiah had come and that He was descended from David. Then he drives home the details of Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, burial and resurrection. And he connected it all to God’s scriptural promises to their ancestors; and he made it crystal clear that Jesus did for them what the Law of Moses couldn’t.
In Acts 17, Paul was preaching to Gentiles in Greece. But his approach here was WAY different than his approach to Jews in Antioch. He compliments them regarding their interest in the gods (the place was full of idols). He didn’t fire a scripture verse at em’ about “graven images.” His mission was to “win” some and “save” some. So he chose not to quote scripture at all. But he referenced a God that they missed. Then he referenced Jesus without mentioning His name, and told them what this man came to do, and proved it by being raised from the dead.
Paul, like Peter, knew when it was appropriate to leverage scripture and when it was appropriate to leverage something else. His approach to Gentiles in Athens clearly differed from his approach to Jews in Antioch ~ but the core of his messages was the same: that God has done something great in the world to benefit all of humanity, and He’s authenticated and punctuated this great thing by raising someone from the dead…!
The traditional approach to preaching that most of us grew up with is perfectly designed for a culture that doesn’t even exist anymore. But 1st century Christian leaders have modeled a way to move forward, to “win” em’ and “save” em’, “by all possible means”, “… for the sake of the Gospel.” Why shouldn’t the body of believers nowadays…which is hemorrhaging members, and not even attracting new members…follow their lead…?
