"Sophisticated"

Posted by:Aaron Odom

Check this definition of sophisticated.  My favorite is the third one.

• adjective:   intellectually appealing   Example: "A sophisticated drama"
• adjective:   having or appealing to those having worldly knowledge and refinement and savoir faire    Example: "Sophisticated young socialites"
• adjective:   marked by wide-ranging knowledge and appreciation of many parts of the world arising from urban life and wide travel   
• Example: "The sophisticated manners of a true cosmopolite"
• adjective:   ahead in development; complex or intricate
• Example: "A sophisticated electronic control system"

Why is this significant?

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 says:
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

I think that when Paul said we need to be all things to all people, he was saying that we need to be sophisticated. "Aaron, I think you are using the term incorrectly". 

Maybe so, but I don't think so.  Sophisticated doesn’t necessarily mean you have a scarf around your neck with a cat on your lap, sipping Earl Grey.  Rather, to be well-rounded, openminded, well-versed in culture, enough that we can identify with people of every kind.  I think if Paul were here today, he would say to the hunters, I hunted before.  To those who have a bad marriage, " I had a bad relationship."  To those who are homeless, "I was homeless, until I met Jesus".  To the opera afficianado, I operated before.  To the Rock'n' Rollers, " I Rocked and Rolled", to the football fan, " Geaux Tigers!!!"  Paul was well travelled and sophisticated.  He was able to meet a very diverse spectrum of people.   

Why did he do this?  For the sake of the Gospel.  It would be wrong for us to keep the Gospel just for ourselves.  Paul had a heart for people. Jesus did too!  They were willing to do whatever it took to connect and work towards articulating the message of Jesus.  So you say, God saves people, we just need to sit back and pray for people?  Of course he saves people, but he saves people through people.  God lives inside of us and wants to move through us.  We need to get our of our comfort zone and flow in the workings of the Holy Spirit.  We need to meet people where they are.  The greatest pastors smell like the sheep.  The greatest pastors are "sophisticated".