pagan audience is to urge them to turn from “worthless things” — idols — “to the living God,” who is the true source of “joy”

moralists idolize their culture as supreme.

No one way of persuasion is inherently better than the others.

It leads us to be gracious, not worried too much about people getting what they deserve because we are aware that none of us deserve the grace of Christ.

Faithful contextualization, then, should adapt the communication and practice of all scriptural teaching to a culture

It will never be enough to ask if a person has learned the faith, has been baptized, or has joined the church. If he or she has not repented, it is all to no avail.

He moves their hearts through a spiritual recollection of the gospel.

human customs and behavior, material products, the built environment, and so on.7

“Anything the New Testament does not command in regard to church form is a freedom to be under the leadership of the Holy Spirit for that particular time and place.”14