That night the Lord stood near him (Paul) and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.’ (Acts 23:11).
Paul is definitely one of those who would shape not only is message but also his language to those to whom he was in conversation. This verse points that direction for me. Here is what I mean.
Jerusalem was to be the religious center of the Israelites. There animal and plant sacrifices were made to God. There the head of both the Jewish state and religion was to be that city. There, key decisions were made by those most familiar with Scripture on how to daily live out our faith, or trust, in God. The predominant language of the religious community was the language of their Bible, Hebrew. The priamary spoken languages in that area were Aramaic and Greek. The Hebrews were people of one God whose name was Yahweh meaning "I am who I am".
Paul was called to go to Rome. There sacrifices were made to every god that had been conceived in the human mind and heart. Such was politically a good move by the Roman governing authorities. There the head of state honored all religions unless they threatened the Roman empire that included worshiping the emperor. Predominate language? Greek. There the people were the people of the Roman Empire.
When Paul goes there his message will be the same: "Jesus is LORD! He died, was raised, and will come again"! But, no doubt, that Paul who wrote "I am all things to all people that by some means I may win some over to Jesus" presented his message in a different way.
Such is always a challenge to me and to all who communicate to keep in mind to whom we are conversing.
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