How Do You Know Me?

When an outsider unexpectedly knows the culture and language, Central Asian locals tend to respond with astonishment. But not only astonishment. There’s also delight. The kind of delight that comes from being truly seen by someone when you least expect it. In fact, most people can’t help but respond in this shocked and happy way. After all, God delights to be known. And as those made in his image, some part of our core simply lights up when we are unexpectedly recognized, surprisingly understood, really known by another. And when that other is an outsider, a foreigner, then this can create quite the opening.

I’ve not always known what to make of this dynamic, but I’ve experienced it countless times. In fact, I’ve relied on the power of this kind of encounter over and over again in order to enter into relationships or spiritual conversations with others. I love this approach because the other person tends to feel so honored when I can drop one of their people’s proverbs, when I have heard of their people’s story, when I actually know something, anything, about the things they hold dear. Often, this builds such goodwill (especially with marginalized peoples) that an openness to friendship is soon to follow after. But is there anywhere in the Bible where we see this kind of missionary dynamic taking place? Do we have any precedent for “honor-shocking” others through knowledge of them that we are not supposed to naturally have?

This week I was reminded of Jesus’ calling of Nathaniel in John 1. Philip brings a skeptical Nathanael to Jesus, and their unusual interaction goes like this:

[47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:47-51, ESV)

Jesus is able to miraculously know Nathanael, that he is “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.” Nathaniel is taken aback by this, as we can see from his response, “How do you know me?” This Jesus knew Nathanael’s character when he shouldn’t have naturally been able to do so. He somehow knows that Nathanael is a true Israelite, one who has no time for pretend Messiahs, one who is genuinely seeking the kingdom of God. A proud man might get puffed up by being complimented like this in the presence of others. But Nathanael seems to be a grounded believer, a man who is humble and therefore simply honest about what he is and what he is not. When Jesus pegs him accurately like this, he has not puffed him up with pride, he has caught his attention.

But there’s more. Jesus drops another bomb. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This is all the proof that formerly skeptical Nathanael needs. He’s suddenly undone. Jesus – impossibly – saw him when he was sitting under the fig tree, even before Philip came to recruit him. We are not given any information about what was happening under that fig tree. Perhaps he was praying, pouring out his heart to God. Perhaps he was discouraged, watching some preening Pharisees or a troop of Roman soldiers harassing his countrymen. We simply don’t know. But when he is not only known by Jesus but also seen by him from afar, that is enough for Nathanael. He knows that he has found the true Messiah.

I love Jesus’ response. Essentially, “If you believed with a little sign like that, then just wait, it’s going to get way more convincing.”

Now, in terms of takeaways, our primary response to this text should be to join Nathanael in amazement and faith. Jesus knows and sees his people in a miraculous way that proves that he is the true Messiah, the Son of God we have all been waiting for. What amazing good news. Everyone in this life may fail to know and see us as we desire to be known and seen. But our savior satisfies this deep craving of our souls.

This is primarily a Christological text, not a missionary one. However, that does not mean it has no application for missional Christians today. Jesus is our example. And just as a Christian doctor can employ natural medicine to point the lost to Jesus the Great Physician, so a missionary can employ natural curiosity and study of a people in order to point the lost to the one who knows them infinitely better than they know themselves. Our ability to know and see the lost may not be miraculous, it may be far downstream from that of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean it is not spiritual. If it is motivated by the gospel and by love, then it is still a sign – albeit a small one – that those employing it have found the true Messiah.

Another way to think of the power of deeply knowing and seeing a people is to compare it to the New Testament gift of prophecy. Paul’s logic in 1st Corinthians 14 is that if prophecy was functioning accurately in Corinth, then unbelievers would enter, have the secrets of their hearts disclosed, and fall down proclaiming that God was truly among them. As with Jesus and Nathanael in John 1, knowledge of a person that is more than natural leads to a heart undone, to the recognition that God is truly involved here.

Great. So Jesus and Early Church Christians can miraculously know the secrets of others’ hearts. How does that help normal Christians and missionaries like us 2,000 years later? Well, as it turns out, even Christians and missionaries who do not have (or even believe in) the gift of prophecy can still achieve a certain kind of supernatural sight and knowledge – and thereby witness the power of honor-shocking the lost by knowing them more than you should. This ability is not supernatural in the means by which it is carried out – curiosity, questions, study, testing. No, these are the same tools also used by pagan students of culture and anthropologists. But it is supernatural because of its source – the love and faith that drive this kind of hunger to truly see and know a people that others might not even know exist.

I remember being a college freshman in Minneapolis, involved in some English conversation practice with Somali refugees. As one of my students, Uncle Abdi, shuffled in from the downtown winter wasteland and into the warm lobby, I decided to try to say good morning to him in Somali – “Subakh wanaagsaan!” It’s hard to describe the qualitative change that came over that older refugee’s face. His eyes lit up, he broke out in a huge grin, and he came over to give me one of the warmest handshakes I’ve ever received. All because this scrawny white kid made a bungled attempt to learn a greeting of his people. Even in that tiny gesture, Uncle Abdi felt seen and known. And if he’d had enough English for me to get into spiritual conversation with him, I’m confident he would have let me share more than he would have otherwise.

Sometimes we reformed types get confused and think that a passion to study culture and contextualize well is somehow opposed to bold proclamation of the gospel. “We don’t contextualize, we preach the gospel!” as I once heard it put. After many years now of observing the reactions of friends like Uncle Abdi, I’ve come to believe that going deep in language and culture is one of the boldest moves we can make in preaching the gospel. When you start the relationship by demonstrating sight and knowledge of a people or person that you should not naturally have, you are doing something that is downright powerful in the spiritual realm. Like an artillery bombardment that precedes an infantry charge, truly knowing and seeing someone can clear a path for you to bring in the message that will then overrun the defenses.

Faithful evangelism and the deep study of language and culture need not be enemies. Instead, we can commit ourselves to a lovingly deep study of our people, knowing that this sight and knowledge is often the means the Spirit uses to grab their attention. “How do you know that about me/us? Nobody knows that. Nobody takes the time to see us like that. No foreigner knows that insider idiom. What has made you invest so much to learn about us like this?” The answer, of course, can take the conversation right to Jesus.

Yes, sometimes this can backfire. There is the occasional person who simply freaks out, believing that you work for the CIA because you are way too informed. Others get alarmed because they want to keep you in the dark about certain things and now they know that’s not going to be as easy as they had hoped. Some dominant people groups or those heavily influenced by ‘woke’ ideologies have arrived at the point where they feel like you’re being condescending if you too eagerly seek to learn all about them. Wisdom is needed to know when and how to do this well. But for most peoples of the world, and especially for those who have been oppressed or marginalized, they are going to feel nothing but honored by these kinds of efforts.

As with Jesus, truly knowing and seeing someone is often just the beginning when it comes to powerfully commending the gospel. Just wait until they encounter the community of the local church! That being said, it can be a very powerful way to start.

“How Do You Know Me?”

When the friends and neighbors of Christians and missionaries start asking this question of Nathanael’s more often, we’ll know that we are on the right track. Our king truly sees and knows those he seeks. When we seek to know and see others as he does, even if all we have are natural tools empowered by love, then we are bound to find more out there who are like Nathaniel – Israelites indeed.

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