What is the unique strategy God wants you to use?
Text: Romans 1:8-13
Hosts:
J. Kent Edwards
Vicki Hitzges
Nathan Norman
Narrator: Brian French
The CrossTalk Podcast is a production of CrossTalk Global, equipping biblical communicators, so every culture hears God’s voice. To find out more, or to support the work of this ministry please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org
Produced by Nathan James Norman/Untold Podcast Production
© 2026 CrossTalk Global
Brian: If you want to succeed in life, you need a goal. You need an objective, a target you want to achieve. This is why parents and grandparents often ask their children and grandchildren, What do you want to be when you grow up? That question, "What do you want to do in life?" is as important as it is difficult to answer. Without a goal, a destination in life, you can't move forward. You will be stuck in neutral. But goals are not enough. A goal may define your destination, but strategies outline how you intend to get there. When you decide you want to play for your country in the next World Cup, You may choose strength and endurance training over joining the chess club because chess won't help you get where you want to go. Strategies clarify the best, most direct route to achieving your life goals. Strategies are important in our Christian life as well. In Romans chapter 1, verses 1 through 7, the Apostle Paul made it clear that as a servant of Christ Jesus, he, like us, was set apart for the gospel. Our primary calling is the same. Like Paul, our mandate is to share the good news of the gospel and to introduce people to Jesus Christ. That is the assignment, the goal, that Jesus has given us. But how? We know we have an obligation to share our faith with others, but what is the most effective way to do so? We know the goal God has given us, but what strategy should we use to accomplish our mission? If you would like to learn the strategy God wants you to use, keep listening as Nathan Norman, Kent Edwards, and Vicki Hitzges explore the Apostle Paul's evangelistic strategy in Romans chapter 1, verses 8 through 13. Welcome to Crosstalk, a Christian podcast whose goal is for us to encourage each other to not only increase our knowledge of the Bible, but to take the next step beyond information into transformation. Our goal is to bring the Bible to life into all our lives. I'm Brian French. Today, Dr. Kent Edwards, Vicki Hitzges, Nathan Norman continue their discussion in the book of Romans. If you have a Bible handy, turn to Romans chapter 1, verses 8 through 13, as we join their discussion.
Kent: Nathan, Vicki, we understand the importance of sharing the gospel, but have you seen people struggle to fulfill that mission, struggle to determine how best to fulfill this mandate Christ has given us?
Vicki: Oh, sometimes I think it'd be wonderful if people cared about the best way. I have friends who just— they're just terrified of sharing anything right or wrong, so they don't do it.
Nathan: Yeah, I think a lot of people would struggle. They haven't innate understanding that they need to share the gospel, but they are not sure how to do that within their own context. So I will often hear people say, "I need to do ministry. I need to start ministry. I need to find a job that allows me to do my ministry," not realizing that their unique gifts and talents and skills can be ministry and are the ministry God has called them to do right where they are at. You know, I think I have told this story before, but I remember years and years ago there was a woman, who was a mom of some of my youth group kids, and she just was like, oh, pray, pray that I can quit my job and do a ministry job. And her idea was to join a Christian bookstore, and that, that was where real ministry could happen. And, and, you know, okay, you can do ministry in a Christian bookstore, but, but you're not going to reach a lot of nonbelievers there.
Vicki: No, you're certainly not.
Nathan: And I kind of pushed back on that. And she said, well, no, but they curse and, and their lifestyles and, oh, it's so hard. It's so hard. I'm like, well, of course it's hard because you're a believer and you're you can see the damage sin does. This is your ministry here amongst them. She didn't believe me. She quit her job and started a Christian bookstore. But I think that is a serious boundary where we have kind of professional ministry people to be a missionary, and those are the people that are on mission for God. And that's not true. All of us are called to mission in every circumstance and every situation we find ourselves in.
Kent: Ja, ja. It's one thing to identify what gifts has God given me to use to reach people for Christ. It's another thing to say, well, how do I best employ them? How do I— how can I use them? How can I be strategic in using the resources God has given me? I guess that's why I've been drawn to these early verses in Romans, because I think we get a glimpse of how Paul dealt with this very question?
Vicki: Well, in Romans 1:8-12, which Paul wrote, and I'm always tickled by Paul. He goes from being a murderer, he kills Christians, to being so gracious. Listen to how he starts this letter. He says, "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God whom I serve in my spirit," in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. And I pray that now at last, by God's will, the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
Kent: When Paul penned his letter to the church in Rome, he was nearing the end of his ministry. He'd finished his third missionary journey. He'd traveled and ministered throughout much of the ancient world. But yet, notice the emotion and the passion in Paul's voice. I think it has strategic significance. Vicki, as you read for us, he said, "Constantly I remember you." Constantly, yeah. Constantly. And I pray that now at last, by God's will, the way may be open to come to you. I mean, this has been a yearning of some time. I long to see you. The emotion is just dripping off these words. That you and I may be mutually encouraged. By each other's faith. He really wants to go to Rome. I mean, he loves every city that he wrote a letter to, but he really wants to go to Rome. And I think that's because of the strategic significance of Rome. You don't have to know much history to know that in its day, Rome was the most important and influential city of its time. I mean, listen to how the Roman orator Aelius Aristides described Rome at this time.
Nathan: He said, "So many merchant ships have arrived here, conveying every kind of goods from every people, every hour and every day, so that the city is like a factory common to the whole earth. If someone should wish to view all these things, he must either travel over the whole world or be in this city. Everything comes together here: trade, seafaring, farming, the scouring of the mines, and all the crafts that exist or have existed, all that is produced and grown. Whatever one does not see here is not a thing which has existed or exists.
Kent: That's a pretty bold statement.
Vicki: Yes, it is.
Kent: And there's probably some overstatement, I would say. I think it was maybe A little overwhelmed by Rome, but—
Nathan: Yeah, it sounds kind of like the way us New Yorkers talk about New York.
Kent: Yeah, but I will say last summer I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Rome. And thousands of years later, when it is no longer at its peak, when I saw the ancient ruins, it was magnificent. It was beautiful. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. If that's what it looked like— looks like today in ruins, imagine what it looked like then.
Brian: Imagine.
Vicki: Imagine. Yeah.
Kent: Unbelievably. To your point, Nathan, I agree. I think Rome was the city of influence in the ancient world. And maybe it is like New York.
Nathan: This is significant, listeners. Hold on, because Kent lived in Boston for a long time. So for a temporary Bostonian, Italian to admit on, on this podcast that New York is more like Rome than Boston.
Kent: Uh, okay, I confess, I confess. When we were in Boston, um, my wife Nola and I went to see a performance of Les Misérables in Boston.
Brian: Yeah.
Kent: And it was— yeah, yeah, it was okay. It wasn't great, but that's because we found out they're warming up for New York City. Yeah, no, that's right. New York We got the best. But this kind of reminds me of the arrogance, perhaps, of Frank Sinatra's famous song, New York, New York. Do you remember that?
Nathan: Yes, these little town blues, they have all melted away, and I'm going to make a brand new start of it right here in old New York. You better believe it, folks. You make it there, you make it anywhere.
Vicki: Anywhere.
Kent: No, because of Rome's reputation, people paid attention to what came from Rome. Just like if a New York play came to somewhere in Kansas, people would say, "Wow, a New York play? It came here? That— we got to go. We got to pay attention to this." It draws our attention. Because Rome had enormous strategic significance. Commercially, politically, militarily, and also because of its strategic location and influence in the spread of the gospel. I say that because, Vicki, remember what we said right back in verse 8?
Vicki: I thank my God because your faith is being reported all over the world.
Kent: Isn't it amazing the influence that the church, because it was located in Rome, had around the world? People paid attention. Rome's a great city. And so if the people in Rome thinks it's great, maybe I should consider it. Maybe I should listen more carefully to the gospel that is coming from Rome. Now, Rome had enormous strategic significance commercially, politically, militarily. And in the spread of the gospel. And that's why Paul wanted to go to Rome. He wanted to piggyback on the influence of Rome for the sake of the gospel. No wonder God told Ananias in Acts 9:15 that Paul was my chosen instrument to carry my name before the people, the Gentiles, and their kings. Where were the kings?
Vicki: In Rome.
Kent: That's right. People looked to Rome like people today look to Paris for fashion, like London for fish and chips, and Germany for engineering. To want to minister with the Christians in Rome. Why did he want to partner with them? Because the news of the Romans' faith in Christ had gone global. The Romans' faith and strategic location combined to accelerate the spread of the gospel throughout the known world. Rome's spiritual impact on the world was enormous, and Paul wanted in on it. He wanted to use his gifts to accelerate their efforts to evangelize the entire world. Rome was his strategy. So what does that mean for us? Well, when we decide to invest our lives for kingdom impact, I think like Paul, we should look for strategically significant opportunity to expand the kingdom. I think location matters. You can have an effective ministry in one location and not in another. I mean, location matters. We know that in all of life. Where do shopkeepers set up shop?
Vicki: In someplace where there's traffic, ideally.
Kent: Yeah, you want people, and preferably people with money, right? Yes.
Nathan: Out in the middle of a field where you can't be found, you know.
Kent: Yeah. And you probably want to go where there's a lot of affluence, because they will spend more money, because that's what you need to succeed is that. Where do fishermen congregate in the early morning hours?
Nathan: Near the water.
Kent: On the docks. And why do they congregate on the docks? Because that's where the fish are. This is not hard. Where is he going with this?
Nathan: I don't know, it's a trap.
Kent: When it comes to purchasing a home, what are the 3 more— when it comes to purchasing a home, What are the 3 most important criteria real estate agents tell us clients to keep in mind?
Vicki: Location, location, location. Why? Because it matters. If you're far from where you work or far from where you shop, you're far from your friends, you're going to be miserable out there.
Nathan: Yeah, I have a friend—
Kent: Absolutely.
Nathan: I have a friend who he commutes, I don't know, 3 hours into work one way every day because he wanted to have a big, spacious, beautiful home and didn't want doesn't want his wife to have to work to maintain their income. And so he lives out in the middle of nowhere and then commutes where they pay him a lot of money. And that's the sacrifice he wants to make, right? Because most people don't want to do that.
Kent: Now, some of the best advice my wife and I got when we moved to California was when the realtor said, "You can't buy a house beyond this particular exit." I said, "What do you mean? It's way cheaper out there." She said, "If you want to spend your life in traffic trying to get from this street to that next exit, go ahead. But it will limit everything you do in life because there are certain times of day you just can't get to where you would like to go." Wow. Yeah. So?
Nathan: And for our listeners, Kent lives in the Greater Los Angeles area, which has the absolute worst traffic in anywhere in the world. It's awful.
Vicki: It's awful.
Kent: Well, thank you. It's nice to be known for something.
Vicki: Mm-hmm.
Brian: Yeah.
Kent: Yeah. No, location matters, and Jesus knew that. In fact, this is Jesus' lesson in the parable of the sower and the seed, a parable so important that it's mentioned both in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Vicki, do you remember that parable, just the outline of that parable?
Vicki: I do, and I think it's an interesting one. He says that the sower threw out seed, and some of it fell on the path, and so it was easy for the birds to get to it, and they ate it. Some of the seed fell among rocks. Well, that seed grew quickly because the soil was shallow. But the problem with shallow soil is sun comes up and it gets hot, the plants die. Other seeds fell among thorns. And the thorns grew up and choked the plants. So, so far all the seeds dead.
Brian: But—
Kent: Yeah, bad choices.
Vicki: Some fell on— bad choices, bad location. Some fell on good soil and produced a crop 160 or 30 times what was sown. Hmm.
Kent: Jesus said in Matthew 13:23, the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop yielding 160 or 30 times what was sown. That word understand literally means someone who is able to mentally grasp concepts and see its implications. So they are listening to someone speaking and they're able to put the pieces of the logic together like pieces of a puzzle. They see how it all fits together. In this context, I think Jesus is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit. There are some places where God's Spirit falls and they're able to understand the gospel in a way that they had never understood it before, even if they had heard it. Guys, how many times did you hear the gospel before you responded to it?
Vicki: Well, I was a little kid, and that was easy for me. But I've seen other people, and how they know this, I don't know. It's like the number of rats in New York. Somebody stand there and count each one, or how many things we worry about don't come true, that kind of a thing. But in church a couple of weeks ago, my pastor said that typically it takes 10 encounters before a person comes to Christ. So he said, don't get discouraged if you're number 1 or number 2, and you won't know this, number 3, number 4, because it's going to probably take 10 times.
Nathan: Wow.
Kent: I remember I accepted Christ just before I became a teenager, but I'd gone to church for years. I must have heard the gospel. Well, I don't know how many times, but this one evening in this one evening service church, church in an evening service, It grabbed you. The gospel, it grabbed me. I mean, it was so compelling. I've got to do this now, or like, this is the most important thing I must do. I mean, they couldn't have held me back to get to the front to pray with someone to accept Christ as my Savior. I mean, and I look back and I think, why then?
Brian: Yeah.
Kent: I think that's the Holy Spirit.
Vicki: I think it is too. I have a friend who told me when she got saved, same experience. She went to church Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday. She was always in church. And she said one Sunday, just like you, she just got grabbed by the Holy Spirit. And she said, like you did, "I had to go forward." And I said, "Was it a great sermon?" And she said, "No, in fact, my Sunday school teacher said it was probably the most boring sermon this particularly boring pastor had ever preached." So, you know, it was the Holy Spirit.
Kent: God can use ordinary and extraordinary people to do amazing things for him. And when he does, be part of it, join it, look for it. That's what Paul was doing with Rome. These weren't better people or better Christians than a Christian in any other place, but because of their strategic location, their influence, and because of God's Holy Spirit, When they shared the gospel, the world was responding. And Paul said, "I want to get in on that. I want to go where God is working." It's like what Henry Blackaby said in his famous book, Experiencing God. Find out where God is working and join him. Join him. Look, my goal in life is to make my maximum impact for God. I'm asking the question where— and I've asked this question for decades— where can I make that maximum impact? I don't want to be limited. I want to use all that God has given me for him, and location matters. Like Paul, I want to invest my time and energy where I can advance God's kingdom the most. I look at ministry and ministry opportunities like other people look at the stock market. Where is there room for growth? Where can I multiply my efforts? That's where I want to invest my life. And I think that's why the best missionaries become missionaries, because they want to relocate to wherever in the world God is working and can use them to touch others for Christ. The only reason to relocate is because God is working there, drawing people to himself, and you have the opportunity to join him in his work. Successful ministries are strategically located. Why did Paul want to go to Rome? Not for the scenery, not for the architecture or the food. But because God was working there, because it was strategically significant for the expansion of the kingdom. Look, whether you're in professional ministry or not, like Paul, we are all servants of Christ, bought by God at an enormous cost so he could set us apart to bring the gospel to the world. Let's give to everyone we can what Christ has given to us. And Paul's example is our mandate. Where, where is the best place for you and I to invest our lives for him? Where will the gifts God has given us yield the best harvest for the glory of God? Goals are not enough. They must be linked to strategy. Let's use our gifts strategically for the kingdom of God.
Brian: If we want to start or extend our ministry, how can we accomplish that? Two ideas: evaluate if your new plan is strategically significant to expand God's kingdom Examine your motives. Are we interested in others or ourselves? If our heart is for others, that's a good sign to proceed. The Crosstalk Podcast is a production of Crosstalk Global, equipping biblical communicators so every culture hears God's voice. To find out more about this educational nonprofit organization, please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org. Crosstalk just finished successful trainings in Bucharest, Moldova, Kenya, and Kansas this season, and we're getting ready for additional trainings in Southern California, Cuba, and Nepal. Help us train the next generation of biblical communicators. All you have to do is click Donate in the show notes and make a donation of any size. You can also support this show by rating it on whatever platform you're listening to us. Be sure to join us next week as we continue our series through the book of Romans. You won't want to miss it.