Rabbi Judah ben Elai in the 1st century: "Blessed be He that He did not make me a Gentile; blessed be He that He did not make me a slave; blessed be He that He did not make me a woman."

Thales and Socrates in Diogenes Laertius: "gratitude that I was born a human being and not a beast, next, a man and not a woman, thirdly, a Greek and not a barbarian."

Paul of Tarsus in his letter to believers in Galatia: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Paul not only exhibits a deep acquaintance with the running thoughts and views of his day, he actually uses them and subverts them in proclaiming the gospel. We too should not only study the Word, but also study the World. Indeed, we are against the worldly views and ways, but perhaps we should be slow to merely speak out against them. Instead, taking our lead from Paul himself, we should see the heros, stories, religions, civic hopes, and art of our time as means to communicate the gospel: where does the world overlap the gospel, where does it fall short? Instead of shunning Kanye West, perhaps he should be quoted in our sermons. We need to be missional: our culture no longer speaks or thinks Christianese, so it is our job to learn their language--and above all, speak it.