Was Paul a better evangelist than Jesus? Acts 16 vs Mark 10

When reading the two texts mentioned in the title side by side it is very difficult to reconcile Paul and Jesus' approaches to the gospel. Here's a quick review of the two stories I am directly referring to:

The Conversion of the Philippians Jailer
"Then he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved..." (Acts 16:30-31)

The Rich Young Man
"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.' And he said to him, 'Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.' And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." (Mark 10:17-22)

It puzzles me to see two men asking Paul and Jesus two very similar questions and yet we see two completely different responses. I think most of what changes these two stories is the very heart behind the two questions.

In my opinion the rich young man is the perfect example of a "seeker" setting things up on a tee for the evangelist. Notice that in the context of the question the young man ran up to Jesus and knelt to him. He then proceeds to ask him the type of question one would expect, but Jesus cuts to the heart of this man's motive in a number of ways.

(1) Jesus observes the young man's question "Good Teacher, what (good deed Matt. 19:16) must I do to inherit eternal life?"

(2) Jesus challenges the young man's view of man "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." Jesus was not implying that he is not good, he was challenging the assumption of this young man that man could achieve his own righteousness.

(3) Jesus reveals the man's view of himself "you know the commandments..." The young man quickly replies by stating that he has kept the commandments. So now we must question whether the young man is lying, telling the truth, or ignorant. I think Matthew Henry's insight is perfect, "He thought he had, and his neighbours thought so too. Note, Ignorance of the extent and spiritual nature of the divine law, makes people think themselves in a better condition than they really are." The truth is this young man probably was raised a very good boy by human standards. That is not the issue, the whole Bible (particularly James 2:10) is clear that if he messes up once he is guilty. So what did Jesus do? Knowing that the young man was wrong he simply went with it and revealed it to him.

(4) Jesus challenges the young man's view of himself "You lack one thing..." This young man's heart is revealed by his response to Jesus' one challenge.

Jesus' whole line of questioning was revealing the heart behind the young man's question. This was a young man who was probably accustomed to the idea that you do this and in return you gain this. When Jesus presented the gospel and it ran up against the young man's heart it hit a stone wall and the young man walked away.

Then what is so different about the Philippian jailer? The Philippian jailer humbly asked Paul "what must I do to be saved?" This question implies a lot. This is not a man looking to gain one more thing. The Philippian jailer knew that he was a sinner (not just that he had sinned) and that these men had salvation. The man cries out to Paul like a patient to his doctor "what's the cure?! what's the remedy?!" Many people think that simply asking the right type of question is enough for a person to get saved, if that is the case the actual question doesn't matter very much. The problem is that (as John Piper puts it) when a person is drowning and they cry out "HELP!" that doesn't save them. "Help" doesn't save people, lifeguards save people. So it is with salvation. This was the point Jesus made to his disciples right after the young man left them, "With man [salvation] is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27).

So what is the application to this? I think there are two immediate applications:
(1) How do I witness? People, witnessing is important, conversions are important, but how we do it is just as important. I think Jesus and Paul give us two great examples of what a person needs to be like before we give them assurance of salvation. A person must see that they are a sinner before they see Christ as a savior.

(2) Self examination: do I love anything more than I love Christ? Had I been given the Jesus gospel presentation would I have walked away?

Grace and Peace,
Stephen