For a long time, they didn't grasp that Jesus was talking about a kingdom planted first in the heart and then projected out through witness and submission to God. As late as the Acts 1 account, it appears that Jesus had backed culture-bound losers. But he hadn't. The culture of the church in the early chapters of Acts is constricted by an ethnocentricity. Only the pain of persecution and some dramatic intrusions by the Holy Spirit forced the church to expand its cultural limits and reach out to Gentiles.
Wise pastors become students of the culture they face.
They do not assume that logic, reason, surveys, and charisma will dissolve resistance and motivate people. Many of us assume that if we simply talk sense to people, they will see it our way. Since nobody could read my books, they could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my twenty years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction. My considerable ecumenical experience proved even less valuable. Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety.