Thousands of years
have passed since Paul walked into Athens, but America remains very much the
same. Just like first century Athens, moral absolutes are rejected in favor of
relativism, pluralism, hundreds of gods, and the enlightenment and education a
person can obtain. Paul walked into Athens with the truth, he walked into
Athens having met the Truth, and Paul was intent on sharing that Truth. What
Paul saw in Athens was a city “given over to idols” (Acts 17:16). When we walk
around America we also see a country and people “given over to idols.” These
idols manifest themselves as career advancement, materialism, accomplishments, self
gratification, food, even family. However, leave no doubt, these idols are no
different than the wooden or stone idols Paul encountered in his day.
What did Paul decide to do? Did he just walk around hoping they would notice his lifestyle? No. Paul decided to engage them with the gospel. Paul “reasoned in the synagogue and in the marketplace daily” with all those who would listen. It was in the streets where Paul encountered the Epicureans and the Stoics who referred to him as a babbler (Acts 17:18). Undeterred, Paul preached Christ and His resurrection and the philosophers were so captivated they ushered Paul to the Areopagus to hear “these strange things” he was speaking about. They weren’t interested in learning about Jesus, they wanted to know more about this new belief they were unfamiliar with in hopes of gaining more knowledge.
What did Paul decide to do? Did he just walk around hoping they would notice his lifestyle? No. Paul decided to engage them with the gospel. Paul “reasoned in the synagogue and in the marketplace daily” with all those who would listen. It was in the streets where Paul encountered the Epicureans and the Stoics who referred to him as a babbler (Acts 17:18). Undeterred, Paul preached Christ and His resurrection and the philosophers were so captivated they ushered Paul to the Areopagus to hear “these strange things” he was speaking about. They weren’t interested in learning about Jesus, they wanted to know more about this new belief they were unfamiliar with in hopes of gaining more knowledge.
But Paul “stood in
their midst” undeterred because he was there to proclaim to them the “unknown
God” that was written on an altar nearby. Of interest is that Paul evangelized
them from the beginning of creation and not from the Old Testament as he did with
the Jews.
The application
for us is that God has revealed Himself to all men in every nation through His
creation and “He is not far from anyone” (Acts 17:27). No matter if a person
identifies themselves as an atheist, an agnostic, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or
something else, God has revealed Himself to their conscience and they are
without excuse. Now we must encourage them to acknowledge their sin and repent
because “God will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has
ordained” (Acts 17:31).
Real love is
always concerned about the soul of man, thus we must remain undeterred and
unashamed of the gospel no matter where we are called to live and serve (Romans 1:16).
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