Not Far
Read Acts 17:16-34.
Two questions for you (and me) today. Are you "greatly distressed"? And how well do you know the culture around you?
Paul is in Athens, waiting for his traveling companions to catch up with him, and while he is there he's not content to sightsee or rest in his hotel room. He takes time to "scout out" the city before he preaches there. He looked around at their idols, their buildings, their religious institutions and became familiar with their culture—including their poetry. When he begins to speak with people during this time, he uses their own culture to speak to them. He quotes some of their own poets. He uses one of their altars as a springboard to talk about the one true God. Paul is conversant enough in the culture that he can speak intelligently of it and connect with those around him.
Are we?
Far too often, we isolate and insulate ourselves. In America, we have created a Christian subculture so as to protect ourselves and our families from hearing or seeing anything sinful. We have Christian movies, Christian music, Christian bookstores—even Christian breath mints (so as to make your breath minty fresh while witnessing)! And all the while, we are becoming less and less relevant to the culture around us. Now, don't get me wrong. I have a huge collection of Christian music and even many Christian movies, but I also try to know enough about the world and what's popular or what's happening that I can speak intelligently to those outside of the church. The world does not understand our language. We must learn to speak theirs, as Paul did.
But Paul learned to speak that language because he was deeply distressed. Literally, Luke says Paul was provoked in his spirit. It hurt him, deep down inside, to see so many idols—temple after temple dedicated to various Greek gods. Paul was pained to know that this beautiful city and its even more beautiful people were in the darkness when it came to the things that were true and eternal. They were busy trying to manipulate the world by honoring certain "gods" (even an "unknown god," to whom they built an altar just in case they had missed one along the way) while all the time, the God who made them and loved them was not that far from them. That was the irony, the thing that most hurt Paul. This God who created them loved them and yet remained close to them, just waiting for them to call on him. So Paul uses his great distress, the pain in his spirit, to provoke them, to call them to follow the God who loved them more than any idol ever could.
So let me ask again: are you greatly distressed? Does it pain your spirit that so many are lost in the darkness? Or is it just "business as usual"? And do you know the culture well enough to use it to remind people that God is not far from them? What will you do today to help someone move just a bit closer to that God?
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| Mars Hill, home of the Areopagus, seen from above • Athens, 2014 |
Paul is in Athens, waiting for his traveling companions to catch up with him, and while he is there he's not content to sightsee or rest in his hotel room. He takes time to "scout out" the city before he preaches there. He looked around at their idols, their buildings, their religious institutions and became familiar with their culture—including their poetry. When he begins to speak with people during this time, he uses their own culture to speak to them. He quotes some of their own poets. He uses one of their altars as a springboard to talk about the one true God. Paul is conversant enough in the culture that he can speak intelligently of it and connect with those around him.
Are we?
Far too often, we isolate and insulate ourselves. In America, we have created a Christian subculture so as to protect ourselves and our families from hearing or seeing anything sinful. We have Christian movies, Christian music, Christian bookstores—even Christian breath mints (so as to make your breath minty fresh while witnessing)! And all the while, we are becoming less and less relevant to the culture around us. Now, don't get me wrong. I have a huge collection of Christian music and even many Christian movies, but I also try to know enough about the world and what's popular or what's happening that I can speak intelligently to those outside of the church. The world does not understand our language. We must learn to speak theirs, as Paul did.
But Paul learned to speak that language because he was deeply distressed. Literally, Luke says Paul was provoked in his spirit. It hurt him, deep down inside, to see so many idols—temple after temple dedicated to various Greek gods. Paul was pained to know that this beautiful city and its even more beautiful people were in the darkness when it came to the things that were true and eternal. They were busy trying to manipulate the world by honoring certain "gods" (even an "unknown god," to whom they built an altar just in case they had missed one along the way) while all the time, the God who made them and loved them was not that far from them. That was the irony, the thing that most hurt Paul. This God who created them loved them and yet remained close to them, just waiting for them to call on him. So Paul uses his great distress, the pain in his spirit, to provoke them, to call them to follow the God who loved them more than any idol ever could.
So let me ask again: are you greatly distressed? Does it pain your spirit that so many are lost in the darkness? Or is it just "business as usual"? And do you know the culture well enough to use it to remind people that God is not far from them? What will you do today to help someone move just a bit closer to that God?
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