Paul in Athens: Evangelism in a Post-Christian Culture (Part 2)

Good morning again. As I said at the beginning, my name is Tommy. I'm delighted to be here with you. Continuing to look at the book of Acts chapter 17. It is a common thing to these days here that we live in increasingly post-Christian society. And I think in many ways that is certainly true.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

One of the pieces of that narrative that we hear is the declining numbers of people who are followers of Jesus, who participate in organized religion. And to a certain extent, those numbers have been true as well.

And yet what's really interesting is right now, something very interesting is happening that bucks that trend. There's a new trend emerging. And it's just over the last few years, a kind of increased openness and hunger to the truth of the gospel.

Over the last three years, since about 2021, 2022, the number of people who say they follow Jesus, they believe in and follow Jesus in a very meaningful way, that has gone up about 12% just in the last three years.

And maybe that doesn't sound like much, but statistically it's very significant. That represents roughly 30 million people over the last three years. 30 million more people in our country saying that they're followers of Jesus.

And what's even more interesting about that is that a lot of those people are either millennials or Gen Z. So relatively speaking, you're looking at younger generations.

Those of us who are, I'm Gen X, so I'm far past being able to say young, but I think millennials can still claim to be within a younger generation and certainly Gen Z.

And so people are looking at these numbers and trying to figure out what's happening.

What that means for us is the chances are there are people in our lives right now where we live and work who may not be followers of Jesus, but who may very well be open to the truth and the power of Jesus.

In other words, alluding to our gospel reading a moment ago, the fields are ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few.

That's the problem.

Why are there so few laborers?

Well, I think most of us who are Christians get very uncomfortable with the idea of sharing our faith with other people.

The word evangelism sort of makes people cringe.

You get twitchy when you hear people talk about the fact that we should be doing more evangelism.

You know, there's a lot of reasons for this.

I think we don't want to offend people, and it feels like that's offensive to bring up faith in today's world.

If we were to bring it up, a lot of us feel like we don't know what to say or do.

I think some of us are just frankly afraid of how people will respond to us or what they might think of us.

And so it raises this question of how do we talk to people about faith?

How do we talk to people about Jesus when we live in a post-Christian society, and yet there's a hunger in the society?

There's a longing, a searching.

This is why we're looking at Paul's example in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

We started last week by talking about what it means to think theologically about the culture.

And this week we're going to look more closely at Paul's actual approach that he takes in Athens.

He's in Athens.

At this point in the story, he's been invited to present the gospel at the Areopagus.

So that's like being invited to give a lecture at Harvard or Oxford.

And all the leading intellectuals are going to be there, and they're very skeptical about this message.

And so we're going to look at Paul's approach.

These are highly educated, skeptical people.

Where does Paul begin?

Let's pray, and then we're going to break it down.

Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that independently, Lord, independent of anything we might do, of any strategy we might employ, of any rhetorical devices, Lord, your word itself has power.

And you can work through your word in ways that go far beyond what we can ask or even imagine.

And you know what we need better than we do, Lord.

And so I pray for myself and for those of us gathered here.

Lord, would you do your work in us that we might, through your written word, come face to face with the living word, Jesus Christ.

Lord, he's the one that we are here to encounter this morning.

That's who we need to see.

We pray this in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

So Paul is in Athens.

What's his approach?

The first thing that we see Paul do, right off the bat, is to affirm the longings that he sees in these Athenians as he has observed them by walking through their streets and living in their culture.

He affirms their longings.

The first time I was taught anything about how to do evangelism was a very long time ago, not long after I came to faith in my early 20s.

And we learned a kind of method called the Romans Road.

And I don't know if you're, some of you, many of you are probably familiar with this.

The Romans Road.

And that's a way of taking people through the book of Romans to lay out the gospel.

But what's interesting about the method is that you begin in a place, the first thing that you tell people is that all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God.

So the starting place is you need to recognize that you're a sinner.

Now, of course, this is theologically true.

We believe every word that Paul wrote in Romans.

And if you're speaking to somebody who already has a relatively high view of the Bible and sees it as a trustworthy document,

if you're dealing with somebody who already feels a sense of guilt and shame and is trying to figure out what to do with that,

then this would make a lot of sense.

This way of laying out the gospel would be ultimately very comforting for somebody like that.

But that's simply not the case in Athens.

And so Paul begins in a very different place.

It says,

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said,

Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

Now, we need to understand, you know, he's not starting from a place of condemnation.

You're a bunch of idolatrous pagan-worshipping sinners.

He starts with a compliment.

He starts by affirming their spiritual hunger.

I mean, this is a very positive statement.

When he said, I perceive that in every way you're very religious, they would have been like,

Yes, we are.

We take these things seriously.

And so he's affirming them.

Of course he recognizes the spiritual darkness of the idols they worship.

We said last week, we looked at the fact that he's deeply disturbed by them.

He's deeply disturbed by them.

But what we see here is that Paul also recognizes that underneath the surface, these people have very legitimate longings that all human beings share in common.

So he's disturbed that the Athenians worshipped Athena and named their city Athena instead of the true God.

But he also recognizes that under the surface, these are people who are longing for what?

Why do you worship Athena?

Well, you want your political leaders to have wisdom.

You want political stability.

You want economic prosperity.

Those are things that most everyone wants.

And they're longing for these things.

Paul's like, I know what that's like.

He's disturbed by people who make offerings to the goddess Artemis instead of worshiping God.

But Paul also recognizes who goes to worship Artemis.

Well, women who are pregnant and who are terrified of an awful, painful death for themselves or their child.

Because there is no technology, nothing near what we have today.

And so they're going and they're making offerings because Artemis is said to be the one who can deliver them safely through childbearing.

And so they're going and they're putting their hope.

And so Paul recognizes, you know, on the surface they're worshiping an idol.

But underneath, everybody wants that.

Nobody wants a horrible, painful death when they're trying to have a child.

And so there are these legitimate longings underneath the idol worship.

The people who worship the false gods of Athens are motivated by the same longings that anyone else would be motivated by.

They want to be safe.

They want to be financially secure.

They want to have meaningful relationships and a sense of purpose.

They're afraid of the unknown and they want some sense of control over the future.

Like everybody you've ever met.

This is what we need to understand about idol worship.

When we talk about idol worship, that's just another way of saying that people tend to prioritize and devote themselves to the things they believe are most likely to satisfy those longings.

That's essentially what it is.

We tend to prioritize and ultimately devote ourselves to the things that we ultimately believe are most likely to satisfy those inner longings.

You see the same thing in a place like D.C.

You know, you have a co-worker who maybe you feel like you have nothing in common with.

You know, they go by, you know, they use they-them pronouns.

They have a whole way of seeing the world that, you know, you personally don't subscribe to that gender ideology at all.

And you feel like there's no common ground.

And what you need to understand is that underneath the surface, that's simply someone who is just wanting to feel comfortable in their own skin.

Right?

It's somebody who is wanting a sense of identity, wanting a sense of belonging just like you, just like anyone else.

Right?

The neighbor down the street who's obsessed with politics and has all the yard signs laying out all the views.

You know, maybe you totally disagree with their politics, but underneath the surface, that's a person who's longing for some sense of meaning and purpose.

They're longing for some clear sense of right and wrong of good guys and bad guys.

And they found it in the world of politics.

So this is where we start by recognizing and affirming the longings under the surface.

That is the place where you will find common ground.

Always.

So just a couple of takeaways before we move on to the next point.

Don't assume that the people around you are not interested in God.

Every human being on the planet is a worshiper.

These are people with real spiritual longings.

They're simply looking in other places to satisfy those longings.

And really, this is all about posture.

And some of you get this and you do this naturally so well.

But when you start this way with people, your posture is such that you're not talking down to somebody from a position of spiritual superiority.

Or as though you're the one with all the answers.

You're coming alongside that person as a fellow pilgrim.

Right?

You care about those things.

I care about those things.

We both care about the same things.

We both want the same things for ourselves and our families.

Right?

We're heading in different directions as a result.

But underneath, there's common ground.

So this is where Paul starts.

Wow, I perceive that you're very religious.

You're asking good, big, hard questions.

You take these things seriously.

Well done.

And then, Paul finds an opening.

It's the second thing he does.

He confirms the wrong ease.

He finds an opening.

He says,

As I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,

I found also an altar with this inscription.

To the unknown God.

Verse 23.

Now, this is remarkable.

The Athenians, despite their vast pantheon,

still sensed that there was something missing.

Right?

Despite all of the options on the religious buffet,

they still have this altar to the unknown God.

They still sense there has to be more.

Something still felt incomplete.

So they left a space open, a kind of placeholder,

for whomever or whatever that thing might be.

And, you know, as we said a moment ago,

people tend to prioritize and devote themselves

to the things they believe are most likely to satisfy their longings.

But here's the next thing we need to see.

Inevitably, anything we devote ourselves to other than God

is going to fall short.

It's going to make promises that it can't deliver on.

Just to give one example,

there's nothing wrong with wanting to be successful.

There is a kind of good and godly form of ambition

that drives us to work hard, to get up early,

to put our best effort into things.

But there are countless people

who are completely devoted to success and status.

It's not just important, it's become ultimate.

It's become a kind of idol.

I don't know who I am

or what value I have if I'm not successful.

I can't imagine my life being worth living

if I'm not successful.

They've crossed a line.

What's interesting is to talk to people

when they have achieved success and status,

when they finally get what they're after.

Right?

If you don't, then you can always say,

well, if only I had been successful then.

But what happens when people actually get it?

And there's so many examples

of people saying versions of the same thing.

I think of, this is an old reference now,

but Tom Brady,

back when he only had three Super Bowl rings,

saying,

why do I have three Super Bowl rings

and still think there's something greater out there for me?

And he says, it's got to be more than this.

And what he says,

like, he's won three or four more.

Right, so he said,

I think of Brad Pitt in a Rolling Stone interview saying,

I got everything I thought I wanted.

And it was empty.

I think of Jim Carrey saying,

I think everybody should get rich and famous

and do everything they ever dreamed of

so they can see that it's not the answer.

All of these people,

if you read interviews with them,

if they're honest,

again and again and again,

people who you look at,

or I look at,

and we think they're at the top,

they're at the apex,

they have done it,

they have made it,

they've gotten everything they ever wanted.

And those are the people who are saying,

there's nothing here.

It's all empty.

It's all vanity,

to use the phrase from Ecclesiastes.

There's a lot of people who are devoted

to the search for identity,

to give another example.

And they're trying to discover their true self,

and so identity is the thing that they're after,

and they're searching,

and they're seeking,

and that's the thing they care most about.

It was interesting,

I read a personal story

that someone shared anonymously

in The Guardian last year,

and I saved it,

because it was just incredibly powerfully personal.

A woman, presumably,

is sharing about the fact

that she came out as gay in her late 20s,

and she says in the article,

in her disclosure here,

she says, you know,

that when she did that,

she hoped that that newfound freedom

would bring kind of a greater sense

of identity and self-worth.

Right now,

I'll be free to live out who I truly am,

and I'll get that thing I'm after.

But she says instead of that,

that actually led to more depression

and more confusion over her identity.

Despite trying on all different labels,

she says she still felt lost.

And then she says this,

and this is why I saved the article.

I'm now in my mid-30s,

and I'm worried that this exploration

of different lovers and ideologies

and roles within sex

is taking me further away

from what I actually want,

love and intimacy.

And I just thought

that was really powerful

because there's somebody

who's saying,

I've been looking and looking

and looking and looking,

and I realize that there's

a longing under the surface,

and here's what I really want.

I want love,

and I want intimacy.

And I'm like,

every single human being

on the planet wants that.

So these are examples, right?

You know, Jim Carrey

and Tom Brady and Brad Pitt

and then this anonymous woman.

These are all examples of people

who have devoted themselves

and they've prioritized things

they think are going to satisfy

those longings.

only to discover

that there's still something missing.

So metaphorically speaking,

they find within themselves

an altar to an unknown God.

Right?

They're struggling

and this or that

and the emptiness

of where they are

and they're trying

and then they realize

that there's an altar

to an unknown God

in their heart.

There's a kind of placeholder,

a spiritual placeholder.

It's a space

that they can't fill up

no matter how hard they try.

And sometimes,

people who were never

previously open

to the possibility of Christ,

when they reach a point

in their life

where their idols

have let them down

and when they have begun

to see that altar

to an unknown God

inside themselves,

that's when they start

to become spiritually open.

You know,

another example

of someone

who made an idol of success

is Lecrae,

you know,

the Grammy winning artist,

rap artist.

And he says

in one really candid interview

that for a long time,

he was completely devoted

to success and status.

He lived for that

and he wanted

all the trappings of that,

the drugs and women

and fame

and all that comes of that.

And yet,

just like all the other examples,

he sort of reached a place

where he realized

all of that was empty.

But for him,

that ultimately opened him up

to the possibility

of the gospel

and of Christ

and it completely

reoriented his life.

And he says

in an interview,

I had to lose

everything I idolized

to see Jesus clearly.

You know,

I had to,

I had,

the idols had to come down,

I had to see

the emptiness there

and then I was able

to see Jesus clearly.

He's probably somebody

who had heard the gospel

thousands of times

and it just bounced off.

Like toughness.

But then he saw

the altar to an unknown God

in his heart

and he realized

the emptiness

of the idols

he had been chasing

and then he became open.

So just to stop here

before we move on

to the final point.

If you're here

and you're not a Christian

and you're struggling

in your faith

or you know people

who are,

consider these questions.

Right?

Now,

first question would be

where are the altars

of devotion

in your life?

Where are the things

that,

what are the things

that you're most prioritizing

and devoted to?

Religiously.

Maybe you've built

an altar to your career

or to being liked

by everybody

or to your own comfort

or to the safety

and well-being

of your family

or to security.

See,

these are good things

but have they become

things that you

are devoted to?

And then the second question

I would say is this,

is there also

an altar

to an unknown God

in your life?

Are you absolutely

certain that this

is all there is

that you figured

it all out?

Or are you open

to the possibility

that there may be

a God out there

who made you

and that he's the one

you've been looking

for your whole life?

So,

here's where we are

so far.

Deep down,

everybody has spiritual

longings and desires

and the gospel

does not say

your desires are wrong.

The gospel says

they're misdirected.

Most of the time

they're good

and godly desires

but they're misdirected.

We're looking

in the wrong places.

So,

Paul's approach

is affirm those longings

and then find an opening.

Find people

who are in a place

in their lives

when they realize

something is missing.

Find people

who have realized

that the idols

are not delivering

what they promise.

Find the altar

to the unknown God.

And then,

and only then,

does he begin

to reveal

the true God?

That's the third thing

we see here.

So,

then he says

after he observes

that altar

to an unknown God

he says,

what therefore

you worship

is unknown

this I proclaim

to you.

See what Paul

does here.

He's connecting

their desire

to worship.

He's connecting

that desire

with the truth

about God

found in Jesus.

The gospel

always is best

presented

as the answer

to a question.

an answer

to a question

that somebody

is already

asking about

their life,

about the world.

So,

this is what

Paul does.

What you worship

is unknown

I proclaim

to you.

And as we're

going to see

next week,

we're going to

look much more

in depth

in what he says.

This is not

syncretism.

In other words,

this is not

Paul saying,

well,

you have your

path to God

and I have

my path to God

and look,

they're all

basically the same.

That's not

what he's doing.

He's not

simply affirming

their religion.

He's affirming

their longings

and desire

to know God

and then he

calls them

very clearly

to worship

the true God

instead of

these idols.

But this is

not coercive.

He's simply

offering an

alternative to

people who are

already looking

for one.

Some people

are not going

to be looking.

It's okay.

They're going

to reject it

outright.

Paul experiences

that.

We'll see that

in a couple

of weeks.

But there are

some people

who are looking

and Paul,

for those people,

is offering them

an alternative

that maybe

they've never

considered before.

When your heart

is closed,

no amount

of persuasion

can ever convince

a person

the gospel

is true.

But when your

heart is open,

when you are

spiritually hungry,

that's when the

gospel starts

to make sense.

You begin to

realize that

the idea that

there is a God

who made us

and who loves us

and who has a

purpose for us

is beautiful.

You begin to

realize that even

though we have

turned our backs

on him,

he has enacted

a plan to save

and restore us

through the

death and

resurrection

of his son,

that begins

to mean

something to you.

When you begin

to realize that

God is not

only saving us,

but he plans

to put the

whole world

right again,

that starts

to matter.

The beauty

and the grandeur

of that story

starts to

outshine

everything else.

Ultimately,

the gospel

confirms the

deep longings

of every human

heart,

regardless of

their culture.

nature.

The gospel

says,

you're right

to desire

these things,

but you're

just looking

in the wrong

place.

To paraphrase

the theologian

Daniel Strange,

he says,

the gospel

offers what

all human

hearts rightly

need.

In the gospel

we find meaning,

but it's a kind

of meaning

that suffering

can't take

away.

We find

satisfaction,

but it's a kind

of satisfaction

that is not

dependent on our

present circumstance.

you find

freedom,

but it's a kind

of freedom

that doesn't

break down

community.

You find

identity,

but it's a kind

of identity

that doesn't

elude you

or crush

you or

lead you

to exclude

others.

You find

relief from

shame and guilt,

but it's a kind

of relief that

doesn't resort

to relativism.

You find

hope,

but it's a kind

of hope that

can enable you

to face anything

with poise.

Even death

itself.

You find

these things

that everybody's

looking for,

but you find

them in a way

that you're

never going

to find

them anywhere

else.

And we're

going to look

more in detail

next week at

what Paul

actually says

about God,

but here's

this approach

in a nutshell.

He affirms

their longings,

he finds

the openings,

and then he

reveals the

true God.

So think

back to the

statistic that

we talked

about at

the beginning

of all of

this.

30 million

more people

in the last

several years

saying they

follow Jesus.

There are

people in our

lives right now

who are searching

for that which

is true and

real.

And so as we

look around our

city, our

neighborhood,

our jobs,

we need to be

asking as Christians,

friends, where

are the openings?

Where are the

altars to an

unknown God?

Where are the

little snippets

and pieces of

conversations that

we're having day

in and day out

where we're

sensing that there

are some people

in our lives who

may be questioning

things?

I think that's

been happening

quite a lot in

the last several

years.

Where are those

openings?

And for those of

us who are

Christians, may

Paul's example

give us courage

and boldness to

be willing to

proclaim Christ to

those who are

ready to meet

him.

Let's pray.

Lord, we're

talking about

something that

only you can

accomplish, and

that is to work

in the hearts of

people, to bring

about change and

transformation.

But Lord, before

we can be a part

of this work, we

need to be not

only convinced of

the truth of these

things, but

passion.

Lord, we pray

that the Holy

Spirit would move

in our community,

would impassionally

molden us, to

see the openness,

to see the,

through your eyes,

the people of

formalized, and

the work to

teach.

Lord, we pray

this for their

good, and for

our good, and

all the good

of your name,

and for our

God.

We pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.