Broadening Your Witness XI - "The Unknown God"

Acts 17:16-34

It was my pleasure, ten years ago, to travel to Athens and climb Mars Hill. Over the 1,962 years since Paul preached there, millions have climbed it, so it is now very slick to walk on and very difficult to get down. Tina chose not make the climb, but I would not be denied, for this passage is my theme for ministry. For I understand that our primary task for ministry is to proclaim to spiritually hungry people the God they have yet to experience. The Areopagus was a gathering of philosophers, pagan religious people, leaders and educators who debated the issues of the day. There were statues of the many gods on Mars Hill at that time. But they included another statue which was to the god that they hadn’t discovered yet. Paul then claims that Jesus is the one they haven’t discovered.

You and I live at a time when people are very spiritually hungry. Sales for literature and items for New Age religion and occult practices continue to rise. Spiritual themes (often with biblical roots) are contained in a growing number of the songs and movies of our generation. At the same time, church attendance has had a decline in the USA over the past ten years (about 6%). The decline is much steeper when we consider only those under the age of 40. When Paul used the approach he did with the Athenians, he was speaking the language of their 1st century academic spiritual turf. Jesus did the same thing with the parables, speaking the language of enslaved people in agrarian and fishing lifestyles, who had little say over their own lives. What are the key ways people understand themselves today? What language and what stories to we need to use to communicate the gospel with those outside the Church? Certainly not everyone discussed the issues that were talked about at the Areopagus. It took different approaches with different people even in ancient Athens. What might be the different approaches we need to use in sharing our faith? Have a great day.