16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Knowing the Culture
In this interesting passage, Paul is talking to the Greeks in Athens about Jesus. He obviously spent time preparing his sermon (message) and "doing research." For example, he talks about some of the Greek statues he saw in Athens (verse 23), and he even quotes one of their poets (verse 28). He is using the Greek culture, itself, to enlighten the Greek people to their need for Christ.
Jesus wants us to tell others about Him too. The fact that you are reading this devotion is probably because someone in your life took the time to tell you about Jesus... People who tell others about Jesus are called "missionaries," and believe it or not, but we ALL are expected to be missionaries. We don't have to go to a foreign country like Greece to be a missionary; we can be a missionary at our schools, our workplaces, even our neighborhoods.
But here's the catch... We should not just start talking about Jesus without knowing about the people with whom we are speaking. For example, if you were talking to people in India about Jesus, you should get to know their culture... things like their food, their language, and even their religion... so that you can make connections with them so that your attempt to share Jesus is better received and appreciated. Likewise, when we AYL leaders share our faith with teenagers, we do so by trying to connect what we believe with things in the adolescent subculture, things like music, activities, trends, and so forth.
In all of these examples, the goal is to find COMMON GROUND with others. Yes, we want to share Jesus, but it should NOT be a one way flow of conversation. We Christians can also learn from others and listen to what they say and appreciate their thoughts. In the end, that will make our message more potent and applicable to their lives. That's what Paul did when he spoke in Athens, that's what we should do too.
- Brian Hall
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