Sharing the Gospel From Common Ground
Daily Scripture
Acts 17:16-34
Acts 17:16-34
16 While Paul waited for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to find that the city was flooded with idols. 17 He began to interact with the Jews and Gentile God-worshippers in the synagogue. He also addressed whoever happened to be in the marketplace each day. 18 Certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion too. Some said, “What an amateur! What’s he trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” (They said this because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 They took him into custody and brought him to the council on Mars Hill. “What is this new teaching? Can we learn what you are talking about? 20 You’ve told us some strange things and we want to know what they mean.” (21 They said this because all Athenians as well as the foreigners who live in Athens used to spend their time doing nothing but talking about or listening to the newest thing.)
22 Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.’ What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you. 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples made with human hands. 25 Nor is God served by human hands, as though he needed something, since he is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else. 26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us. 28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore, as God’s offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought. 30 God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives. 31 This is because God has set a day when he intends to judge the world justly by a man he has appointed. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to ridicule Paul. However, others said, “We’ll hear from you about this again.” 33 At that, Paul left the council. 34 Some people joined him and came to believe, including Dionysius, a member of the council on Mars Hill, a woman named Damaris, and several others.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
When the apostle Paul ended up in Athens—the ancient world’s center of philosophy and learning, filled with “novelty-loving” thinkers—he was required to explain his faith before the Athenian court on Mars Hill. This wasn’t a casual philosophical discussion—scholar N. T. Wright noted, the Areopagus was “the highest court in Athens, composed of leading citizens.” * Paul found a brilliant entry point before that judicial authority. He’d seen an altar inscribed “To an Unknown God.” He didn’t condemn their ignorance, but said, “I’m here to introduce you to that God.” He chose respect over confrontation.
- Luke noted that Athenians and their foreign guests “used to spend their time doing nothing but talking about or listening to the newest thing.” Paul’s message about Jesus—especially his resurrection—seemed genuinely novel in Athens. Could it be that in increasingly post-Christian parts of our culture, the “novelty” of the good news might actually get a hearing from people who’ve never truly encountered it?
- Some might expect Paul to condemn the Athenians as idolaters who rejected the true God. Instead, Paul’s actual sermon had a respectful, inclusive tone—even quoting a Cretan philosopher named Epimenides and the Stoic poet Aratus. Was Paul “selling out” his faith by quoting pagan writers? How can finding common ground with people of different beliefs, as Paul did, help you create conversation rather than condemnation?
Prayer
King Jesus, when Paul preached in Athens, he quoted Greek poets and Cretan philosophers. Help me to know the culture around me well enough that I can use it to communicate without letting that culture subvert my faith. Amen.
GPS Insights
Jennifer Creager
Jennifer Creagar is the Community Assistance Coordination Director in Resurrection's Congregational Care Ministry. She is married and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys writing and photography.
Can you imagine being a Greek in Athens, surrounded by the drama of Gods and demi-Gods who seemed to spend most of their time fighting with each other, along with controlling the destinies of mortals and generally messing with their lives? In the midst of all this dramatic tale-telling and the endless attempts to please these immortals, a plain man comes to Athens claiming to know the one true God, and what’s more, proclaiming that this foreign God had died and was resurrected, and that he asked mere mortals to follow a path of kindness and love for each other, care for the poor among them, putting aside anger and judgement, and trusting this one God with their lives and their hearts. No one throwing lightning bolts. No one starting heavenly wars with the other Gods and using mortals in the battle. This Jesus talked about peacemakers being blessed and called all people as the children of the one God.
I love the way Paul presented this truth to Athenians who were deeply entrenched in the drama and mystery. He didn’t offer a new episode of Zeus vs Everyone, or scary stories designed to instill fear. Paul’s truth about Jesus was completely new and different and would take some time to soak in. He would have to demonstrate his own belief and devotion to the one true God. He found a way by acknowledging their shrine to “an unknown God.” Something familiar. Then he had an opening to tell them the truth about the one true God. He didn’t give them an argument; he gave them good news. Then, when he left, others came to believe, and the fellowship of believers continued to grow.
It’s so easy to get embroiled in drama from the news, arguments with family or friends about what is true and what is good. Not everyone believed Paul. Some ridiculed him because his story didn’t match the stories they were used to. Paul’s story about Jesus didn’t require just an audience, it required open hearts and participation. Some who heard him did hear Paul with open ears and open hearts and came to believe and live into a story that would change the world forever.
Lord, help me declare your love and forgiveness through word and example, not through argument and conflict. Like Paul, help me show you to the world so that peace and your love will be shown to all. Amen.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Wright, N. T., The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is (p. 102). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
