Finding Common Ground- Acts 17:22-23

Original picture by Oliver Dixon and obtained from wikimedia under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic 

If you were to walk through a town...say Las Vegas, or New Orleans...and you were bombarded by sexual inuendo and advertisements and temples built to greed and gambling, how would you start a conversation with someone about the religious and spiritual state of that town? Better yet, let's make it more personal instead of just thinking about an entire city. Let's talk about seeing those things evidenced in a person's life. How would you react?

I hope, first of all, that you would be deeply saddened and upset because of the evidence of lives lived so far separated from the God who loves them and wants them. But what would you do with that feeling of revulsion, anger, and sadness that would come because of the sin and idolatry that you witnessed?

Would you lash out in anger at the disgusting state of affairs? Would you turn around and get out of town as quickly as possible? Would you warn others to stay far away?

Or would you look long enough to find some piece of evidence of something good...some deep religious inclination and spiritual leaning that you had in common with the people of that place and then use that to compliment them and establish common ground in order to share with them the glorious eternal alternative of the truly good life that they are currently missing out on because of their obsession with the very temporary "good life" that they are living now?

When Paul walked into Athens, that is pretty much what he walked into. The city was full of idolatry and with idolatry came sexual immorality. Luke says that Paul was "greatly distressed" when he saw the extent of the idolatry that the people of Athens lived in (Acts 17:16). It's worth asking before we move further into the text whether or not we experience the same pain that Paul did when we see evidence of separation from God. Or have we become so comfortable and accustomed to the sin all around us that we are perfectly content to laugh along with the rest of the world at acts and attitudes that are causing people to lose their eternal souls every day? If you are not concerned with the sin that you see around you, then there is no point in continuing to read. Instead, spend some time thinking about the greatness and the righteousness of God and then compare that to the world and ask God to break your heart over the rebellion that you see.

But if you are heart broken by the things that kill souls as Paul was, then keep reading, because I think we can learn from how Paul addressed the lost people that he so desperately wanted to save. First his began reasoning with them in a somewhat private manner in the synagogue where the people who had already denounced idolatry were. But before long, word of his teaching got out into the general public and he was invited to address the rest of the town in the Areopagus. So he did.

And did he blast their idolatry? Did he condemn their sinfulness? Well...not right off.

First, he complimented them on their deep religious inclinations and he pointed to the fact that they were so religious and concerned to please the gods that they even had altars to an unknown god. And he went from there to proclaim to them the truth of the One True God that they had never known. In his address, he even quoted some of their poets because because truth is truth no matter where the source. And what was the result of Paul's straightforward yet gentle approach to explaining that they had been worshiping many gods in ignorance but could now worship the One True God in truth?

"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."    - Acts 17:32-34a

May we first have our hearts broken every time we see someone who is living in a way that evidences their separation from God. May we be so distressed by their situation that we are forced to speak out about it. But may we have the wisdom and the love that Paul had when he stared at their situation long enough to see the good intentions. May we not assign false motives and labels to the people who are lost. May we see that the only difference between them and us is that someone had the grace and the love to bring us out of our ignorance so that we could know and worship the true God that is unknown to the rest of the world.

Some will still sneer at us. That's ok. They cannot possibly be any more lost. Others will be interested and just might continue to seek until they find Him. But some will believe. And your love and your wisdom in proclaiming the good news to them in a way that they can hear and understand will make an eternal difference in their lives.