WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 We'll be reading in chapter 17. 00:00:02.760 --> 00:00:07.620 We're only going to be reading a couple of verses this morning, verses 22 and 23. 00:00:08.620 --> 00:00:12.400 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:17.519 Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:21.820 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, 00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:25.120 I found also an altar with this inscription, 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:27.100 To the unknown God. 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:30.380 What therefore you worship is unknown. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.060 This I proclaim to you. 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:35.660 The word of the Lord. 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:37.280 Thanks be to God. 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:41.859 Well, this is a big week coming up with the election, 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:47.960 and the passage that we're going to be looking at this morning may not seem very relevant to that at first, 00:00:48.180 --> 00:00:53.640 but I hope and trust that by the end you will see how important this passage is 00:00:53.640 --> 00:01:01.399 and how it offers incredibly helpful guidance for those of us who are Christians as we navigate the coming weeks, 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:03.700 which will surely be eventful. 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:08.739 The passage we're looking at is Acts chapter 17, verses 22 and 23, 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:13.180 and this is the place where we really see Paul's approach to evangelism. 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:18.580 We get to see his strategy, if you will, for evangelism in the city of Athens, 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:25.100 which is highly intellectual, highly pluralistic, and it's a cultural center of influence. 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:30.240 And I think this is an extremely important passage because as I look at our culture today, 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.179 I believe that this pattern, the pattern that we're going to see this morning, 00:01:34.399 --> 00:01:38.719 I think this is the pattern that should inform the church as a whole 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:44.239 as we seek to evangelize the culture in a post-Christian society. 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.319 Now, I know when I say the word evangelism, some of you may balk. 00:01:48.539 --> 00:01:52.979 You may sort of react negatively to that or turn your nose up or say, 00:01:53.340 --> 00:01:57.819 I can't believe that we're still talking about this in 2020. 00:01:57.819 --> 00:02:03.179 Haven't we all learned that people should simply hold their beliefs to themselves 00:02:03.179 --> 00:02:07.239 and that no one should impose their beliefs on other people? 00:02:07.699 --> 00:02:13.419 What I would say to that is that that statement is in itself a contradiction. 00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:19.180 You've just done the very thing that you have told others not to do. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.400 By saying that, you're actually imposing your beliefs on other people. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:30.039 And another way of saying this would be to say that it's really impossible to live our lives 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:36.120 in society and have relationships with one another and not have our beliefs bump into one another 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:37.420 from time to time. 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:41.980 So what we're going to do this morning is simply assume that we all have beliefs 00:02:41.980 --> 00:02:48.599 and that we will inevitably share those beliefs, either directly or indirectly, with one another. 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:53.019 And so we're going to talk about how Christians should be going about this 00:02:53.019 --> 00:02:56.240 in a pluralistic society like the one that we live in. 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.500 And we're going to follow Paul's example. 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:00.900 So let's pray and then we'll open God's word together. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:07.699 Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you that you are able to open it 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:09.519 and illuminate it with your spirit. 00:03:09.859 --> 00:03:13.759 We know that we come here with our own expectations and hopes and even agendas, 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:18.620 but that, Lord, you have something that you desire to speak to us. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.060 And it's your voice that we long to hear, not the voice of human beings. 00:03:22.179 --> 00:03:25.399 And so we pray that we would hear yours and yours alone 00:03:25.399 --> 00:03:29.239 and that you would do in us your work, Lord, for our good, 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:32.280 but ultimately for your glory through our lives. 00:03:32.399 --> 00:03:33.659 And we pray this in your son's name. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:34.000 Amen. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:34.120 Amen. 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:39.959 So the first thing that we see Paul do as he has spent some time in Athens 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:46.340 and as he's beginning to learn the culture, he identifies the religious longings of the culture. 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:49.920 He identifies the religious longings of the culture. 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:54.159 It says in verse 22, so Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.800 he's been invited to speak to the philosophers at the Areopagus. 00:03:58.260 --> 00:04:04.680 And Paul says, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:07.640 Now, I want to make it very clear here. 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:09.340 Paul has already been mocked. 00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:10.840 He's already been talked down to. 00:04:10.920 --> 00:04:13.740 It's clear that many of these people don't respect Paul. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.620 He could have very conceivably started in a critical way. 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:20.040 And yet he chooses to start this way. 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:25.920 He starts by going to the one place where you're always going to find common ground with people. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.259 Even if you disagree politically, even if you disagree about every other kind of thing, 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:34.600 you will always find common ground, no matter who you're talking to, 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:37.759 if you focus on religious longings. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.740 And this is where Paul goes. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.719 See, there are different kinds of longings in life. 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:48.360 There are what you might consider basic longings, things like hunger or thirst. 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:51.519 These are desires that can be satisfied here and now. 00:04:51.599 --> 00:04:52.480 If you're hungry, eat. 00:04:52.539 --> 00:04:54.060 If you're thirsty, drink. 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:55.399 These are basic desires. 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.239 But then there are deeper longings. 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:03.159 There are, you might say, more existential longings. 00:05:03.159 --> 00:05:08.519 And these are things that can't be fully satisfied here and now, no matter how hard we try. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.459 And these are what we would call religious longings. 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:20.079 So Bertrand Russell, the well-known agnostic, wrote about two kinds of loneliness that he struggled with in his life. 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:27.259 First, he talks about physical loneliness, which he says can be relieved simply by being with people. 00:05:27.359 --> 00:05:30.839 He says being with almost anyone relieves that kind of loneliness. 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:38.919 And he muses about how getting married and having kids might be able to permanently solve that kind of loneliness. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.799 But then he goes on to talk about a very different kind of loneliness. 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:48.279 He describes it as a, quote, very internal and terrible spiritual loneliness. 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:56.399 And he says, you know, even getting married and having kids wouldn't come close to fulfilling that kind of loneliness. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:08.319 And he even reflects on if he ever were to find some kind of companion who could meet that need, that it might actually transform him, that he would be a very different kind of person. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:24.279 And right here in Russell's writing, we see the difference between a kind of basic longing of loneliness and loneliness as a spiritual longing, as a religious longing, the kind of longing that can't be satisfied simply by being around people. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:26.480 And the thing that we need to be clear on is this. 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:30.500 Religious longings are good and godly desires. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:34.219 They actually teach us something about what it means to be a human being. 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:37.039 They tell us what kind of world God made us to live in. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.220 They tell us about the God who made all of this. 00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:52.800 So to take loneliness as one example, loneliness is a good and godly desire in that it teaches us that we were made for relationship with one another and with God. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:07:00.100 And so every individual, every society has religious longings of one kind or another. 00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:05.020 But they do tend to differ from one individual or society to the next. 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:17.819 So if Paul were speaking at Harvard or Oxford instead of the Areopagus, and if Paul were speaking in 2020 instead of in the first century, what might Paul say? 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:26.639 Perhaps he would say, people of Harvard, people of Oxford, I perceive that in every way you care a lot about meaning. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:31.019 You want to know what all of this means. 00:07:31.099 --> 00:07:32.319 Is there any purpose to it all? 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.860 Maybe he would say, I perceive that you care a lot about freedom. 00:07:36.599 --> 00:07:39.219 You care a lot about making sure that people are free. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:44.839 In this society, people of Harvard, people of Oxford, I perceive that you care a lot about satisfaction. 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.419 You want to live your life and experience pleasure. 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:53.840 You do not want to deal with things like anxiety or depression or fear or grief. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.280 I perceive that you care a lot about identity. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:07.540 You really want to know who you truly are and to make sure that that's an authentic identity that has not been unduly influenced by outside pressures. 00:08:07.960 --> 00:08:11.439 You care a lot about justice, people of Harvard, people of Oxford. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:17.560 You want to make sure that we live in a just society, an equal society for all. 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:21.800 And see, all of these are good and godly desires. 00:08:22.219 --> 00:08:29.639 And I believe that if Paul were here today, he would affirm these desires in the same way that he affirms the religious longings in Athens. 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:31.620 So the first point is this. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:37.820 When it comes to evangelism, we have to start by meeting people where they are. 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:48.420 In all my years as a pastor, I have yet to have the experience of anyone coming to me and saying, 00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:50.760 Pastor, I really want to talk to you. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:55.800 I've just been deeply burdened and crushed by the weight of my own sin. 00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:01.560 And I've been thinking day and night, is there someone out there who could deal with my sin 00:09:01.560 --> 00:09:06.040 and then could become my Lord and Savior and teach me how to live in the world? 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:06.880 Can you help me out? 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:08.240 I've never had that experience. 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:10.700 And that would be amazing if somebody comes and asks that. 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:11.720 I am ready. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:12.360 Right? 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:13.340 I've been ready. 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:17.179 But I have yet to have that conversation with a single person. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.039 The kinds of questions that people ask are questions like this. 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.620 Am I really going to live the rest of my life alone? 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:30.940 Why am I so afraid all the time, even when I know I shouldn't be? 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:36.280 Why do I have such a hard time trusting people? 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:42.980 How can I keep doing my job when I hate it? 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:45.059 When I hate my boss? 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:47.959 When I hate the person I work with? 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.900 These questions. 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:54.580 The kind of questions that keep you up at night. 00:09:54.680 --> 00:09:58.100 The kind of questions that you think about at three o'clock in the morning when you're tossing and turning. 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.700 These are the questions that connect to our religious longings. 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:08.180 And every human being is haunted by questions like this. 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:10.559 And so this is where it has to start. 00:10:11.699 --> 00:10:11.759 Right? 00:10:11.819 --> 00:10:13.199 So another way of saying it is this. 00:10:14.179 --> 00:10:22.419 Don't waste your time or somebody else's time offering the gospel as an answer to questions that people are not asking. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:31.479 We have to figure out how to connect the hope of the gospel with the questions that people are actually asking. 00:10:31.579 --> 00:10:33.439 The ones that connect to their religious longings. 00:10:33.859 --> 00:10:34.699 That's where it has to start. 00:10:35.839 --> 00:10:36.240 Right? 00:10:36.319 --> 00:10:37.039 So that's the first thing. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:40.159 Paul identifies the religious longings of this culture. 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:41.579 But then he goes on. 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:50.299 Once he's identified those longings, he then goes on to expose the false promises of fulfillment that are embedded in this culture. 00:10:50.439 --> 00:10:54.799 In verse 23, Paul says he observed the objects of their worship. 00:10:54.899 --> 00:10:56.959 And, of course, Paul's referring to idols. 00:10:57.699 --> 00:11:01.099 Over the last several weeks, we've talked extensively about idols. 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:04.799 And so the connection I want to make, though, this morning is this. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:07.779 As we've said, an idol is a false god. 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:11.539 It's anything that has taken the place of God in our lives. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.319 But the question that we want to ask is, why do people worship idols? 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:18.679 And why do they choose to worship certain idols over other idols? 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:26.459 And the answer is that idols, by definition, promise to fulfill our religious longings. 00:11:26.459 --> 00:11:28.239 That's what an idol does. 00:11:28.359 --> 00:11:31.539 And the problem with idols is that these are empty promises. 00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:36.659 Idols never deliver on their promises. 00:11:36.859 --> 00:11:38.639 They'll take everything from you. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.360 And yet they never give you what they promise. 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:43.480 So let's take an example from earlier. 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:49.220 We said that Paul might observe that in our culture, people care a lot about satisfaction. 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:53.639 And I would say that this is a good and godly longing. 00:11:53.899 --> 00:12:00.319 People long to be satisfied and content and free from fear or pain. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:06.400 And that's a good, legitimate thing to desire because it tells us that we weren't made to live in a broken world. 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:11.180 There's something in us that instinctively knows that suffering was not a part of the original plan. 00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:18.820 But this longing for satisfaction leads many people to worship the idol of comfort. 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:23.800 And the promise that this idol gives us is this. 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:30.720 The idol says, if you devote yourself to me, if you devote yourself to comfort and rituals of comfort, 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.680 if you devote yourself to maximizing your pleasure and minimizing or avoiding discomfort at all costs, 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:42.040 then you will be satisfied and content in your life. 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:45.020 So that's the bargain that we make with this idol. 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:50.220 So maybe you relax by scrolling through Instagram or TikTok. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:55.840 Maybe you deal with your negative feelings by eating a gallon of ice cream. 00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:05.860 Maybe it's cocktails that happen seven nights a week where the first cocktail is mixed at 4.55 p.m. 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:09.019 Maybe it's binge watching Netflix every night. 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:10.419 Maybe it's shopping. 00:13:11.079 --> 00:13:14.139 Maybe it's fantasizing about houses on Zillow. 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:16.759 Maybe it's planning your next vacation. 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:24.500 Now, most of these things are not bad in moderation, but the problem with the idol of comfort is this. 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:29.500 It never gives the lasting satisfaction that it promises. 00:13:30.819 --> 00:13:33.100 It's like a bucket with a hole in it. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.600 You pour into it and pour into it and pour into it, but it never fills up. 00:13:38.139 --> 00:13:42.819 So you get that dopamine hit from Instagram, but then it fades. 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:49.500 The ice cream carton is empty, and then all of those negative feelings come back, 00:13:49.560 --> 00:13:52.620 plus the guilt of having eaten an entire gallon of ice cream. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:58.360 The drinks make you numb for a while, but then that numbness wears off, 00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:01.280 and maybe you even feel worse than you did before. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:10.519 The novelty of the new purchase wears off, and then you're more aware of all of the things out there that you don't yet own, 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:12.159 that you could buy. 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:15.939 And then this leads to other problems, right? 00:14:15.959 --> 00:14:21.159 You start seeing everything through the lens of your own comfort, including your friends, 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.079 or if you're a Christian, your church. 00:14:24.219 --> 00:14:29.980 You see your church primarily in terms of how it meets or doesn't meet your particular needs. 00:14:30.819 --> 00:14:36.579 You neglect the real needs around you because you don't want the inconvenience. 00:14:36.579 --> 00:14:38.779 That would threaten your comfort. 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:43.319 You miss out on the fact that sometimes, like it or not, 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:48.820 suffering is the thing that produces the most growth in us, the most maturity in us. 00:14:49.420 --> 00:14:53.440 And the worst part is you're still perpetually unsatisfied. 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:58.700 None of this actually deals with the source of your dissatisfaction. 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:00.100 It's all temporary. 00:15:00.280 --> 00:15:01.400 It's temporary fixes. 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:10.059 And you will find that the same is true any time we look to idols to fulfill our religious longings. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:15.399 We long for identity, and so we go to the idol of expressive individualism, 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:21.399 and that idol tells us that we have to find ourselves by looking within and trusting our feelings. 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:25.279 But then all of our feelings are constantly changing, 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.819 and so our identity constantly eludes us, 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:31.860 and so we continually redefine ourselves, 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:34.860 but never feel that we have arrived. 00:15:35.420 --> 00:15:39.040 We long for justice, and so we go to the idol of power. 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:45.060 That tells us that justice means taking power away from people who have it 00:15:45.060 --> 00:15:46.920 and giving it to people who don't. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:52.020 But all that does is turn today's victims into tomorrow's oppressors. 00:15:52.700 --> 00:15:57.220 All it does is reinforce the idol of power rather than tearing it down. 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:03.300 We long for self-worth, and so we go to the idol of performance, 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.220 and that idol tells us that our worth is measured by our accomplishments. 00:16:07.520 --> 00:16:13.520 But no matter how much we accomplish, there's always someone out there who is better than we are. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.760 And so we always feel like we're falling short. 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.980 See, I could go on and on and on, but the point is the same in every case. 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:23.200 Idols make empty promises. 00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:30.320 They will take everything from you, but they'll never give you what they promised. 00:16:32.300 --> 00:16:33.840 And I can tell you this. 00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:35.899 I can describe it. 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.399 I can give illustrations and examples. 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:39.879 I can tell you stories about other people. 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:43.659 But chances are, unless you have experienced this personally, 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:45.840 you're probably not going to believe me. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:50.820 Only when someone has become aware of their religious longings, 00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:56.340 and they have realized that their idols will inevitably fail them, 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:04.519 only then might they possibly become open to the gospel as an alternative source of hope. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:10.360 It's only when our idols fail us that we become truly open to the possibility 00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:13.480 that the gospel has something better to offer. 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.779 And that's why only after Paul has observed the idols of worship, 00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:20.940 only after he's observed the rampant idolatry, 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:26.440 and only when he realizes that some of his people might actually be open to what he's about to say, 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:33.700 does he then do the third thing, which is to proclaim the gospel as the true fulfillment of our longings. 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:34.880 He says in verse 23, 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:39.599 I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:41.860 What therefore you worship is unknown. 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:43.579 This I proclaim to you. 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:48.219 See, the Athenians wanted to cover all of their religious bases, 00:17:48.399 --> 00:17:53.199 and so they built an altar devoted basically to anyone out there they may have overlooked. 00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:57.979 And Paul sees this, and he takes it as a sign of their open-mindedness. 00:17:58.639 --> 00:18:01.419 And then what Paul goes on to say is extremely important. 00:18:01.539 --> 00:18:01.759 He says, 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:15.200 And so what he's doing is he's actually connecting their desire to worship the right God with the truth about God found in Jesus Christ. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:20.620 And as we're going to see next week, this is not just an example of syncretism. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:21.900 This is not just Paul saying, 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.080 Well, you have your road to God, and I have my road, and isn't that great? 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:27.160 It all works swimmingly. 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:30.140 What he actually does is he affirms their longings. 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:32.420 He affirms their desire to know God. 00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:38.220 But then he confronts and challenges the idols and the false promises in their culture. 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:44.660 And then at the very end, as we'll see next week, he calls them to turn and worship the true God who made them. 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:48.579 Paul's not coercing these people. 00:18:48.860 --> 00:18:52.460 What he's doing is simply offering a clear alternative. 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:54.980 A clear alternative. 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.620 And he's making this offer to people who are already looking for one. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:00.059 There's already an openness. 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.360 They have an altar to an unknown God. 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:08.779 They are willing to consider the possibility that they may have gotten it wrong. 00:19:10.479 --> 00:19:15.159 So if you're not a Christian, here are some questions that you might want to consider. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.279 First of all, let me ask you this. 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:21.439 What idol, or I'm sorry, what altars have you built in your life? 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:29.000 What altars, if Paul were to sort of look at the various altars in your life, what would he see? 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:32.339 What are you religiously devoted to? 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:35.039 What can you not imagine your life without? 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.680 Maybe there's an altar that you've built to your career. 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:43.839 Maybe there's an altar that you've built to being liked by everyone who knows you. 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:48.140 Maybe there's an altar that you've built to comfort, as we talked about earlier. 00:19:48.259 --> 00:19:50.579 Maybe there's an altar that you've built to your family. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:55.579 Maybe there's an altar that you've built to security and safety. 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:57.880 So that's the first question. 00:19:57.880 --> 00:19:58.880 What are the altars in your life? 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:00.440 The second question is every bit as important. 00:20:01.040 --> 00:20:05.320 Is there an altar to the unknown God in your life? 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:10.020 In other words, are you absolutely certain that this is all there is? 00:20:10.060 --> 00:20:13.100 That there's nothing beyond what you have already perceived? 00:20:13.360 --> 00:20:18.300 Are you absolutely certain that what you believe is the only thing that there is to believe? 00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:26.740 Or are you open to the possibility that there may be a God out there you have not yet encountered? 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:36.620 Are you open to the possibility that there is a God out there who made you and that he's the one you've been seeking after your entire life? 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:48.579 The times when people are most open to this possibility are the times right after their idols have let them down. 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:49.579 Right? 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:50.579 Right? 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:53.720 So you gave everything up for your career and you still lost your job. 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:55.399 Right? 00:20:55.399 --> 00:20:59.619 You sacrificed your integrity in order to be liked and you still got rejected. 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:07.099 You put everything, invested everything into your family and your marriage still fell apart. 00:21:09.239 --> 00:21:11.079 Then there's an opening in your heart. 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:14.099 Then there's a possibility. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:15.719 Right? 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.799 That's when the gospel starts to make sense. 00:21:19.239 --> 00:21:24.000 That's when the gospel begins to be the answer to the deepest questions that you're asking. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:24.639 Right? 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:28.180 When you begin to realize that there is a God who made you. 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:30.440 That there's a God who loves you. 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:39.620 When you begin to realize that even though you turned your back on that God, that God has enacted a plan to restore you to himself. 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:47.240 That he did the unimaginable and sent his son to die in order to bring you back into the fold of his family. 00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:53.560 That even when you fled from God, God pursued you because he loves you. 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.299 That is the first sign of you turning to come back to him. 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:02.159 Like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, he runs down the street to embrace you. 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:10.579 When you realize that God is not only saving you, but his plan is to put the whole world right again. 00:22:11.399 --> 00:22:15.460 The beauty and the grandeur of that story starts to outshine everything else. 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:25.620 The gospel confirms the deepest longings of every human heart regardless of their culture. 00:22:25.620 --> 00:22:32.840 To paraphrase the theologian Daniel Strange, the gospel offers what all human hearts rightly need. 00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:38.900 It offers meaning, but a kind of meaning that suffering can't take away. 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:45.240 It offers satisfaction, but a kind of satisfaction that doesn't depend on our circumstances. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:51.420 It offers freedom, but a kind of freedom that doesn't break down the bonds of community. 00:22:52.420 --> 00:23:00.519 It offers identity, but a kind of identity that doesn't elude you or crush you or lead you to exclude others. 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:06.200 A basis for justice, but one that doesn't turn you into the new oppressor. 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:12.700 Relief from shame and guilt, but a kind of relief that doesn't resort to relativism. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:22.240 Hope, but a kind of hope that can enable you to face anything with poise, even death. 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:29.920 So this is Paul's approach to evangelism in a highly intellectual and pluralistic culture. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:35.259 And I believe, as I said at the beginning, this should be our approach in the post-Christian West. 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:38.640 Identify the religious longings of the culture. 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:44.400 Expose the false promises of fulfillment in the culture. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:50.400 And then proclaim the gospel as the true fulfillment of those religious longings. 00:23:51.080 --> 00:23:55.140 And actually, we have an opportunity this week to put all of this into practice. 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:59.960 I told you at the beginning that this would be relevant to the election, and here we are at the end. 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:08.180 Listen, no matter how this election pans out, there's going to be widespread disillusionment and unrest throughout our nation. 00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:12.600 There's going to be widespread disillusionment and unrest. 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:16.440 And listen, this is a fantastic opportunity for the gospel. 00:24:17.340 --> 00:24:17.680 Right? 00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:23.140 This is a fantastic opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed because idols are going to come crashing down. 00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:27.320 The idol of politics is going to fall. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:34.360 And for a little while, people are going to be crushed, but they're going to be open. 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:36.840 Maybe in a way that they haven't been in a long time. 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:46.120 And it is often in the ashes of disillusionment and despair that the fires of faith can be kindled. 00:24:48.300 --> 00:24:48.880 Let's pray. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.160 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:24:52.860 --> 00:24:54.060 We thank you for your gospel. 00:24:54.780 --> 00:24:56.780 And we thank you that this doesn't depend on us. 00:24:57.540 --> 00:25:07.640 I pray that in the power of your Holy Spirit, we who are Christians would have our hearts reignited with excitement and passion for the truth of your gospel. 00:25:08.120 --> 00:25:12.800 That it is the greatest story and the truest story in the world. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:18.639 And we pray for all those in our lives, all those we know, and especially those who might be listening right now. 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:25.940 That, Lord, they would have the clear-eyed ability to see the idols in their lives for what they are. 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:27.819 To see the empty promises. 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:35.180 And that they would be willing to consider and embrace the alternative hope that can only be found in the gospel, Lord. 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:41.080 And I pray for all of us that should draw us closer to you and tie us to your purposes in the world, Lord. 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:42.740 Those purposes for which we were made. 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:46.180 We pray this that you would be glorified in all ways in us. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:48.620 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:49.240 Amen.