WEBVTT 00:00:00.060 --> 00:00:03.560 Right now, our society is in desperate need of hope. 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:12.179 And so we've been looking these past few weeks at how to bring the hope of the Christian gospel to bear in our culture and our society. 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:21.420 So today we're going to be looking at the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 17 and how he brings the hope of the gospel to the culture in Athens. 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:24.460 This week we're going to focus on the ministry of Paul. 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:30.580 And next week we're going to focus on the message of Paul, the content of what he had to say. 00:00:31.020 --> 00:00:33.039 But Athens is really relevant for us. 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:38.240 Athens is a lot like Washington, D.C. for those of us who live in the DMV area. 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:40.299 It's a very intellectual place. 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.740 It's a highly pluralistic place. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.740 And it's a center of cultural influence in the Roman Empire. 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:59.719 Because of that, Paul's approach to ministry in Athens is particularly relevant for those of us who are part of Church of the Advent as we think about our ministry in Washington, D.C. 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:08.780 And to be totally honest, this particular passage, Acts 17, what we're going to be looking at this morning, has been very formative for our church. 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:14.900 It's been very formative for me and how we have gone about ministry over the last decade or more. 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:19.080 So we're going to be looking together at Acts 17, verses 16 through 21. 00:01:19.300 --> 00:01:28.620 And we're going to focus on three aspects of Paul's ministry that form and shape how we think about ministry as Christians in D.C. 00:01:28.660 --> 00:01:33.660 So we're going to look at Paul's motivation, Paul's approach, and Paul's foundation. 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:36.439 Let's pray, and then we'll open God's word together. 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:42.939 Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that your Holy Spirit has the power to illuminate your word. 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:45.159 And so we pray that you would do that. 00:01:45.259 --> 00:01:49.299 We pray that we know that there are things that we need to hear from you, even if we don't know it. 00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:55.780 And I pray that you would speak to each of us in just the way we need to hear from you this morning, 00:01:55.959 --> 00:02:01.120 that we might become more like you, fall more in love with you, and bring more glory to your name. 00:02:01.479 --> 00:02:02.920 In your Son's name, amen. 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:06.780 So first of all, let's look at Paul's motivation together. 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:08.159 It says in verse 16, 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:11.460 Now while Paul was waiting for them, meaning his friends at Athens, 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:17.219 his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:23.099 And that word that we translate, his spirit was provoked within him, is the word paroxuno, 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:25.280 from which we get the word paroxysm. 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:33.080 And the best translation of this word would be the idea of righteous or jealous anger. 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:35.700 This is a, he's deeply upset. 00:02:35.940 --> 00:02:36.760 He's angry. 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:38.440 He's deeply moved. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:45.880 So imagine that your lover or your spouse leaves you to go be with someone else, 00:02:45.920 --> 00:02:48.640 and you see them with that other person. 00:02:48.700 --> 00:02:52.960 Or imagine your child leaves you to go live with another family, 00:02:53.040 --> 00:02:57.520 and says they would prefer this other mom or dad, and you see them together. 00:02:57.740 --> 00:03:00.000 Imagine how that would make you feel. 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:02.439 You would feel excruciating pain. 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.900 You would feel righteous anger. 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:07.819 You would feel jealousy for that person. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.719 And the reason that you would feel all of these things is because of your love. 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.359 It's because this is a person that you love, a person whom you love, 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.500 who has spurned your love to go be with someone else. 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.520 And so we need to understand what's happening in Paul here. 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:24.719 Paul loves God. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.319 He's given his entire life to God. 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:31.240 And Paul loves these people that God has called him to minister to. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.879 And so Paul is jealous on God's behalf. 00:03:35.200 --> 00:03:37.100 That's really how we need to understand this word. 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:39.920 He's jealous on behalf of God. 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:42.300 He knows that God made each one of these people. 00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:46.840 He knows that God loves each one of these people beyond measure. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:52.379 Each man, woman, and child in Athens, God created in his image and loves beyond measure. 00:03:52.379 --> 00:04:01.519 And yet these people have given their hearts and given their allegiance to things that are made out of wood or metal or stone. 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:07.659 And so Paul's reaction is one of righteous anger, which is actually motivated by love. 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:11.300 Love for God and love for these people. 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:22.579 So this is the first principle that we draw out of this passage, that all true ministry in God's name is motivated by love. 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:28.180 All true ministry done in God's name is motivated by love. 00:04:28.280 --> 00:04:32.939 Love for God and love for the people whom God has made. 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:35.560 And so the opposite is also true. 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:41.160 Any ministry that is not born out of love does not reflect the heart of God. 00:04:42.139 --> 00:04:45.060 So love has to be the starting place. 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:50.720 And some of you may hear this and think, well, I really struggle to love. 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:52.899 I really struggle to love anyone. 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:54.459 I struggle to love myself. 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:56.720 I struggle to love my own family. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.699 I struggle even to love my friends. 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:05.379 And the idea of loving my neighbors or loving a city just seems way beyond what I'm capable of. 00:05:05.599 --> 00:05:11.899 And I would say if you do struggle to love, which all of us do, if that's a struggle for you, 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:16.360 even if there's somebody in your life that you really dislike, that you have a lot of antipathy for, 00:05:16.419 --> 00:05:18.060 you really struggle to love that person. 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:23.120 If you really struggle to even care about the people who live around you, 00:05:23.159 --> 00:05:24.339 you don't want to have to talk to them. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:25.639 You don't want to have to get to know them. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.079 You don't want to have to interact with them. 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:29.979 But if these are the things that you struggle with, you're not alone. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.219 And here's what I would say, and this is just born out of personal experience. 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:34.319 Pray for them. 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:36.899 Pray for them. 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:41.159 Pray for the person in your life that you struggle to love. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:43.519 Pray for your neighbors. 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:47.419 If you don't know their names, make it a point to learn their names. 00:05:48.479 --> 00:05:49.680 Write them down if you have to. 00:05:50.459 --> 00:05:51.779 And then pray for them by name. 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:54.259 Pray for the city. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:06:06.120 In my experience, it is almost impossible to consistently pray for someone without your heart softening and warming toward that individual. 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:17.360 And I think that often God uses prayer more than anything else to kindle love in our hearts for the people he calls us to love. 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:19.240 So pray for them. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.560 All true ministry is born out of love. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.600 Now I want to look at Paul's approach. 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:27.579 That's Paul's motivation. 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:34.939 Paul's approach is going to be longer because we're going to look at two aspects of Paul's approach that we see in this passage. 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:36.600 Let me read verses 17 and 18. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:40.860 So he, being Paul, reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews. 00:06:40.960 --> 00:06:42.180 He's motivated by love. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.540 He's motivated by this deep, he's deeply disturbed. 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:50.900 And so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there. 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:56.100 And then verse 18, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.200 So I want to look at two things about Paul's approach here. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:05.259 Number one, Paul uses discourse as well as proclamation, which is very, very, very important. 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:11.879 Paul is not just standing on a street corner shouting the gospel woodenly to anybody who happens to walk by. 00:07:12.219 --> 00:07:20.779 The words reason and converse both imply a back and forth dialogue between Paul and his hearers. 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:29.459 Now, this wouldn't have been pure dialogue as we might think of it today in our society, but it would have been a kind of format where Paul would speak or preach or teach. 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:37.119 And then there would have been opportunity for his hearers to push back or offer objections or ask clarifying questions. 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:47.599 And Paul is most likely doing the same thing in Athens that he did in many places, like Thessalonica, which we read about at the beginning of Acts chapter 17 in verses 2 to 4. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:56.180 We see this picture. If we translate the words there, what we realize is that Paul is probably presenting the gospel and then allowing people to ask questions. 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:00.320 He's teaching in a way that one of the words means to open. 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:09.580 He's opening these concepts up to his hearers, which means he's explaining things in a way that takes into account the view of his listener. 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:18.079 He's teaching things in a way that doesn't assume they have a Jewish or religious background that would be relevant to the things that he's saying. 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:28.399 And then as we see in verse 28, he's not only quoting scripture, but he's also quoting the pagan or the secular sources when they reflect biblical truth. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:40.100 So he's doing everything he possibly can to engage his listeners in a back and forth dialogue with them and with their culture and with their authoritative sources, even outside of scripture. 00:08:40.579 --> 00:08:44.360 So this tells us a lot about Paul's approach, and we're going to look at this a little more next week. 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:49.000 But I want to draw something out here for us, and that is this. 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:52.840 Here's the first principle from this section here. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:09:06.379 We need to realize that learning how to listen and seeking to understand the views of the people with whom we disagree is every bit as important as anything that we might have to say. 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:19.340 Learning how to listen, learning how to hear, and then understanding the perspective of the people with whom we disagree is every bit as important as anything that we might have to say. 00:09:19.340 --> 00:09:23.340 And in fact, it will radically shape how we say what we say. 00:09:23.899 --> 00:09:39.080 You know, I've been in a lot of highly contentious conversations lately for one reason or another, and I've been reminded again and again and again that there's a vast difference between true communication and people simply hurling words at each other. 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:44.639 Between talking with someone and just talking at them. 00:09:45.160 --> 00:09:48.560 I've been reminded again and again and again there's a big difference between those two things. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.559 And this is not just true in debates, but it's also true in our relationships. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:54.179 It's true in friendships. 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:56.019 It's true with the people that we're dating. 00:09:56.199 --> 00:09:58.500 It's true with the people that we're married to. 00:09:58.599 --> 00:09:59.659 It's true with our kids. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:02.639 We tend to focus. 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:03.979 I know I do this. 00:10:04.319 --> 00:10:06.579 I tend to focus on what I'm going to say next. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:13.239 When somebody's talking to me, I tend to want to think about the thing that I'm going to say as soon as they're done talking. 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:13.560 Right? 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:19.000 And we tend to assume that we already know what the person is going to say. 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:24.000 That we already know what they're going to say in response to us. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.840 And so we don't really listen to what they say because we already think we know what they think. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:29.220 Right? 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.759 And this actually happens in verse 18. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:33.720 People say this about Paul. 00:10:33.819 --> 00:10:36.659 They say that he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities. 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:40.559 And then it says they think that because he's preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 00:10:40.819 --> 00:10:46.980 And what's easy to miss, but what commentators point out, is that people are misunderstanding Paul. 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:54.639 When Paul talks about Jesus and the resurrection, some of the people listening think that he's talking about two different gods. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:59.220 There's a god named Jesus and there's another god or goddess named resurrection. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.620 So people are misunderstanding him. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.379 And this is a really important point for us. 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:16.519 When we talk about concepts like Jesus or resurrection or grace or justice or mercy, how can we be sure that we're on the same page? 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:21.580 Very often people use the same words but in greatly differing ways. 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:25.820 And so the only way we can know that we're on the same page is through discourse. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.700 Through the give and take. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.280 Through listening and understanding the perspective of our hearers. 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:40.500 And what you realize is that a great deal of unnecessary conflict in our society right now comes from the fact that people are simply talking past each other. 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:42.320 There are ships passing in the night. 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:44.220 Nobody's really listening to one another. 00:11:44.420 --> 00:11:47.240 And so nobody really understands the other. 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.540 Now I want to be clear on something before we move on. 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:54.240 I'm not saying that dialogue should replace proclamation. 00:11:54.740 --> 00:12:00.459 There is a time and a place where Christians must declare what God has revealed. 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:02.240 We're called to do that. 00:12:02.599 --> 00:12:16.879 But I find, and I think Paul knew, that we are much more effective in proclamation of the truth when we can accurately understand the perspective of our hearers. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:32.179 And I think ideally, ideally, if you're engaged in debate with someone, you should be able to understand their views so well that you would be able to articulate it with such accuracy that they would actually agree with your summation. 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:39.939 I think that should always be our goal when we're conversing with people with whom we disagree. 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:54.440 And so, you know, these days, as I think about and kind of look at the books next to my bed or the books that I keep in my car or the books that are in my office, the books that I'm reading, most of these books express ideas that I completely disagree with. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:59.620 And I realize that most of what I read these days is stuff that I more or less disagree with. 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:06.480 But I'm doing it for this reason, because I'm seeking to try to understand the perspective of the people with whom I disagree. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:12.019 And I would love to be able to articulate their views in ways that they would actually agree with. 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:13.060 So this is the first thing. 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:17.600 Paul recognizes the value of discourse, and he engages in discourse as well as proclamation. 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:21.560 The second point I want to make is equally important. 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:27.659 Paul is actually challenging the philosophical assumptions of the day. 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:34.159 He's challenging the philosophical worldview that shapes how his hearers think. 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:46.839 It says here that Paul is conversing with the Epicureans and the Stoics, and they actually then invite him into the Areopagus to discuss his ideas more fully with the philosophers who were there. 00:13:47.319 --> 00:13:53.240 When it talks about Epicureanism and Stoicism, these were the prevailing philosophies of the day. 00:13:53.339 --> 00:13:55.100 They shaped how people saw the world. 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:59.100 They shaped the assumptions that people made about life's biggest questions. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:04.159 And again, we're going to talk about this more next week when we talk about Paul's message. 00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:06.879 But I just want to make a point about this now. 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:15.600 Paul knew that if he wanted to bring the gospel into the culture, if he wanted to bring the gospel to bear in the culture of Athens, 00:14:16.040 --> 00:14:19.480 he had to contend with the philosophies that shaped that culture. 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:23.700 He had to engage at a philosophical level. 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:25.779 And the point that we need to realize is this. 00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:27.100 This is not just true for Athens. 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:32.399 It's not just because Athens particularly cared about philosophy and said this was a part of what Paul had to do. 00:14:33.019 --> 00:14:37.879 Every single one of us, whether consciously or unconsciously, 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:45.899 every single one of us is a follower of some influential philosopher or philosophy throughout history. 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:54.480 We are all either consciously or unconsciously followers of some great philosophical thinker found in history. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:15:01.039 So you probably never consciously decided to adopt many of the views that you have. 00:15:01.180 --> 00:15:05.879 I'm talking about the assumptions that we make in a kind of unexamined level. 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:11.100 Our background assumptions, the things that we think that we just assume everybody thinks, 00:15:11.300 --> 00:15:13.180 or anybody with common sense would think. 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.920 These assumptions actually come from somewhere. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:21.480 And if you really pay attention, you realize that we absorb these ideas through various places, 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:25.980 through the university that we attend, or the social media that we consume, 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:32.460 or TV, or music, or movies, or books, or articles, or podcasts, or blogs, 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:37.379 or any of the things that we expose ourselves to embedded within that media, 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.720 there are certain philosophical views. 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:44.159 And so certain philosophies become popular. 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:46.720 Certain philosophies become mainstream. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.019 They get embedded in popular culture. 00:15:49.160 --> 00:15:54.500 And they become our unexamined assumptions that really shape how we think and live. 00:15:54.800 --> 00:15:57.500 And so the truth is, we are all disciples of someone. 00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:00.720 We are all disciples of someone. 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:04.800 And so the way that you answer life's biggest questions, right? 00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:06.899 What does it mean to be a human being? 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:08.399 How should society work? 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:10.160 What's wrong with the world? 00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:13.860 How should we go about fixing the biggest problems in our society? 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:17.860 All of our answers to those questions come from somewhere. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:26.580 It could be Plato, or Aristotle, or Kant, or Hume, or Descartes, or Nietzsche, or Marx, or Foucault, 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:28.940 or the list goes on and on and on. 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:30.759 But these ideas come from somewhere. 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:33.940 They come from someone or a group of people. 00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:38.360 Now, I realize when I say this that there are probably people who are going to object. 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.200 And they'll say, how dare you say that about me? 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:46.280 How dare you suggest that I would be so easily influenced by other people? 00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:47.800 I'm not influenced by anyone. 00:16:48.140 --> 00:16:49.220 My thoughts are my own. 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:54.360 And I'm actually on a journey to discover my own personal truth. 00:16:54.560 --> 00:16:58.600 And my intention is to do that completely free of any outside influence, 00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:00.920 whether it be an individual or an institution. 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:06.159 I need to figure out for myself by looking within what is true for me. 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:09.659 In fact, I just recently heard somebody express that. 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:11.339 It's a very popular way of thinking. 00:17:11.899 --> 00:17:15.940 Now, that desire to discover our own truth free from influence, 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:20.579 that is itself a way of thinking. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:29.559 That is itself a product of the influence of certain thinkers on the way we think. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:29.939 Right? 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:34.240 This is what the philosopher Charles Taylor calls the culture of authenticity. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.699 This desire to discover what I believe, what is true for me, 00:17:38.939 --> 00:17:40.379 apart from any outside influence, 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:43.500 that is an aspect of the culture of authenticity. 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:46.740 It's a particular way of thinking that's less than 100 years old. 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:47.640 All right? 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:51.740 And you're only really going to find it in Western affluent societies. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.099 And if you understand the way most people have thought throughout history 00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:58.059 and from one society to another, 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:00.960 most people throughout history, if you were to tell them that, 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:01.980 they would laugh in your face. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.359 Because it would be utterly ridiculous to their ears. 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:08.740 It's a very new and very niche way of thinking. 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:11.859 And so the point put another way would be this. 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:17.459 Even the desire for authenticity is itself inherently inauthentic 00:18:17.459 --> 00:18:18.879 because it's coming from somewhere. 00:18:19.479 --> 00:18:20.699 It's coming from someone. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.359 So the point that we need to see here is this. 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.219 Philosophy, for those of us who are followers of Jesus, 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.059 philosophy strongly influences the way we think about faith. 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:37.159 It actually also strongly influences people who reject faith. 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:40.500 And it influences us whether we know it or not. 00:18:41.399 --> 00:18:41.839 This is a way of thinking. 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:44.339 This, for instance, to give one more example before we move on, 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:48.039 this explains why there are a lot of people 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:50.579 who grow up as fundamentalist Christians 00:18:50.579 --> 00:18:53.839 who then later in life leave that tradition 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:56.959 and they become progressive Christians later in life. 00:18:57.639 --> 00:19:00.819 I see very few people converting from atheism 00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:02.279 to progressive Christianity. 00:19:02.459 --> 00:19:05.699 I see a lot of people who grew up fundamentalist Christians 00:19:05.699 --> 00:19:08.919 becoming progressive Christians later in life. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:10.639 So let's think about why that would happen. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:11.140 Right? 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:14.580 So say you grew up in a fundamentalist Christian community. 00:19:14.780 --> 00:19:18.700 And by that I mean you grew up in a community where you weren't ever allowed to ask questions. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.180 You weren't ever allowed to express doubt. 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:21.980 That was forbidden. 00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:25.460 Say you grew up in a community where people were very anti-science. 00:19:25.620 --> 00:19:26.520 They didn't trust science. 00:19:26.620 --> 00:19:28.560 They rejected all science. 00:19:28.820 --> 00:19:31.980 Say you grew up in a community where you were given a very wooden, 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:35.940 very literal interpretation of Scripture. 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:38.140 And say that was your kind of background. 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:41.059 But see then later in life you go to university 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:43.620 or sort of in your late teens, early 20s, 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:46.000 you discover, you pick up a book by Rob Bell 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.140 or you pick up a book by Rachel Held Evans 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:51.400 and you read it and then you find it exhilarating. 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:51.980 Right? 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.960 Because it's a way of talking about Christianity that feels right 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.380 in a way that nothing that you grew up with felt right. 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:02.360 This connects with you on some deep level. 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:04.079 And so you start listening to podcasts. 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:06.720 You start listening to the liturgists or the deconstructionists. 00:20:07.100 --> 00:20:09.799 And you learn to question everything that you were taught. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:12.299 You're encouraged to deconstruct your faith 00:20:12.299 --> 00:20:15.860 and to then maybe reconstruct a faith that is more true for you. 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:17.559 And all of this feels right. 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:19.360 And you feel light bulbs going off 00:20:19.360 --> 00:20:20.840 and things are coming alive in you. 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:23.619 And it feels like a kind of new conversion experience. 00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:23.879 Right? 00:20:24.439 --> 00:20:26.059 Now the point that I'm trying to make 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:29.039 is not to bash anyone in particular. 00:20:29.159 --> 00:20:31.899 In fact, a lot of these people say some really good things 00:20:31.899 --> 00:20:33.699 and ask some really good questions 00:20:33.699 --> 00:20:35.679 that we should be asking as Christians. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.179 The point is this. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.720 We need to ask, why does that feel right to me? 00:20:41.399 --> 00:20:43.279 Why would that feel right 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.439 in a way that something else may not feel right? 00:20:46.899 --> 00:20:48.259 And the answer is this. 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:52.660 Christian fundamentalism was shaped by philosophical movements 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:56.079 that were happening 250 years ago during the Enlightenment. 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:58.400 And so Christian fundamentalism is in many ways 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.200 a reaction against the Enlightenment. 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:03.960 And there are a lot of problems that come along with that. 00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:04.240 Right? 00:21:05.539 --> 00:21:07.619 But you live in the 21st century. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:08.400 Right? 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:11.700 You're not shaped by what was happening 250 years ago 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:15.599 as much as you are shaped by a very different philosophical tradition, 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.159 the ideas that hold sway in our culture today, 00:21:19.159 --> 00:21:22.179 which we can loosely summarize as postmodernism. 00:21:22.679 --> 00:21:22.799 Right? 00:21:22.919 --> 00:21:24.879 You didn't know that you were being formed by this, 00:21:25.139 --> 00:21:28.500 but all of your life you've been formed by this way of thinking 00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:32.359 because it's simply been embedded in the culture around you. 00:21:32.699 --> 00:21:36.079 So the desire to reject tradition. 00:21:36.879 --> 00:21:37.000 Right? 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:40.419 Mistrust toward any form of authority. 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:45.360 Skepticism that we can really ever know anything objectively. 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:49.779 Assuming that almost everything is socially constructed. 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:54.720 The desire to poke holes or to deconstruct everything we can. 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:59.360 Seeing all of society through the lens of power and oppression. 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:03.180 These ideas were not mainstream 250 years ago. 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:06.700 They have become mainstream. 00:22:06.700 --> 00:22:10.460 This all came from the postmodernists. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.580 And so what you see in progressive Christianity 00:22:13.580 --> 00:22:19.600 is you see people who have simply reworked the entire Christian faith 00:22:19.600 --> 00:22:22.779 to fit these postmodern ideals. 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:29.620 They have taken Christianity and laid it like a blanket or a cloth over postmodernism. 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:30.240 Right? 00:22:30.340 --> 00:22:33.480 And so that's why when you discover something like this, 00:22:33.539 --> 00:22:35.380 it feels like you're coming home. 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:39.460 It's because this is the kettle that you've been steeped in all of your life. 00:22:39.540 --> 00:22:43.180 It fits your sensibilities about how the world is. 00:22:44.040 --> 00:22:48.860 It fits those unexamined assumptions that govern the way you think. 00:22:49.600 --> 00:22:51.540 And so the problem is, 00:22:52.620 --> 00:22:55.860 though you may think of yourself as a disciple of Jesus, 00:22:56.620 --> 00:22:59.440 you've actually become a disciple of Foucault. 00:22:59.800 --> 00:23:00.680 Or Derda. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:02.800 Or Jean-Francois Liotard. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.240 Even if you've never heard these names before today, 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.779 in some ways, you have been discipled by these thinkers. 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:13.299 And so coming back to Paul, 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:18.180 Paul understood the importance of philosophy in shaping how people think. 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:22.899 He knew that if the gospel was actually going to penetrate hearts and minds, 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:27.599 he had to challenge the philosophical assumptions that people walk around with. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.819 He had to get to that level of their thinking. 00:23:31.159 --> 00:23:34.199 And this is actually what we see in verses 22 to 31, 00:23:34.399 --> 00:23:35.539 which we'll look at next week. 00:23:35.899 --> 00:23:43.139 We see that Paul presents the gospel in ways that specifically challenge Epicurean and Stoic thought. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:46.740 The way he presents the gospel shows that he has a deep, 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:49.579 working understanding of these philosophies 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:53.199 and how much they influence the people he's speaking to. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.200 Right? 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:57.660 So just in terms of our own practice at Church of the Advent, 00:23:57.819 --> 00:24:00.420 this is why we do the things that we do at Advent. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.680 Again, as I said at the beginning, 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:05.680 this has deeply influenced how I think about ministry and pastoral care 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:08.480 and preaching and teaching in our church. 00:24:08.580 --> 00:24:12.880 This is why in classes like Foundations or Sex and the Gospel, 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:17.340 we talk just as much about philosophy as we do Scripture. 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:20.440 It's not because philosophy is more important than Scripture. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:21.960 Of course that's not true. 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:25.299 Scripture is our only true final source of authority. 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:29.900 But philosophy is important because we need to understand our bias. 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:35.480 We need to understand why we think the way that we do. 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:43.620 We need to understand why we want certain things to be true over other things. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.440 We need to understand that we tend to be very biased when we read Scripture. 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:49.759 We either want to ignore things that are there, 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:53.599 or we want to read things into Scripture that aren't there, 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:59.519 or we want to read Scripture through a 21st century lens rather than a 1st century lens. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.859 We need to understand that we're not coming from a place of neutrality, 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:10.779 that we've been profoundly influenced by people whose names we may have never even heard before. 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:17.619 So the point is not that everyone needs to go out and get a PhD in philosophy or learn all the names or learn all the isms, 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:19.920 but you do need to know why you think the way you do. 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.039 You do need to understand that no one's neutral. 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:29.440 You do need to understand what your influences are. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:36.860 And most importantly, we need to make sure that we are actually following the person that we think we're following, 00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:41.840 who is ultimately and finally, for those of us who are Christians, Jesus Christ. 00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:43.500 Right? 00:25:43.580 --> 00:25:45.279 So this is what we see in Paul's approach. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.920 He makes just as much use of discourse as he does proclamation. 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:50.440 He really wants a back and forth. 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:52.180 He wants to hear and understand his hearers. 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:56.700 And he engages the philosophical assumptions that shape the culture. 00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:00.360 Now, finally, I just want to say a word about Paul's foundation. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.740 Everything that we just said about philosophy has to be balanced against this final point. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.980 Paul's preaching is summarized in verse 18 as he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 00:26:13.720 --> 00:26:18.960 Even though Paul could contend with the philosophers of his day, he also knew the limits of philosophy. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.880 We see in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 20, where Paul says, 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:24.440 Where is the one who is wise? 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:25.880 Where is the scribe? 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.480 Where is the debater of this age? 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.319 Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:34.200 For since the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.680 In the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. 00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:41.720 It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:46.059 In other words, no one can be argued into the kingdom with philosophy. 00:26:46.059 --> 00:26:50.940 There is a spiritual power that comes when we proclaim the gospel. 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:58.399 You know, you can hear the gospel a thousand times, and all of a sudden, one day, you hear it, and it becomes real. 00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:01.119 You see the emptiness of your life. 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:03.079 You see the truth about yourself. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:09.319 You realize that Jesus died not just in general, but for you personally. 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:11.539 And everything hits home. 00:27:11.639 --> 00:27:12.839 The penny drops. 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:14.200 You know, this was my experience. 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:19.600 And that kind of thing can't be achieved through human means. 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:23.779 It can't be achieved through philosophical debate or discourse. 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:29.220 Ultimately, people's response depends on the work of the Holy Spirit in their heart. 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:40.700 The good news of this is that it reminds us that all of this doesn't ultimately depend on us getting everything right or making the best arguments. 00:27:41.339 --> 00:27:50.059 Our calling is simply to be faithful in the things that God has entrusted to us and to trust Him with the outcome. 00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:53.480 So we'll pick this up again next week. 00:27:53.579 --> 00:27:58.359 But just to summarize so far, these are some of the principles that guide us in our approach as a church. 00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:00.259 We are motivated by love. 00:28:01.679 --> 00:28:03.740 We are committed to discourse. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:11.000 We do everything we can to engage the philosophies that shape the way people think in our culture. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.180 But finally, we are centered on Jesus Christ. 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:18.099 That's our final source of hope and power. 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:21.179 Lord, we thank you for these truths. 00:28:21.179 --> 00:28:34.339 And we pray that you would illuminate for us the ways that we need to be shaped in what we love and how we think by you, by your son, Jesus Christ, and by his word. 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:45.000 We pray that we would be able to love the people in this city around us, the people who live in the homes around us with your love, Lord. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.119 That all of this would be motivated by your love and a desire to see your name glorified. 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:51.339 And it's in the name of your son, Jesus, that we pray. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:51.779 Amen.