Good morning again. As I said at the beginning, my name is Tommy. I'm delighted to be here with you. Continuing to look at the book of Acts chapter 17. It is a common thing to these days here that we live in increasingly post-Christian society. And I think in many ways that is certainly true.
One of the pieces of that narrative that we hear is the declining numbers of people who are followers of Jesus, who participate in organized religion. And to a certain extent, those numbers have been true as well.
And yet what's really interesting is right now, something very interesting is happening that bucks that trend. There's a new trend emerging. And it's just over the last few years, a kind of increased openness and hunger to the truth of the gospel.
Over the last three years, since about 2021, 2022, the number of people who say they follow Jesus, they believe in and follow Jesus in a very meaningful way, that has gone up about 12% just in the last three years.
And maybe that doesn't sound like much, but statistically it's very significant. That represents roughly 30 million people over the last three years. 30 million more people in our country saying that they're followers of Jesus.
And what's even more interesting about that is that a lot of those people are either millennials or Gen Z. So relatively speaking, you're looking at younger generations.
Those of us who are, I'm Gen X, so I'm far past being able to say young, but I think millennials can still claim to be within a younger generation and certainly Gen Z.
And so people are looking at these numbers and trying to figure out what's happening.
What that means for us is the chances are there are people in our lives right now where we live and work who may not be followers of Jesus, but who may very well be open to the truth and the power of Jesus.
In other words, alluding to our gospel reading a moment ago, the fields are ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few.
That's the problem.
Why are there so few laborers?
Well, I think most of us who are Christians get very uncomfortable with the idea of sharing our faith with other people.
The word evangelism sort of makes people cringe.
You get twitchy when you hear people talk about the fact that we should be doing more evangelism.
You know, there's a lot of reasons for this.
I think we don't want to offend people, and it feels like that's offensive to bring up faith in today's world.
If we were to bring it up, a lot of us feel like we don't know what to say or do.
I think some of us are just frankly afraid of how people will respond to us or what they might think of us.
And so it raises this question of how do we talk to people about faith?
How do we talk to people about Jesus when we live in a post-Christian society, and yet there's a hunger in the society?
There's a longing, a searching.
This is why we're looking at Paul's example in Acts chapter 17.
We started last week by talking about what it means to think theologically about the culture.
And this week we're going to look more closely at Paul's actual approach that he takes in Athens.
He's in Athens.
At this point in the story, he's been invited to present the gospel at the Areopagus.
So that's like being invited to give a lecture at Harvard or Oxford.
And all the leading intellectuals are going to be there, and they're very skeptical about this message.
And so we're going to look at Paul's approach.
These are highly educated, skeptical people.
Where does Paul begin?
Let's pray, and then we're going to break it down.
Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that independently, Lord, independent of anything we might do, of any strategy we might employ, of any rhetorical devices, Lord, your word itself has power.
And you can work through your word in ways that go far beyond what we can ask or even imagine.
And you know what we need better than we do, Lord.
And so I pray for myself and for those of us gathered here.
Lord, would you do your work in us that we might, through your written word, come face to face with the living word, Jesus Christ.
Lord, he's the one that we are here to encounter this morning.
That's who we need to see.
We pray this in his name.
Amen.
So Paul is in Athens.
What's his approach?
The first thing that we see Paul do, right off the bat, is to affirm the longings that he sees in these Athenians as he has observed them by walking through their streets and living in their culture.
He affirms their longings.
The first time I was taught anything about how to do evangelism was a very long time ago, not long after I came to faith in my early 20s.
And we learned a kind of method called the Romans Road.
And I don't know if you're, some of you, many of you are probably familiar with this.
The Romans Road.
And that's a way of taking people through the book of Romans to lay out the gospel.
But what's interesting about the method is that you begin in a place, the first thing that you tell people is that all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God.
So the starting place is you need to recognize that you're a sinner.
Now, of course, this is theologically true.
We believe every word that Paul wrote in Romans.
And if you're speaking to somebody who already has a relatively high view of the Bible and sees it as a trustworthy document,
if you're dealing with somebody who already feels a sense of guilt and shame and is trying to figure out what to do with that,
then this would make a lot of sense.
This way of laying out the gospel would be ultimately very comforting for somebody like that.
But that's simply not the case in Athens.
And so Paul begins in a very different place.
It says,
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said,
Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Now, we need to understand, you know, he's not starting from a place of condemnation.
You're a bunch of idolatrous pagan-worshipping sinners.
He starts with a compliment.
He starts by affirming their spiritual hunger.
I mean, this is a very positive statement.
When he said, I perceive that in every way you're very religious, they would have been like,
Yes, we are.
We take these things seriously.
And so he's affirming them.
Of course he recognizes the spiritual darkness of the idols they worship.
We said last week, we looked at the fact that he's deeply disturbed by them.
He's deeply disturbed by them.
But what we see here is that Paul also recognizes that underneath the surface, these people have very legitimate longings that all human beings share in common.
So he's disturbed that the Athenians worshipped Athena and named their city Athena instead of the true God.
But he also recognizes that under the surface, these are people who are longing for what?
Why do you worship Athena?
Well, you want your political leaders to have wisdom.
You want political stability.
You want economic prosperity.
Those are things that most everyone wants.
And they're longing for these things.
Paul's like, I know what that's like.
He's disturbed by people who make offerings to the goddess Artemis instead of worshiping God.
But Paul also recognizes who goes to worship Artemis.
Well, women who are pregnant and who are terrified of an awful, painful death for themselves or their child.
Because there is no technology, nothing near what we have today.
And so they're going and they're making offerings because Artemis is said to be the one who can deliver them safely through childbearing.
And so they're going and they're putting their hope.
And so Paul recognizes, you know, on the surface they're worshiping an idol.
But underneath, everybody wants that.
Nobody wants a horrible, painful death when they're trying to have a child.
And so there are these legitimate longings underneath the idol worship.
The people who worship the false gods of Athens are motivated by the same longings that anyone else would be motivated by.
They want to be safe.
They want to be financially secure.
They want to have meaningful relationships and a sense of purpose.
They're afraid of the unknown and they want some sense of control over the future.
Like everybody you've ever met.
This is what we need to understand about idol worship.
When we talk about idol worship, that's just another way of saying that people tend to prioritize and devote themselves to the things they believe are most likely to satisfy those longings.
That's essentially what it is.
We tend to prioritize and ultimately devote ourselves to the things that we ultimately believe are most likely to satisfy those inner longings.
You see the same thing in a place like D.C.
You know, you have a co-worker who maybe you feel like you have nothing in common with.
You know, they go by, you know, they use they-them pronouns.
They have a whole way of seeing the world that, you know, you personally don't subscribe to that gender ideology at all.
And you feel like there's no common ground.
And what you need to understand is that underneath the surface, that's simply someone who is just wanting to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Right?
It's somebody who is wanting a sense of identity, wanting a sense of belonging just like you, just like anyone else.
Right?
The neighbor down the street who's obsessed with politics and has all the yard signs laying out all the views.
You know, maybe you totally disagree with their politics, but underneath the surface, that's a person who's longing for some sense of meaning and purpose.
They're longing for some clear sense of right and wrong of good guys and bad guys.
And they found it in the world of politics.
So this is where we start by recognizing and affirming the longings under the surface.
That is the place where you will find common ground.
Always.
So just a couple of takeaways before we move on to the next point.
Don't assume that the people around you are not interested in God.
Every human being on the planet is a worshiper.
These are people with real spiritual longings.
They're simply looking in other places to satisfy those longings.
And really, this is all about posture.
And some of you get this and you do this naturally so well.
But when you start this way with people, your posture is such that you're not talking down to somebody from a position of spiritual superiority.
Or as though you're the one with all the answers.
You're coming alongside that person as a fellow pilgrim.
Right?
You care about those things.
I care about those things.
We both care about the same things.
We both want the same things for ourselves and our families.
Right?
We're heading in different directions as a result.
But underneath, there's common ground.
So this is where Paul starts.
Wow, I perceive that you're very religious.
You're asking good, big, hard questions.
You take these things seriously.
Well done.
And then, Paul finds an opening.
It's the second thing he does.
He confirms the wrong ease.
He finds an opening.
He says,
As I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,
I found also an altar with this inscription.
To the unknown God.
Verse 23.
Now, this is remarkable.
The Athenians, despite their vast pantheon,
still sensed that there was something missing.
Right?
Despite all of the options on the religious buffet,
they still have this altar to the unknown God.
They still sense there has to be more.
Something still felt incomplete.
So they left a space open, a kind of placeholder,
for whomever or whatever that thing might be.
And, you know, as we said a moment ago,
people tend to prioritize and devote themselves
to the things they believe are most likely to satisfy their longings.
But here's the next thing we need to see.
Inevitably, anything we devote ourselves to other than God
is going to fall short.
It's going to make promises that it can't deliver on.
Just to give one example,
there's nothing wrong with wanting to be successful.
There is a kind of good and godly form of ambition
that drives us to work hard, to get up early,
to put our best effort into things.
But there are countless people
who are completely devoted to success and status.
It's not just important, it's become ultimate.
It's become a kind of idol.
I don't know who I am
or what value I have if I'm not successful.
I can't imagine my life being worth living
if I'm not successful.
They've crossed a line.
What's interesting is to talk to people
when they have achieved success and status,
when they finally get what they're after.
Right?
If you don't, then you can always say,
well, if only I had been successful then.
But what happens when people actually get it?
And there's so many examples
of people saying versions of the same thing.
I think of, this is an old reference now,
but Tom Brady,
back when he only had three Super Bowl rings,
saying,
why do I have three Super Bowl rings
and still think there's something greater out there for me?
And he says, it's got to be more than this.
And what he says,
like, he's won three or four more.
Right, so he said,
I think of Brad Pitt in a Rolling Stone interview saying,
I got everything I thought I wanted.
And it was empty.
I think of Jim Carrey saying,
I think everybody should get rich and famous
and do everything they ever dreamed of
so they can see that it's not the answer.
All of these people,
if you read interviews with them,
if they're honest,
again and again and again,
people who you look at,
or I look at,
and we think they're at the top,
they're at the apex,
they have done it,
they have made it,
they've gotten everything they ever wanted.
And those are the people who are saying,
there's nothing here.
It's all empty.
It's all vanity,
to use the phrase from Ecclesiastes.
There's a lot of people who are devoted
to the search for identity,
to give another example.
And they're trying to discover their true self,
and so identity is the thing that they're after,
and they're searching,
and they're seeking,
and that's the thing they care most about.
It was interesting,
I read a personal story
that someone shared anonymously
in The Guardian last year,
and I saved it,
because it was just incredibly powerfully personal.
A woman, presumably,
is sharing about the fact
that she came out as gay in her late 20s,
and she says in the article,
in her disclosure here,
she says, you know,
that when she did that,
she hoped that that newfound freedom
would bring kind of a greater sense
of identity and self-worth.
Right now,
I'll be free to live out who I truly am,
and I'll get that thing I'm after.
But she says instead of that,
that actually led to more depression
and more confusion over her identity.
Despite trying on all different labels,
she says she still felt lost.
And then she says this,
and this is why I saved the article.
I'm now in my mid-30s,
and I'm worried that this exploration
of different lovers and ideologies
and roles within sex
is taking me further away
from what I actually want,
love and intimacy.
And I just thought
that was really powerful
because there's somebody
who's saying,
I've been looking and looking
and looking and looking,
and I realize that there's
a longing under the surface,
and here's what I really want.
I want love,
and I want intimacy.
And I'm like,
every single human being
on the planet wants that.
So these are examples, right?
You know, Jim Carrey
and Tom Brady and Brad Pitt
and then this anonymous woman.
These are all examples of people
who have devoted themselves
and they've prioritized things
they think are going to satisfy
those longings.
only to discover
that there's still something missing.
So metaphorically speaking,
they find within themselves
an altar to an unknown God.
Right?
They're struggling
and this or that
and the emptiness
of where they are
and they're trying
and then they realize
that there's an altar
to an unknown God
in their heart.
There's a kind of placeholder,
a spiritual placeholder.
It's a space
that they can't fill up
no matter how hard they try.
And sometimes,
people who were never
previously open
to the possibility of Christ,
when they reach a point
in their life
where their idols
have let them down
and when they have begun
to see that altar
to an unknown God
inside themselves,
that's when they start
to become spiritually open.
You know,
another example
of someone
who made an idol of success
is Lecrae,
you know,
the Grammy winning artist,
rap artist.
And he says
in one really candid interview
that for a long time,
he was completely devoted
to success and status.
He lived for that
and he wanted
all the trappings of that,
the drugs and women
and fame
and all that comes of that.
And yet,
just like all the other examples,
he sort of reached a place
where he realized
all of that was empty.
But for him,
that ultimately opened him up
to the possibility
of the gospel
and of Christ
and it completely
reoriented his life.
And he says
in an interview,
I had to lose
everything I idolized
to see Jesus clearly.
You know,
I had to,
I had,
the idols had to come down,
I had to see
the emptiness there
and then I was able
to see Jesus clearly.
He's probably somebody
who had heard the gospel
thousands of times
and it just bounced off.
Like toughness.
But then he saw
the altar to an unknown God
in his heart
and he realized
the emptiness
of the idols
he had been chasing
and then he became open.
So just to stop here
before we move on
to the final point.
If you're here
and you're not a Christian
and you're struggling
in your faith
or you know people
who are,
consider these questions.
Right?
Now,
first question would be
where are the altars
of devotion
in your life?
Where are the things
that,
what are the things
that you're most prioritizing
and devoted to?
Religiously.
Maybe you've built
an altar to your career
or to being liked
by everybody
or to your own comfort
or to the safety
and well-being
of your family
or to security.
See,
these are good things
but have they become
things that you
are devoted to?
And then the second question
I would say is this,
is there also
an altar
to an unknown God
in your life?
Are you absolutely
certain that this
is all there is
that you figured
it all out?
Or are you open
to the possibility
that there may be
a God out there
who made you
and that he's the one
you've been looking
for your whole life?
So,
here's where we are
so far.
Deep down,
everybody has spiritual
longings and desires
and the gospel
does not say
your desires are wrong.
The gospel says
they're misdirected.
Most of the time
they're good
and godly desires
but they're misdirected.
We're looking
in the wrong places.
So,
Paul's approach
is affirm those longings
and then find an opening.
Find people
who are in a place
in their lives
when they realize
something is missing.
Find people
who have realized
that the idols
are not delivering
what they promise.
Find the altar
to the unknown God.
And then,
and only then,
does he begin
to reveal
the true God?
That's the third thing
we see here.
So,
then he says
after he observes
that altar
to an unknown God
he says,
what therefore
you worship
is unknown
this I proclaim
to you.
See what Paul
does here.
He's connecting
their desire
to worship.
He's connecting
that desire
with the truth
about God
found in Jesus.
The gospel
always is best
presented
as the answer
to a question.
an answer
to a question
that somebody
is already
asking about
their life,
about the world.
So,
this is what
Paul does.
What you worship
is unknown
I proclaim
to you.
And as we're
going to see
next week,
we're going to
look much more
in depth
in what he says.
This is not
syncretism.
In other words,
this is not
Paul saying,
well,
you have your
path to God
and I have
my path to God
and look,
they're all
basically the same.
That's not
what he's doing.
He's not
simply affirming
their religion.
He's affirming
their longings
and desire
to know God
and then he
calls them
very clearly
to worship
the true God
instead of
these idols.
But this is
not coercive.
He's simply
offering an
alternative to
people who are
already looking
for one.
Some people
are not going
to be looking.
It's okay.
They're going
to reject it
outright.
Paul experiences
that.
We'll see that
in a couple
of weeks.
But there are
some people
who are looking
and Paul,
for those people,
is offering them
an alternative
that maybe
they've never
considered before.
When your heart
is closed,
no amount
of persuasion
can ever convince
a person
the gospel
is true.
But when your
heart is open,
when you are
spiritually hungry,
that's when the
gospel starts
to make sense.
You begin to
realize that
the idea that
there is a God
who made us
and who loves us
and who has a
purpose for us
is beautiful.
You begin to
realize that even
though we have
turned our backs
on him,
he has enacted
a plan to save
and restore us
through the
death and
resurrection
of his son,
that begins
to mean
something to you.
When you begin
to realize that
God is not
only saving us,
but he plans
to put the
whole world
right again,
that starts
to matter.
The beauty
and the grandeur
of that story
starts to
outshine
everything else.
Ultimately,
the gospel
confirms the
deep longings
of every human
heart,
regardless of
their culture.
nature.
The gospel
says,
you're right
to desire
these things,
but you're
just looking
in the wrong
place.
To paraphrase
the theologian
Daniel Strange,
he says,
the gospel
offers what
all human
hearts rightly
need.
In the gospel
we find meaning,
but it's a kind
of meaning
that suffering
can't take
away.
We find
satisfaction,
but it's a kind
of satisfaction
that is not
dependent on our
present circumstance.
you find
freedom,
but it's a kind
of freedom
that doesn't
break down
community.
You find
identity,
but it's a kind
of identity
that doesn't
elude you
or crush
you or
lead you
to exclude
others.
You find
relief from
shame and guilt,
but it's a kind
of relief that
doesn't resort
to relativism.
You find
hope,
but it's a kind
of hope that
can enable you
to face anything
with poise.
Even death
itself.
You find
these things
that everybody's
looking for,
but you find
them in a way
that you're
never going
to find
them anywhere
else.
And we're
going to look
more in detail
next week at
what Paul
actually says
about God,
but here's
this approach
in a nutshell.
He affirms
their longings,
he finds
the openings,
and then he
reveals the
true God.
So think
back to the
statistic that
we talked
about at
the beginning
of all of
this.
30 million
more people
in the last
several years
saying they
follow Jesus.
There are
people in our
lives right now
who are searching
for that which
is true and
real.
And so as we
look around our
city, our
neighborhood,
our jobs,
we need to be
asking as Christians,
friends, where
are the openings?
Where are the
altars to an
unknown God?
Where are the
little snippets
and pieces of
conversations that
we're having day
in and day out
where we're
sensing that there
are some people
in our lives who
may be questioning
things?
I think that's
been happening
quite a lot in
the last several
years.
Where are those
openings?
And for those of
us who are
Christians, may
Paul's example
give us courage
and boldness to
be willing to
proclaim Christ to
those who are
ready to meet
him.
Let's pray.
Lord, we're
talking about
something that
only you can
accomplish, and
that is to work
in the hearts of
people, to bring
about change and
transformation.
But Lord, before
we can be a part
of this work, we
need to be not
only convinced of
the truth of these
things, but
passion.
Lord, we pray
that the Holy
Spirit would move
in our community,
would impassionally
molden us, to
see the openness,
to see the,
through your eyes,
the people of
formalized, and
the work to
teach.
Lord, we pray
this for their
good, and for
our good, and
all the good
of your name,
and for our
God.
We pray this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.