Here and NowSample

Here and Now

We are placed here and now for a reason. Within our community, we know the people we know, we have the neighbors we have, and we are in groups with the people we are because God has appointed this place and time for us. In our groups, we are in the same place at the same time, often in the same season of life, and that proximity gives us an opportunity.

In Acts 17, we learn Paul was chased out of Berea. He made a 200-mile trip to Athens, where he waited for Silas and Timothy. He didn’t plan on spending much time in Athens as tides had shifted. Paul gravitated towards the commercial and political centers of the area because he knew he could share his message, people could hear it, and then take it home with them. The Good News would flow out from there and reach more people.

But Paul found himself in this place, waiting.

Acts 17:16 says while he waited, he walked around the town and was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. Ancient writers explain that at this time in history, Athens celebrated over 30,000 different gods. Peterronius said there were almost more gods than there were people. The Greek word for “distressed” in verse 16 is the same root as our English word for seizure. Paul was morally shocked and shaken. Because of that, he began to preach and connect to the people of Athens from where they were at.

First, he preached in the synagogue, which was where he normally started in the cities he traveled to on his missionary journeys. The people congregating in the synagogues were religious and devout Jews or Greeks who adhered to Judaic beliefs. These religious practitioners were opposed to the idolatry in the city, but it was so deeply ingrained that they felt they couldn’t do anything about it. They were desensitized.

Next, he preached in the marketplace. He talked to businessmen, tradesmen, and the people selling and shopping in the city market. The idolatry and superstition that overshadowed Athens were typical to them, but this deep-rooted idolatry clouded their lives with anxiety, superstition, and fear.

Then Paul spoke to the philosophers — the thinkers and educators of the day. Verse 18 mentions two specific groups of philosophers: the Epicureans (they believed the gods were detached and didn’t get involved in matters of humanity) and the Stoics (pantheists who believed God was everywhere and in everything). These people were not bogged down by idolatry and superstition, but they offered something that wasn’t any better in its place. When they first heard Paul’s message, some of these philosophers said, What is this babbler trying to say? (v. 18) They weren’t very impressed and dismissed him rather quickly.

But others said He seems to be advocating foreign gods (v. 18). They asked Paul to keep talking because he was bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean (v. 20).

As it says in verse 21, the Athenians and others who lived in Athens, spent most of their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. They were interested, although their interest came from a desire to gather information about the god he called “Jesus” rather than any real desire for truth. So Paul appeared in front of the court of the Areopagus, where the governing council of Athens met, and presented this new teaching.

Our world today is filled with the same kind of people Paul spoke to in Acts 17 — people who have wrong ideas about who God is and about what role he plays in the world and in our lives. Even if most of the people around you believe in God, there are those who perhaps don’t think of him or know him as you do.

Over the next few days, let’s study Paul’s approach to his audience. It is a model for how we should interact with those around us.