Living In A Diverse Culture Part 1 Series

LIVING IN A DIVERSE CULTURE – PART 1

Text: Acts 17:16-21

Introduction

1. A conversation I had recently with someone in the church struck me as very profound. He said, “I never knew that inviting people to church was so hard!”

2. The truth is, in the culture we are living in it has become harder than it’s ever been. We’ve always considered the United States to be a Christian nation, but now, we are living in what is considered a post-Christian era in American history.

3. In times past, we could say, “But the Bible says…”. However, fewer and fewer people accept the Bible as the Word of God, and sadly, some Christians have even begun to doubt the Bible.

4. I’m currently reading a book entitled, The Deconstruction of Christianity by Alisa Childers, and in this book, she describes how many people who were formerly strong Christians, are now not only leaving the Church, but are leaving the faith altogether.

5. Yes, it’s getting harder to invite people to church, and even harder to lead them to Christ.

6. We have to change our tactics or lose the game.

7. Read Acts 17:16-21

Transition: From Paul’s time in Athens, we learn we need to…

I. Let God Break Your Heart for the Lost (16-17).

A. He Was Deeply Troubled

1. While it is true that proclaiming the Good News in a diverse society is difficult, that doesn’t mean that we should give up and not make the attempt. Paul shows us this in our text.

a. He went to Athens, and as he usually did, went right to the synagogue and began telling the people there about Jesus using the Hebrew Scriptures as his base. He knew they were familiar with the scriptures, and he used it to his advantage.

b. However, he also spoke in the public marketplace to people who didn’t know the scriptures, and so, he had to change his approach.

c. Instead of using the scriptures, he used something they did understand.

d. This shows us that it is possible to proclaim the Good News without using the Bible for those that aren’t familiar with it, or don’t agree with it.

2. One of the things we see about Paul is that he was able to keep his passions about his beliefs in check when ministering to others. Look at what Luke tells us in v. 16, “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.”

a. Athens was what we would consider today a cosmopolitan city.

b. It was filled with all kinds of art, sculptures, paintings, and writings of various kinds.

c. It was the place of philosophers like Plato and Socrates.

d. However, it was also filled with all kinds of false religions, idolatry, and wickedness.

e. When Paul saw all of this in the city, Luke tells us he was deeply troubled. This comes from a Greek word that means, “sudden, violent, emotion.”

f. He was filled with a combination of anger and deep sadness. He saw an intelligent and talented people who were living in spiritual blindness.

g. All of this spiritual ignorance made Paul’s blood boil and his heart break.

h. There are two things we need to notice about Paul’s reaction to what he experienced in Athens. First, it caused him to want to share the Gospel with them. He wanted to use all that he had inside of him to bring to them the truth about Jesus. It moved him into action.

i. Second, we should notice what Paul didn’t do; he didn’t shout, criticize, condemn or belittle them. Instead, he had compassion for them.

j. When we meet or see someone that is not living a Christian life, it angers us, but it also should lead us to have compassion on them and want to tell them about Jesus.

k. Unfortunately, too many Christians treat people like this with contempt and condemn them. But these same Christians forget where they have come from; they forget that they too were once lost in sin and were living far from God.

l. We should be like Paul and be moved to compassion for these people. We should be moved to share Jesus with them.

3. Next, Luke shows us how Paul was moved to action. In v. 17 it says, “He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.”

a. Like I mentioned earlier, and like we have seen in the preceding chapters, Paul’s first move was to go and minister in the synagogue.

b. When he was there, it says that Paul reasoned with them. This means that he proclaimed the Good News, but he also left room for them to ask questions.