Fads – a chance for evangelism
Last week James talked to us about worshiping when we really don’t feel like it. When things are bad and even scary that we need to find a way to worship.
Paul and Silas are set free and after an apology, visit the new church members and go on their way. They go to Thessalonica where there is a Synagogue and over a period of three weeks some Jews and a large number of God fearing Greeks and some prominent women come to believe.
Paul uses his standard operating procedure of gong to the synagogue and explaining the Jewish scripture. He pointed out that the long expected messiah would come into the world and suffer in die, instead of being a military leader he would be a servant.
Some of the important Jews are said to be jealous and go out and get come bad characters to cause a riot and blame the teaching of Paul and Silas who just happen to not be around at the moment.
Isn’t it strange that the mob can’t find these two men.
That night the brothers, the new believers, send Paul and Silas 45 miles to Berea. When they arrive they find the members of the Synagogue to be of more noble character and received the message that Paul shared.
The Berean’s were unique in how they responded to Paul’s teachings. It describes that they listened to what he had to say, then they went home and verified that what he said matched scripture.
I would suggest that is a good practice for anyone that listens to preaching. I am not saying that you should distrust the preacher, What I am saying is that you should not just automatically take in everything without an verification.
We are all gifted by the Holy Spirit to find the truth. However, you have to take the time to read scripture and compare what you hear here, or the radio or the TV preachers.
Any person that wants to gain a real understanding of God must at least make some attempt to learn for themselves.
Preaching is ok and helpful, but it must be supported my individual prayer and study, otherwise some flashy person can “almost” tell the truth and lead people down the wrong path.
The Bereans became believers not only because of Paul’s preaching ability and charisma but, because they researched his message and what this itinerant preacher said was true. It really was in the scriptures.
Things were going well in Berea; however, trouble makers from Thessalonica come to the city and stir up the crowds against Paul’s teaching.
The brothers (the new believers) sent Paul to the coast where it is thought that he traveled to Athens by ship. His companions Silas and Timothy stay at Berea for a time and Paul sends that they should join him there.
He is expecting to be in Athens for several weeks waiting on his companions.
Athens is the center of art, culture and education in Greece.
However, it had lost its place of power, the government and commerce had moved to Corinth down on the coast and left Athens as a sleepy little college town.
The population was well educated and philosophers shared thoughts and ideas as a general pass time.
The leadership of the town were intellectuals. They openly argued, discussed, deep thoughts of politics and religion.
Paul is a tourist; he is separated for a time from his companions. He walks around the city and can’t help but notice all the idols.
One ancient writer explains that, at this time, there were over 30,000 idols worshiped in Athens.
Petronius, an ancient historian, said that is was easier to find a god in Athens than a man! With 30,000 I think I can understand why.
Paul’s understanding of these idols is that people of the city believe that the idol itself is the god.
They believe that they must make offerings to keep the god alive to receive the blessing from the god for what they wanted and needed.
Our scripture explains that Paul is bothered, “greatly distressed,” over what he saw. As a Jew he would have been completely appalled by idol worship whenever he witnessed it and Athens was worse than any place he had ever seen.
He starts his normal procedure. He goes to the Synagogue to reason with the Jews and then he does something different.
-- Before he is thrown out of the synagogue he starts preaching in the “agora” (market place). He is talking to anyone that will listen.
He is desperate to reach these people.
He can’t believe that the Jews aren’t trying to make a difference. They keep themselves separate and avoid the culture as much as possible and seem to be doing nothing about idol worship in the town.
The Jews probably feel like all they can do is avoid what is happening around them.
What can they do? So, they eat separately, worship separately and avoid as much contact as they can.
Luke does not record the interaction with Paul at the synagogue. Instead we learn of Paul’s work with the majority of the population, gentile – pagan population.
Next week we are going to look at his sermon to these people and look at the differences in how he reaches out to people. For today we are sticking to his first interactions and the situation.
Paul is not the only one in the market place that spends his days teaching.
His open discussion catches the attention of two groups the Epicureans and the Stoics.
Epicureans believe that the gods are neutral and that they do not interact with human lives. They did not create the earth or people, everything came into existence by accident. They believed the gods were distant and extremely happy and that is what man should strive for.
Epicureans lived as materialist looking for pleasure in this world because there is no after life.
Basically, they live like the beer commercial; “You only go around once in life so grab all the gusto you can.”
Stoics believe in self control and fortitude. They attempt a detachment from distraction emotions and work toward indifference to pleasure or pain. By doing this they believe that the can be clear thinkers and levelheaded and unbiased.
The primary goal for a stoic is for the individual’s spiritual well being.
They believed that God was in everything around them and was integral to every element of their lives. They believed that man all shared one universal spirit and were meant to be brothers and work together through this life. When they died they believed that their soul would be rejoined with God.
A Stoic believed that evil and unhappiness were signs of ignorance and looking ones understanding of their place.
They attempt to live a life of logic believing that it was possible to comprehend everything if they remained calm and focused.
So the scripture says:
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
So, Paul gets the attention of the local philosophers and the Epicureans ask, “What is this babbler – seed picker trying to say?”
They are comparing Paul to the birds pecking at the ground for seeds, he has no ideas of his own; he is taking ideas from who knows where and trying to impress them.
Then the Stoics remark that Paul is just trying to pitch ideas about some foreign gods. He would not have been the first to do that. Just what they need, more gods!
Then they take him to the Areopagus which is describes as being something like the roman senate. They were a governing and judging body of elected officials of the city.
We can’t tell from the scripture if he is invited to speak as a sharing of ideas or if he is there to defend himself.
Then we have in Verse 21 an aside that: All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.
This is a college town filled with intellectuals that enjoy sharing of ideas.
There is a good chance that Paul has simply been invited to share with a formal group, his teachings.
Perhaps they are deciding if his teaching was dangerous to the government or foolish and not worthy of further discussion.
It is this thought that this event was one that would make the sharing the gospel in Athens a permissible philosophy. The ideas would be tolerated and the church could exist in public.
While this group was more official, I have seen something similar in McDonalds or Hardies or some breakfast restaurant.
Basically, it is like when a bunch of older men get together to talk politics or golf or the problems of the world and what ought to be done.
They rant, they rave and then meet again next week to drink coffee and do and say it all over again.
The Athenians actually seem like a pretty open minded community. They talk over new ideas and new religions.
They have 30,000 gods because they are open-minded and they really don’t have a sound conviction over right or wrong.
If it sounds like a good idea, the try it, If it seems logical then it must be true.
They think that Paul is just presenting two more gods for them to consider.
( Jesus and Resurrection )
Two more gods to add to the cities open minded understanding and culture.
It seems to me that they are looking for the next fad of belief, the next cool thing to be.
Are we much different today?
Is modern man any less affected by new ideas?
As a culture, are we more firmly grounded than people from ancient Athens?
I looked up some fads from the last 80 years. Would any one like to make some guesses or add to my list?
- 1920’s - Flagpole sitting, Dance marathons, Flappers
- 1930’s - Goldfish swallowing, Manature golf, Stamp Collecting, Betty Boop, Hats for men
– 1940’s - Poodle skirts and bobby sox, Slinky, Tupperware, Refregators, Swing Dancing
– 1950’s - Coonskin caps, Hula Hoop, Phone booth Stuffing, Letterman Jackets and sweaters, Sadel shoes, car hops, poodle skirts and side burns
-1960’s - Drive-in theaters, Banana Seats, Black Lights, Tie-Dye, Slot Cars, Mini Skirts, Go Go Boots, Smily Faces, Barbie Dolls, The Twist, Bell Bottoms, troll Dolls
– 1970s - Trans Am Cars, Star wars, Slogans like “Do your own thing”, If it feels good do it. - Streakers
– 1980s - Denim Jackets, Strawberry Short cake, Teenage Mutant Ninja tureles, Baby on Board signs, Smurfs, Rubics Cube Boom boxes
–1990s - Beanies babies, SUVs, Roler Blades, The Macarena, Tatoos, Pirricings
-- Today the fads have to do with our cars, homes and with technology, Cell Phomes, Computers, MP3 Players, Diets, reality TV, online gambeling, My Space, Plasma TVs, Pre-warn out jeans , American Idol and Who knows what else in the next few years.
People have always been open to influence.
When people don’t have the real thing, when they don’t know the truth….they are open to new ideas.
The scary this is that they are open to ideas with no basis of right and wrong.
Our culture holds to a view of what is right and truth for you may not be right and true for me. It teaches in public and in the schools that there is no absolute truth and that we each must decide for ourselves.
Our environment is no different from Paul’s Athens. Open minded and searching for something new because all the stuff they try leaves them empty and wanting.
As Christians we look at our culture and we try to separate ourselves from all that is going on. We feel like we have found our truth and don’t want to be ridiculed for our faith. So we act different at least at church, we worship on Sunday mornings and if we are trying to walk closely with God we may avoid interacting with the culture as much as possible.
Paul seems to demonstrate that Christians should be different. He does not go out and pretend to worship Idols. He goes out to where the people are and starts discussions. He asks about their beliefs and explains his own.
I think that it is obvious to him that the people of Athens have been searching for truth for a long time.
-- He is willing to tell them the truth he has experienced.
When a culture is running from one fad to another, when the material and social are the most important aspects of life, the people are open minded and looking for something.
They are looking because what they get a hold of never stops moving and it is not long before they are left behind. At some point they realize that they can’t keep up.
They are open to hearing the truth; they are open to hearing the Good News.
It would be easy to just say look at the kids today. They have Cell phones and electronic gadgets and tons of TV channels and are still board. Some try sex and drugs because the Ideas come along and our culture says that we all make our own choices. They are taught that it is all about them. And yet they often seem so unhappy.
But it is not just kids. The same thing happens to most of the people in this culture.
They are always looking for something new. They are curious and willing to try anything new.
For over half of our culture, the Good news of Jesus Christ is new. It is revolutionary. It offers peace and comfort in a hurting world.
If we know the truth, shouldn’t we share it? As believers we should be willing to share with the people around us.
