Trinity Baptist Church August 6, 2006
Winning Ways (series)
Characteristics of an Evangelistic Life
Acts 17:15-34
Most of you spend time with normal people. I often don’t. I have to spend time with people like pastors! I was sitting innocently with a group of Heartland pastors in Omaha a few months back, when one pastor started sharing his heart. What he said grabbed me and didn’t let go. He had concluded that the church in general; that their fellowship in particular, was simply not obedient to Jesus Christ about getting the gospel to people who need it.
He decided on a course of action. He preached messages on evangelism.
Then, the church offered a class on “how to share your faith“; he figured maybe four or five people would come; a couple of dozen people came, and not only learned, but began to put what they learned into practice! They and others actively began making contact with people who needed Christ. The amazing thing was, people actually began to come to Christ.
Jon took another step. He stood in front of the church one Sunday and admitted to the people, “I have not modeled evangelism for you.”
That’s where I am this morning. As one of your leaders, I have not modeled evangelism for you. I need growth in this area. God’s Word makes clear: we as believers need to be about this work -- this Christ-given, God-empowered -- work of getting Christ’s message to people.
The American Church has not taken seriously Paul’s word to Timothy. He told reluctant younger Timothy: do the work of an evangelist. It doesn’t need to be your gift, or your strength. He said, do the work. That’s not been our habit; it’s not been mine. I believe we, as part of American Church suffer in many ways because of it. I plan for growth in my life. I trust in the next weeks and months, there will be some growth for many of us.
There’s a seriousness to be developed about the gospel. Paul told Timothy, it’s a trust, a stewardship and a treasure. It’s to be passed on to others. That’s not often the reality in the U.S. Despite appearances, the American church is not growing and it’s not winning people to Christ. In the 10 years between 1990 and 2000, the U.S. population grew 13 percent, from 248 to 281 million. In that same timeframe, the American church managed slightly less than 1 percent. We’re not close to keeping up with the population in the US.
What happens as a result in the American Church? Most churches focus their ministry inward -- inside the four walls -- we aim at us -- the current members. We hold activities for ourselves, we teach and offer classes for ourselves, we disciple people already in the body, we enjoy each other’s fellowship.
And then we evaluate ministry by whether or not it meets our needs. And we’ve spawned a generation of consumer Christians who keep hopping and shopping looking for the most bang for their buck!
And so very rarely do we consider that the Church exists -- in reality -- for the benefit of people who don’t know Christ; it exists to build Christians up to reach out and do significant ministry. We rarely look to see whether women, men, girls and boys are coming to know Jesus Christ.
Healthy Christians and healthy congregations reach out. As a body we need to move out in evangelism. A number of us will spend some time this month strategizing about outreach which will touch the community. If you’d like to be part of that session and what it births, I’d love to talk to you.
As he moved around Asia and Europe, the apostle Paul encountered more than one culture which was a lot like ours. People were interested in spirituality, but didn’t have a clue about God. They loved intellectual pursuits but did some of the stupidest things you can imagine. They pontificated about love but were crassly and grossly immoral.
One such city was Athens. It stood as a center of culture but it was a cesspool of religious and intellectual hypocrisy. Paul spent time there and he did what he did everywhere. He pressed people with the claims of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at his approach and find some essential characteristics we can learn.
What would he tell us? Christian read the verses from Acts 17, describing Paul’s time in Athens. Let’s hear what Dr. Luke includes in this example.
First, undoubtedly he’d say,
1. Get a heart for lost people. (Acts 17:16-17, Matthew 9:36)
At this point in Acts 17, Paul’s been run out of two other cities. To keep the apostle healthy and alive and preaching, his friends have escorted him on to Athens. Verse 15 says he told the people who brought him to Athens to get word to Silas and Timothy to come as quickly as possible to him.
So, Paul’s in Athens waiting for others from the team to arrive; quite likely, their plan is to head off somewhere else. Athens was a stopover.
It would be like if we were heading off to do a missions trip and we were laying over in the New York or Atlanta airport, waiting for other team members so we could go off and do mission work! So he waits.
Here’s this man of action -- a man commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach His message to the Gentiles. He’s got time until they arrive, so what’s he do? Paul begins to move around the city, not like a tourist, more like a man with a mission. Look at verse 16, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
Great thinkers like Plato and Aristotle have left their mark on this city and culture. Architects, philosophers, mathematicians, all kinds of intellectual greatness just sort of oozed out from every pore of this once great capital. But it wasn’t the Parthenon or some fantastic building or cultural icon that made a deep impression on Paul. It was that this great city was filled up to the brim with pagan idols.
In his letter, Peter described Lot in ancient times as having his righteous soul vexed by what he observed around him. That’s the kind of impact that grossness and paganism of Athens have on Paul.
Of course, since Paul was a Jew, when it came to idols, there would have been a natural offense; but there’s more going on than that. Something drives this man like it’s driven few others in history. It’s the message of Jesus Christ.
He wrote in Romans, both Jew and Gentile are under condemnation; every last person is hopeless and helpless, and every one of them is in need of Christ’s salvation. God’s mission in Christ was that He come into the world and die for the sins of all: both Jews and Gentiles.
When Paul took in all that idolatry, he was stirred by the spiritual bankruptcy of the city. Jesus had stood above Jerusalem and said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I long to take you to Me, like a mother hen takes her chicks, but you would not.
Jesus looked at the Samaritans streaming out of their village coming to see and hear Him and He told His followers, Open you eyes! Look on the fields, they are already white for harvest.
Jesus expresses God’s heart for us. He said His Father is like a shepherd who’s lost one sheep and goes out and searches for it. Or a woman who’s lost a valuable coin. She won’t rest until it’s found. Or, a father who waits and watches for a lost son who’s run away. God’s heart is demonstrated in Jesus and here in Paul.
He knew these idol worshippers of Athens who were so full of themselves and their culture desperately needed a Savior. He’d met that Savior face to face.
So, there’s nothing he can do but present Christ to them. He wrote: the love of Christ compels us; that became the driving force in Paul’s life.
Getting our spirits provoked is what we need. We need God to give us a heart for people. Like Paul, we need to grasp the reality of people’s present state and of their future destiny. People aren’t at all what we observe. We watch them live out their lostness and it often doesn’t occur to us that there’s so much more at work than bad choices, or self-drivenness, or ignorance.
The NT says the fundamental issue is spiritual. It tells us, the god of this world has blinded their eyes. They therefore cannot see the glory of Christ. It says they’re spiritually dead, they’re unable to respond to Christ. Instead of our gut reactions, Paul’s example instructs us, get a heart for them. Pray like crazy for them. Stop moralizing and condemning. Reach out and meet some needs. Get God’s heart for people.
Secondly, Paul‘s example teaches us to
2. Go where the people are. (17:17, 18, 19-34)
Verse 17, So (because his spirit was stirred up) he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. Paul’s strategy is pretty fundamental.
He goes where people are, where they gather. He took Jesus at His word, when He commanded, go into all the world and preach the gospel. For the most part, people don’t come to churches or to Christians asking about what we believe. Paul just took advantage of natural gathering places.
People in the synagogue had some interest in God or Truth or faith, so he went there.
He went to the marketplace simply just because people were there. He made contact with some philosophers by wandering through the marketplace. The Epicureans and the Stoics apparently heard him there and he got their attention. It says in verse 18, these two groups of philosophers began to dispute with Paul.
Epicureans were pleasure lovers; when it came to theology they believed that if the many gods of the Greeks and Romans existed, they didn’t care about the people on earth.
Stoics were essentially pantheistic; they were kind of like New Age people; they taught that god was the world-soul.
They react negatively to Paul, disputing and calling him a babbler. The term they use for him seems to say he was plagiarizing his ideas from somewhere else; they also claim he’s an advocate of foreign gods. But, amazingly enough, they invite him to speak to the Areopagus. That’s where a group of high-browed thinkers met; they thought of themselves as the custodians of new ideas.
Paul writes to Colossian Christians, make the most of opportunities to share Christ‘s truth. He did precisely that. Didn‘t really matter what they thought of him, he had an open door to walk through because he went where the people were.
Haddon Robinson writes “do whatever it takes, and go wherever is necessary, to connect with people” -- he says, “do whatever, short of sin“ to get the message out. People are out there. They gather. So, go to them.
They gather today, in clubs and student and neighborhood organizations, they’re at the pool and at art shows. They take adult ed classes at Southeast. They’re involved in political movements, they volunteer with organizations to serve the community. All kinds of people are looking, thinking and probing ideas. God’s people simply need to be where people are who need Christ.
Paul’s example also tells us,
3. Share the Message in their language. (17:22-29)
In other words, don’t expect people to learn and grasp our “Christian-ese” -- our biblical language. We should learn to communicate Christ through the metaphors, terms and ideas they already understand. You do that by observing, listening, and interacting with people -- and by knowing about music, literature, movies and everyday events.
Paul is brought to the Areopagus, verse 22, and he began with Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. He establishes common ground by saying they’re very religious; he’s seen their many objects of worship, he says. Of course, he recognizes this is idolatry, but he starts with a neutral description. Why -- because he’s building bridges, not walls. He’s not here to debate their religious blindness, he’s here to present Christ.
You and I might recognize New Age symbols, or occult expressions on TV. We hear people talk about the whole idea of “being spiritual” that’s so common today, and we can capitalize on these concepts. We can discern the heart and need that’s being expressed with those worldviews and help people consider Jesus Christ.
Verse 23: Paul then mentions that on his tour through Athens, he located a particular altar.
It’s was marked to an unknown God. Just to be on the safe side, they erected an altar to the God of “no name“, just in case they might have missed one.
Here’s his departure point, and how he will begin to show the great difference between their religiousness and God’s Truth in Christ. What you have worshiped as unknown, He says, I want to declare to you.
He lays a specific foundation. He start with, “you’ve all sinned, and Christ died for sin.“ He first shows the distinctive of a Christian worldview. Knowing what these philosophers believed, he starts with biblical Creation, which was vastly different than the view of all Greeks.
He declares in verse 24, there is a personal God Who is over all of Creation because He is its Creator. And he tells them that creation depends on Him for its continued existence. Verse 25: He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. Whether you know it or not, your very life is in the Creator’s hands, Paul says.
He’s laying out the chasm of difference that stands between Christianity and the philosophical camps represented in front of him. The Stoics didn’t believe in a personal God or gods,
just impersonal world soul. The Epicureans believed in plenty of gods, but none of them held all power, nor did they care the least bit about humanity. The God of Paul is both all powerful and deeply personal.
Paul had analyzed his audience; he now simply moves to communicate effectively and place the message of Jesus into a Christian worldview, not into theirs.
So then, fourth, 4. Don’t compromise the Message. (17:30-31)
Being able to speak people’s language doesn’t mean for a moment that we ought to get into give and take dialogue about who’s right and who’s wrong. That’s not the issue. It’s not about us.
Paul knew that. He wrote in 1 Corinthians, I preach Christ and Him crucified. He said, to the Jews, that message is a stumbling block and to the Greeks it’s foolishness. But he’s not engaged in a dialogue to show how intellectual he is, he’s here to press Christ’s claims.
And he’s faithful to do that. He presents biblical creation, and then God’s care for His creation. He moves in verses 30 and 31 to declare that as Creator God will one hold every member of His creation accountable.
He says, a day is coming, a day fixed by Him, when He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He’s appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. This half chapter is a summary of all Paul said, so he most likely spoke far longer and made crystal clear that Jesus’ life and death and resurrection were full of implications for the people seated in front of him.
He’s not about to leave his presentation in the realm of theory, or the philosophical.
He’s not comparing Greek worldviews with the biblical one. In Colossians 1:28 and 29, he recorded his approach with people. He said there, warning every man and teaching every man that we may present every man complete in Christ.
He’s got a heart for them, he’s gone where they are, he’s fluent in their language and knows their belief system, but now he presses every person in his audience to respond individually and in faith to Jesus Christ, as the crucified and risen Savior and Son of God. We know that because of how Luke concludes. Some sneered. Some postponed their response; we want to hear more; but some, verse 34 reports, joined him; they believed. Literally says, they followed Paul, meaning they became students of what he taught. They responded in faith to Jesus Christ and His death for their sin. Two get mentioned by name, a man and a woman; there were others.
Again, let’s not turn from an encounter like this and think: wow, Paul was a great debater and great evangelist. He’d never claim that. Matter of fact he tells us Romans 1 how it really is:
He said, the gospel is the power of God to salvation, to every one who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 Paul got it. The gospel gets communicated. And people respond. That’s why it is so imperative that it get communicated.
Paul also would say to us:
5. Expect evangelism to take time. (17:2, 17:17)
Back in verse 2, before getting a riot started in Thessalonica, we read, according to Paul’s custom, he went to them (in the synagogue) and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them. He spent time, explaining, answering questions, giving evidence.
He used reason. Reason and faith in Christ are not incompatible. We don’t abandon reason and make a leap into the dark when we come to faith. Reason alone will never cause people to accept Christ, but reasonably explaining Jesus’ death for people and offering them the good evidences is biblical and good. Paul reasoned with them over time. And these were people who were interested, people who asked questions, people who knew the Old Testament. Obviously, when people don’t have those kinds of foundations, it’s going to require much more time. Back in the dark ages when Patty and I were students, we could commonly go into someone’s dorm room and 30 minutes later see a student trust Christ. Today, student ministry people say, that process often takes months.
Verse 17 shows us that Paul was in the habit of taking time. It says when he took to the marketplace he was there every day. Evangelism is sowing seed. It’s then, very often, waiting for responses. Very often, the only way we know where, and with whom God is working is to watch for a response.
Take the time. Keep sowing. Keep talking with people over time; keep taking a stand for Christ; keep getting to know individuals; keep mentioning spiritual things. Keep offering challenging books or CD’s.
Keep inviting them to your home. Over and over, have lunch with people at work or school; every so often, ask them, “how can I pray for you.” Investing in sowing the seeds of Christ’s gospel will result in a harvest, but it will take.
Finally Paul would tell us:
6. Remember how God defines success. (17:5, 10, 13, 14, 18, 32)
I mentioned to you early on that Paul had sort of gotten ejected from two cities. That’s why he’s cooling his heels here in Athens waiting for his other team members to arrive
Let me review some of the responses he had in chapter 17. Verse 5 reports there was a riot in Thessalonica after he arrived. Verse 10 says he got forced out of that city. Verse 13 sounds repetitious. There’s another riot in Berea. Verse 14 -- he gets forced out of Berea! Verses 18 and 32 have reported he was ridiculed by Athenians.
Paul’s not discouraged, nor is he dissuaded from preaching Christ because of the results he saw. Why? Jesus said, no one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him… (John 6:44). He’s on a mission. And he’s vitally interested in the success of that mission, because it was Jesus Christ Himself who commissioned him. But he’s not confused. He knows it’s his job to get the word out, it’s God’s job to make it fruitful. It’s God’s job to bring results. God’s definition of success for his messenger is this: it’s faithfulness to speak.
Over in his letter to the Colossians Paul told the people to pray for him and his associates. He said, pray for us, that we would proclaim Christ as we ought…. Pray we’ll be faithful to speak. That’s our job. And when we’re effective, God will respond with fruitfulness, when and where He desires.
Steps I need to take
With Paul as our model, we should be disturbed at the unbelief in our culture. Therefore, we should winsomely and lovingly enter the marketplace of ideas as witnesses who press the claims of Christ. We do this by establishing common ground with our audience, by distinguishing the Christian worldview from others, and by calling unbelievers to respond to Jesus Christ.
Will you be part of what God’s doing in this generation? Will you move out of our “holy huddles” and into our unbelieving culture? Will you be the capable witness Christ has called you to be?
