Proclaiming Truth in Contrary Cultures

Transcription

1 Church of the Open Door sermon 6/28/15 by Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary To be used for personal study purposes only Proclaiming Truth in Contrary Cultures The City of Athens was (and still is) known the world over for its magnificent art and architecture. The art, however, characteristically portrayed the exploits of the various gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, and most of the impressive buildings were temples to the pagan gods. What had been a centerpiece of the Greek world had declined to a population of about 5000 people in Paul s day. In Acts 17 we have the record of what one writer said was A short conversation with a small crowd in a shrunken city. We need a generation of Christians who have troubled spirits and the willingness to engage a conflicted culture with the proclamation of truth in spite of the range of responses they will see. It is what Paul saw that led him to do what he did A. A Provoked Spirit 17:16 (What Paul Saw) AC 17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was beholding the city full of idols. (lit= under idols) For Paul, being the Jew that he was with his strong monotheism and distaste for graven images, the scene was most unappealing. The Greek word Luke used is strong (paroxunō). We get our word paroxysm from it. [παροξύνω impf. pass. παρωξυνόµην;] means literally to sharpen; and figuratively arouse, excite, stimulate; and in a negative sense provoke, irritate, cause to be upset; only passive in the NT (AC 17.16; 1C 13.5) angered OT- jealousy of God Ancient descriptions testify that the marketplace was virtually lined with idols, And Paul was infuriated (imperfect passive) at the sight. What he saw made him do what he did. His friendly physician and co-laborer Luke describes his response. B. A Willingness to Engage 17:17 (What Paul did) both audience and apologetics 1. His audience [was the culture ] 1

2 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. The people, places (civil and religious), and the frequency are all mentioned. 2. His apologetics [reveals the cause] Apologetics can be thought of as having two components. On the one hand it concerns the countering of objections to the Christian faith, and on the other it concerns setting out the attractiveness of the gospel. It thus has a negative and a positive aspect. Negatively it means being able to handle objections to Christianity which one encounters in the media, the shopping mall, and elsewhere. It means being able to give effective responses to hard questions people ask about Christianity. Sometimes those objections are spurious; sometimes they are real problems, which discourage those individuals from coming to a living faith in Christ. Trained Christians can make a difference here, by helping them see that the problem is not as serious as they may have thought. Positively, apologetics is setting out the full wonder of the gospel of salvation. It is like unpacking a series of wonderful gifts, and marveling at their beauty. Helping people understand the full glory of what the gospel offers often means taking the trouble to explain central Christian ideas to people who may recognize the words but not the reality they represent. (Alister McGrath, Bib Sac Series DTS WHGT Lectures) Paul was living out his claim to the Corinthians I am become all things to all men, so that I by all means might save some. (1 Cor 9:22). John Stott: One cannot help admiring Paul s ability to speak with equal facility to religious people in the synagogue, to casual passer-bys in the city square, and to highly sophisticated philosophers both in the agora [market] and when they met in council. (281) C. A Conflicted Culture 17: (what Paul faced) 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. And some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; we want to know therefore what these things mean." 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.) 2

3 Two competing philosophies continued to control Athenian thought at that time, and like today, as we mentioned -- mutually contradictory to each other Epicurians Stoics Epicurus BC Zeno of Cyprus Hedonistic Pantheistic Free from pain, disturbing passions, fear Rationalistic and fatalistic God is far away from everyday life Nature has its own purpose in history Mutually contradictory toward Christianity Paul confronted these two extreme philosophies with the Gospel of Christ: Jesus and the Resurrection! The Athenians scorned him, calling him a babbler, which means a seedpicker. They led him to the Areopagus, their official court, also called Mars Hill. And there Paul preached his now infamous sermon. As John Stott argues: He delineated the Christ of Scripture and proclaimed the Jesus of history and identified the two as the [one and only] heaven sent Savior of sinners. Speaking of the challenge in engaging our present world, Journalist Walter Truett Anderson observes, Never before has any civilization made available to its populace such a smorgasbord of realities. Never before has a communications system like the contemporary mass media made information about religion all religions available to so many people. Never has a society allowed its people to become consumers of belief, and allowed belief all beliefs to become merchandise. Anderson states that America has become the belief basket of the world. Jesus with the Herodians and the Pharisees and now today... Atheism Secularism Christianity Syncretism Pluralism Only about a quarter of those who claim to be born again base their moral and ethical choices on the Bible. (3 of 4 overlook their Bible as their shaping worldview influence. Only half of those who use the Bible as their moral guide believe that the moral truth it teaches is absolute. Only 1 in 14 born again Christians (1 in 7) rely on their Bible as a moral compass and believe what it says is always true. Within our generation we have witnessed the collapse of theological literacy and the rise of unabashed unbelief of Americans, even those who consider themselves to be Christians. Five years ago the Cambridge Declaration sounded a clarion alarm 3

4 The loss of God s centrality in the life of today s church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ, and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and to rest too inconsequentially upon us. The Cambridge Declaration, Modern Reformation (July-August, 1996):36. A. A Troubled Spirit 17:16 (what Paul saw) B. A Willingness to Engage 17:17 (what Paul did) C. A Conflicted Culture 17: (what Paul faced) D. A Powerful Proclamation 17:22-31 (what Paul said) He engaged the audience without surrendering any biblical truth. There was both opposition and opportunity. Paul watched for such an opening for the truth of the Scripture to be appropriately advanced into the discussion. 22 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, `TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. With great wisdom and finesse Paul starts with their views of an impersonal divine essence on the one hand and the pantheistic conceptions on the other and moves them toward a living God who is both creator, redeemer, and judge. 1. Almighty Creator - contradicts both philosophies of naturalism and pantheism 24 "The God who made the world and all things in it, (cosmos and the creatures) 2. Universal Lord - can t be confined in a shrine since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 3. Bountiful Giver HE who supplies our need doesn t need our supply for His 25 neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; 4. Sovereign Sustainer - of all and not sustained by any 26 and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, The Greeks prided themselves as superior to all non-greeks whom they called Barbarians. Paul here affirms a common origin in Adam and hence argues against any racial or sectarian pride. 4

5 5. Divine Designer separate from His creation but intimately concerned about it 27 that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, `For we also are His offspring.' 6. Eternal Father the very living one who created us in His image 29 "Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 7. Gracious Redeemer God is not willing that any perish, but all come to repentance. 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, 8. Righteous Judge Jesus has the delegated right to exercise judgment. 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Quotes from Al Mohler (Albert Mohler Commentary of October 11, 2005): Every true theologian is an evangelist, and every true evangelist is a theologian. Christianity is not a truth to be affirmed, but a gospel to be received. Nevertheless, that gospel possesses content and presents truth claims that demand our keenest arguments and boldest proclamation. Moved by the sight of idols, Paul preached Christ, and called for belief. Point: Time is limited God has been gracious repentance is urgent righteous judgment is certain Jesus is the judge the resurrection is the crowning evidence -- to deny any of this for whatever personal or philosophical reasons will be disastrous. F.F. Bruce emphasizes this well in his commentary. The New Testament brings the two together in a creative and productive interplay; to proclaim the gospel is thus to defend the gospel, just as defending the gospel is proclaiming the gospel. We need a generation of Christians who have troubled spirits and the willingness to engage a conflicted culture with the proclamation of truth in spite of the range of responses they will see. E. A Range of Responses 17:32-34 (how Paul challenges) AC 17:32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." 33 So Paul went out of 5

6 their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. The range of reactions of the listeners were mixed: some mocked (this is often the attitude of pagan culture and philosophy); some delayed; but some believed! Let me suggest three simple applications: 1. In the face of rejection, there is a need for COURAGE 2. In the light of future conversations, there is a need for PATIENCE 3. In the event of faith, there is a need for JOY 6