To An Unknown God

As I was reading Acts 17 this morning, the following passage struck me, “Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

Athens was the intellectual capital of the area. There was an openness to new ideas on every subject. Paul used this to his advantage. But the problem was that all they did was sat around talking about and listening to the latest ideas. What’s wrong with that? That made it possible for Paul to tell them about Jesus Christ. We go on to read, however, that Paul was unable to start a church in Athens. My guess is because they sat around talking about and listening to new ideas. They never decided to believe in something. But just to be safe they would cover their bases and give respect to all God, know and unknown?!?

When I was young, I remember sitting with friends at school talking about religion. Do you remember those days? We would throw out all sorts of ideas. I was brought up knowing about God, and for the most part I knew what I believed. One thing that always saddened me was when I would talk with someone who knew a little bit about everything but had no real conviction or belief system. They would talk and listen to new ideas. But those ideas never really took roots and turned into something more. How could I share my ideas about who Jesus was and make it more than just idle talk?

As I look back, all of those discussions may or may not have been productive. But I was able to share my ideas about who Jesus was. What I really regret was that I talked a lot about him, but never really let me friends see him in action in the way I acted. As I look back I think that my actions and my words could have met up a little bit better. But today, I have opportunity to sit and talk with people who are also searching for something. Like Paul, I can tell them about Jesus. If it takes root then Amen! If not, did I fail? Not as long as I was obedient.

God, today I hope I have the opportunity to tell someone about who Jesus is in my life, and that those words take root and grow.