Paul a Marketplace Minister

Acts 17:16-34

I am not sure Paul was the first marketplace minister, but it is clearly stated in Acts 17:17, that he not only shared Christ in his place of worship but also in the area where business was being conducted.  And it sounds as if Paul did this every day, and in that these were very religious people who had many gods they were always interested in adding a god to their portfolio.  So some of the Epicurean (sensualist, pleasure-seeking, self-indulgent, good-time), and Stoic philosophers also conversed with Paul, and could not understand his message so they called him a babbler. But others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities” and that was because Paul was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. So doctor Luke tells us “they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  For you bring some strange things to our ears.  We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” (Acts 17:19-20) If you are not familiar with the meaning of Areopagus, it was a hill which the highest governmental council and later a judicial court met.

Paul finds himself in a city who has so many gods and even an altar ‘To the unknown god’ so this is doctor Luke’s account of what happen next; “So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God, who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ (Acts 17:22-28 ESV)

For just a moment, use your imagination and place yourself in the story; you’re an evangelist in a nation who worship just about everything, very religious people and you are given center stage to speak where the leaders of the government council meets, a place of honor, it is center stage, it’s Fox and friends, CNN and ABC and your on national TV, that’s where Paul is on this day.  And he is telling them he has a personal relationship with the God they call unknown, and that the unknown God is the creator of all the little gods they worship. 

But there is much more to the account; “Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

(Acts 17:29-34 ESV) 

Never forget that God said the road to hell is wide, and the road to life eternal is narrow, some will always mock, but some joined and believed, and it is not your job to do anything but follow Jesus and do what the Spirit leads you to do.  Paul did not stay long in Athens, but went to Corinth.  It’s always good to remember some water and others plant but God gives the increase.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice