Taking a Stand in a Christ-less Culture

The Apostle Paul’s passion for the gospel never ceases to amaze me. As I have written before, when Paul met Christ, he went from chief persecutor of the church to chief propagator of the church. Paul never missed the opportunity to proclaim the gospel. It is as if it burned within him and no matter the circumstance he had to share it. Sometimes this is in the form of a simple testimony and sometimes he argues his case as if he is standing before the Supreme Court.

A story is recorded in Acts 17 of one such instance when Paul makes a case for Christ. Paul is in the city of Athens. He is waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive to assist him in the ministry. However, while Paul is waiting on them he begins to take note of all the idols that are within the city. At the same time we are told that, “his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). As a result, he begins to make his case for Christ and the gospel.

As Paul is making his case, he approaches it in an interesting way. He starts with what they know; he finds common ground with them. He says, “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’” (Acts 17:22-23). Paul found an open door and walks through it. He then says, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). Paul then goes on to make a very detailed argument as to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

As we think about sharing the gospel, there are several things we can learn from Paul. First of all, this event takes place in the normal flow of Paul’s life. He is simply waiting on some friends to arrive and killing time. Second, Paul finds common ground with the Athenians. He does not start a huge argument as to the sinfulness of worshiping idols; he simply uses these idols as a connecting point to share the one true God with them. Third, Paul is not shy about sharing the truth even though idol worship was clearly the accepted practice of the day in Athens. Every believer would do well to model their life and witness after Paul.

PRAYER AND PRIORITIES

A defining characteristic of Jesus’ followers is that they ought to be a people of prayer. As Jesus prepares to go to the cross, He makes a visit to the temple. When He arrives at the temple, He discovers that all sorts of things are going on, but not the one thing that ought to be happening, worship. There are people there buying and selling animals. There are people exchanging money and taking advantage of each other. There are still others who are just using the temple as a pass-through, walking through the courtyard to avoid going around. All of this is more than Jesus can take.

We are told in Luke 19:45 that as Jesus entered the temple He, “began to drive out those who sold.” It is interesting that just before this scene Luke records some of the thoughts of Jesus that relate to Jerusalem. In fact, Jesus wept over the city (Luke 19:41). His heart is broken because this city failed to recognize who He was and the peace that they truly could have had. What is at the root of them missing their “visitation” (Luke 19:44)? They had forgotten about true worship, true prayer, and honestly seeking God. How do we know this? Because of the condition in which Jesus finds the temple.

Having ridden into town and weeping over the city, having gone to the temple and discovering that it had been turned into a market place, Jesus now acts. After driving out all who sold, Jesus says, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers” (Luke 19:46). Jesus reminds them what their priority should have been as followers of the living God. They had lost focus and got their priorities mixed up.

We must make sure that we do not make the same mistake. Prayer must be a priority in our lives. This means that we must make time for prayer. We must discipline ourselves to pray. We must value of prayer. It is imperative that prayer hold its rightful place in our lives.