Paul in Athens
Act 17:16-34
Paul was distressed (paraoxon: to stimulate or make angry) at the idolatry of the city. We usually get disturbed about those things we care about. Paul was not only a great thinker, but a great feeler as well.
Interestingly, he kept one foot in the synagogue, among the people of God, and the other in the marketplace of Athens, engaging its inhabitants in a relationship. This is a balanced approach, which the American church would do well to model.
Evidently, Paul caught their attention, because they were asking him questions. Are we catching the attention of the world around us, or are they ignoring us?
Paul engaged them on their own turf, quoting their own philosophers, v28.
He got to the question and person of Jesus. Sooner or later, in marketplace ministry, we have to bring our listeners to the person of Christ.
Lastly, the reaction of the crowd was mixed. There were some converts, some scoffers, and a few who wanted to hear more. Paul experienced a mixed response in his marketplace ministry, just like we often do.
As we read this passage, a few questions come to mind.
When you are in the marketplace, what do you observe that distresses you?
How do you go about introducing the person of Jesus into your spiritual conversation?
What doors in the marketplace have opened for you to share Jesus, and how did you take advantage of those?
Lastly, what were the results?
This week we want to examine what is meant by spiritual conversation. We want to examine how to spot conversational openings that naturally lead to a spiritual conversation, from both a biblical and cultural perspective. Lastly, we want to anticipate and overcome barriers to spiritual conversation
