From Religion To God
Saint Paul would have been fascinated by San Francisco, Boulder, Colorado, or Sedona, Arizona.
Some celebrate these cities and others like them as New Age meccas where spiritually hungry people can constantly compare notes on the latest techniques designed for experiencing the transcendent or the true.
Paul traveled endlessly in his tireless effort to spread the message of Christ. And when he went to a new city, he didn’t hide out in a Christian ghetto where things would be safe.
He felt a burning passion for investigating people’s diverse spiritual interests.
In Athens, which was a thriving spiritual mecca of the ancient world, he spent part of a day examining the city’s rituals and religious relics.
Paul was particularly intrigued with an altar that was inscribed with these haunting words: “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”
The next day, Paul spoke to the Areopagus, a group of spiritual seekers.
He wanted to tell these people about Jesus, but he thought it would be better if he warmed up the crowd by first talking about some of their homegrown gods.
He talked about the inscription he had seen on the altar.
Then, unlike some preachers, Paul didn’t say that the Athenians were nasty, evil people for having so many gods.
Instead, he began by trying to build a bridge of mutual understanding: “I see that in every way you are very religious.”
God made us with a God-shaped vacuum deep in our souls, but people fill that hole in a variety of ways.
Paul paid due respect to the Athenians’ deep religiosity, but then he turned the tables on them, declaring that their desperate search for God had gotten them only a few miles down a very long road.
“Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you,” he said, and he proceeded to tell them about Jesus.
Those of us today who are trying to talk to others about Jesus should follow Paul’s example. Paul quoted poets of his day, but we could adapt his approach to the realities of our own world.
Most of our city streets don’t have altars to unknown gods, but our cities are home to a diverse mix of religious and spiritual groups.
Perhaps we could learn more about what some of these groups believe in order to talk to their members about how their doctrines agree or conflict with the Christian message.
As for poets, many cities offer regular poetry readings. But we might also want to consider studying pop music and movies for signs of spiritual life.
These media didn’t exist in Paul’s time, but in our time they are some of the most important conveyors of spiritual messages.
Paul spoke from the heart about his Savior, but he also used his head to try to connect with his listeners in a way that would make sense to them.
Father, help me build bridges to the people you want to reach instead of erecting barriers.