(If you did
not read my post “Father of all Humankind- witnessing to pagans” (February,
2014), I recommend you read it first.)
Two or three
generations ago most people in Europe and North America still knew the Bible,
and they had a fair idea about God.
Today this is no longer the case.
Through secularization, spiritualization, and immigration most people there
don’t really know what the Bible teaches, and they don’t really know or
understand the Gospel. That is one side
of the problem; it also seems that most Christians do not know and understand
how ‘our neighbors’ actually think. For
instance, many people think that Christian faith is not grounded in truth. They contrast it with science. Science is seen as (purely) rational and
grounded in truth, while religion is wishful thinking and fantasy. Others associate Christianity with bad ‘church
experiences’, where members were not allowed to think for themselves or forced
to follow a certain behavior code, which seemed to foster hypocrisy.
To
understand how we should present the Gospel to people who don’t know (about)
God, we must focus on two passages in the Bible. In Acts 14: 8 – 18, Paul addresses pagans in
Lystra; in Acts 17: 16 – 34 he lectures at the Areopagus at Athens. These are unique passages, as they reveal Paul’s
approach to people who don’t know (about) the One True God. Jews and Muslems (as well as Samaritans, in
Jesus’ time) are not called ‘pagans’, as they already accept that there is only
one God, who is creator, provider, and judge.
Therefore, we should use a different approach when witnessing to them.
At Lystra, Paul
tries to convince the local population not to worship them as (if they were)
gods. ‘We are only humans! We are messengers of the One True God, and He
has given us the power to do miracles.
We are bringing you Good News today!
We are telling you about the Living God, the Creator. He is the One who has given you many
blessings. Therefore, you must stop
worshipping other gods and turn to worship only the One True God!’
At Athens,
many people are interested in religion.
They are curious to find out what god Paul is advocating and wonder if
he has anything to add to their ‘theology’.
So, when Paul is invited as guest lecturer, he boldly turns the tables:
Although the Athenian scholars pretend to be experts in ‘theology’, they prove
to be ignorant about the One True God.
This ‘god’ is in fact the Creator of all humanity; He provides for them,
and He wants all people to seek and serve Him!
His audience must not think of Creator-God as some foreigners’ god, for
they, too, are His offspring. The
Creator-God is their Father-God, who has already blessed them with many
gifts! Therefore, they owe it to Him to
give Him their thanks and service! Paul
presents this as Good News, yet he also warns them that there will be serious
consequences if they now continue to ignore the One True God. When God’s Chosen One returns, He will judge
all people! He is the One, Who will
restore God’s Kingdom, and his resurrection is the proof that this is so!
So, what
lessons can we draw from Athens?
1.
Paul prepares his ministry by becoming acquainted with
his audience. He has toured their city,
he has read their poets, and he understands their culture. We, too, must seek to understand those who
don’t know (about) God: What makes them ‘tick’?
What keeps them going? What are
their goals and aspirations, their dreams and fears?
2.
Paul brings the Gospel. He reveals to them God’s rescue plan in Jesus
Christ. His message is first of all “good”
news!
3.
Although he presents the Good News, yet he does not
hesitate to mention the dark side: Those who persist in turning away from the
True God and refuse to respond to his gracious gifts must face judgment!
4.
Paul does not read to them the Law of God, which was
given to Israel. Yet, he does emphasize
the core of the law (essentially the first commandment): They must put God (and
God alone) at the centre of their lives!
Seeking God must be their first priority, so that –when they come to
know Him, they might walk with Him.
5.
Paul teaches them the basics: Creation, Covenant, Call
to repentance, and the Coming judgement
a.
The Christian God is the Creator of all things and all
people. Obviously, He is far greater
than any of us, yet He is close to us.
b.
He has made us in His Image, and He has given us an
abundance of good things.
c.
Therefore, we are all under obligation to seek Him, to
return to Him, and to live for Him.
d.
We are urged to stop putting our hopes in other things
and other gods. He is to be the centre of our lives!
e.
If we persist in ignoring Him and worshipping other
things, in the end we will be judged.
6.
Paul faithfully and generously shares the Good News, regardless
of the outcome.
About
fifteen years ago I got acquainted with a neighbor down the road. We met a few times and talked about politics
and the environment. After a few visits,
Victor ‘discovered’ that I was a Christian.
This came as a great surprise to him.
He had concluded (from our first talks) that I was an intelligent and knowledgeable
person, which -in his view- was incompatible with being a Christian. So, he wanted to find out what was wrong-
either his earlier assessment of me or his assessment of Christianity. After a few more visits, he shared some
interesting conclusions:
·
At first your Christian views seemed primitive and
bizarre, so I could not reconcile them with my conviction that you are a
rational and knowledgeable person. Now I
see that you have a totally different, yet coherent way of viewing
reality. For someone who only hears a
few things out of context, Christianity appears illogical and primitive, but I
see that -once you have adopted this worldview- it makes totally sense!
·
I admire your drive and sense of purpose. I don’t really know what I have pursued or
accomplished in my life, but you seem to have a clear focus of your task in
life. Your relationship with Jesus seems
to give you a power and conviction that I would love to have.
Is it useful
to spend our precious time with atheists and agnostics, like my neighbor,
Victor? About a year before we went to
China, he developed serious health problems.
In a matter of months he was no longer a proud man but totally dependent
on the loving care of his wife; one time I had to help her to clean his bed
because he had just soiled it. It was
during this time that I resumed regular visits, which he always loved. I reasoned with him that -in the end- it is
not our minds, which is God’s greatest gift to us, but it is love.
‘In his younger years John Nash (A Beautiful
Mind) was proud of his ability to reason, but when he began to struggle with
his mind (in schizophrenia), he realized that the loving care of his wife was
more precious than the power of his mind.’
At another visit I shared Jesus’ story of the prodigal son. He must have known the story, but somehow -under
these new circumstances- it sounded surprisingly different! I remember vividly his radiant face after I
had shared this story; I had never seen him like this before. Victor had grown up a (Roman) Catholic, but
he had refused to be called a ‘sinner’.
Now, he seemed so thankful that Father-God, from whom he had run since
his youth, was opening his arms to welcome him home. I cannot be sure that Victor was saved indeed,
but when his wife and children commemorated his life at his deathbed, they
invited me to join them- as Victor’s friend and pastor. I shared with them how Victor had been a unique
friend, who had taught me how to listen and had shown me how other people
think. And then, I prayed that God might
forgive Victor’s former pride and resistance and take him home. Later, his wife shared with me how she had
been long been afraid that Victor would depart (as atheist) in agony. Yet, now she was convinced that her husband
had surrendered to God’s love at last, and that he was at peace when he
departed.
Most people (that
we might share the Gospel with) will probably not care to know the truth or to
understand the Gospel. We cannot
convince people to follow Christ just by solid apologetics or clever
arguments. Paul knew this too. He
probably had not expected a thundering applause at the Areopagus. The prodigal farmer (in Jesus’ parable) who
sowed the seed knew that much of it would never germinate, survive, or produce
a crop. Yet, that was not his
concern. He did not count the cost:
freely he had received, and freely he was sharing it! He knew that God -at the time and place of
his good choice- would produce a harvest.
We ought to do likewise!
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