When the Apostle Paul arrived in Athens he wandered the city, observing its altars. Eventually he saw one with the inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Later, when his preaching had excited the Greeks enough that they brought him to address the assembly at Mars Hill, Paul spoke of the unusual altar. He creatively used it as an opportunity to discuss Jesus.
“Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of Heaven and Earth and does not live in shrines made by hands….” Acts 17:22-24.
Like Paul, we should be looking for common ground with the seekers around us. Look for ways to connect people to Jesus. It is best when such things develop as a natural or organic part of a conversation.
Paul found common ground in something he had seen and that perhaps his listeners had seen many times. Billy Graham would read the local newspaper in each city he preached in and often quoted from that morning’s paper in his sermon each evening.
I find that things people post on social media create common ground to support a conversation about God.
I had one such conversation this morning with my friend Jason. Jason has left “religion,” but insists he remains “spiritual” and believes in a “higher power.” After writing paragraphs back-and-forth (and months of similar discussions between us), I summed up my thoughts on his undefined identity as a “spiritual person” and his belief in an undefined “higher power.” While I do not quote scripture here, I believe there is a logic to these arguments that, while it may not persuade Jason, might persuade someone:
1. If a higher power is out there at all, it cannot be an unnamed, anonymous force, like the “force” in STAR WARS, or some vague sense of divine “positive energy.” To be a higher power, it must have personhood. That is, if a power is higher than me and you, that power, by definition, must be personal. If there is an omnipresent something, that something MUST be a SOMEONE. If your higher power is not a SENTIENT BEING, then it is not a higher power.
2. If the higher power is a being, a personal God, then He must also be beneficent. He must be a loving God. People look at the evils in the world and doubt God’s goodness. But consider the analogy of light and darkness. Darkness is not so much a “thing” as it is an absence of light. LIGHT is the thing. God created so many amazing things. Sure, we are surrounded by evils of every kind. But creation itself is evidence of a good God, a God of order and light and love. And after all, those who speak of an undefined higher power, always assume that power is GOOD. Sometimes those who blame the Christian God for so many atrocities are happy to attribute only love and goodness to their anonymous god, the vague force of positivity and light. (Do you see the contradiction?)
3. But God is a good God. And by definition, He is personal–a sentient being. And if God is personal, if He can know us and be known, then nothing in your life matters more than knowing Him.
4. Finally, a God who is personal and good would create a path for us to have a relationship with Him. That is the only way. The path to knowing God must originate with God. He has the map, He knows the journey, and He calls us to Himself. Being the Creator of everything, He must be the One to initiate that relationship. (After all, what do we know about it?) It only makes sense that He would draw that map in a book–or series of books–and preserve that map over the centuries. Jason, I have read your previous critiques of the Bible based on the years that have passed. But neither science nor archaeology support such a sweeping dismissal of scripture. The Dead Sea Scrolls, as I’m sure you know, confirm that the Bible we have today is remarkably faithful to the Bible that existed centuries ago.
And after all–God is a personal and good God. God desires a relationship with you. God gave you a map to His front door. It is up to Him to ensure that the map remains true and reliable.
I believe He has done just that.
Dear God, show us how to find common ground so we can build relationships and conversations with the lost world around us. May we be as persuasive as Paul was at Mars Hill.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 