Friday: Further Thought – Mission to the Unreached: Part 1
Daily Lesson for Friday 8th of December 2023
One of the primary takeaways from the story of Paul’s experience at the Areopagus is its on-the-ground study of how to approach an unreached group of unbelievers, which resulted in a small group of believers starting in Athens.
“The words of the apostle, and the description of his attitude and surroundings, as traced by the pen of inspiration, were to be handed down to all coming generations, bearing witness of his unshaken confidence, his courage in loneliness and adversity, and the victory he gained for Christianity in the very heart of paganism.
“Paul’s words contain a treasure of knowledge for the church. He was in a position where he might easily have said that which would have irritated his proud listeners and brought himself into difficulty. Had his oration been a direct attack upon their gods and the great men of the city, he would have been in danger of meeting the fate of Socrates. But with a tact born of divine love, he carefully drew their minds away from heathen deities, by revealing to them the true God, who was to them unknown.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 240, 241.
By his direct contact with the people, a study of their culture and religion, and his respect for their devotion to spiritual things, Paul managed something notable in Athens—something that is a treasure of knowledge for the church. He avoided irritating his listeners. This was in and of itself a major, God-inspired accomplishment. This, according to Ellen G. White, is the treasure of knowledge that we as a church need to pay attention to in this story.
Discussion Questions
- With the story of Paul in Athens as a model, what is the first step for anyone beginning new evangelistic work in a city?
- What sort of behavior is required of a Christian to build bridges with people in the city (and frankly, anywhere else) who do not know God?
- When we are provoked by the modern types of idols, what should we avoid doing, especially right at first, in starting new work among the people who worship those idols?
- Paul could have stopped with just introducing the people to this God who loved them, and they would have been quite pleased. But then he crossed a line that made people think he was deluded when he brought in the Resurrection. Should he have done that? Why, or why not?
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My "unreached" are my agnostic, atheist, secular friends with whom I interact, typically when I am involved in a U3A activity or when photographing birds. The idea that any sort of religion should impact their lives would be considered ludicrous. Churchgoing is considered a waste of time. If I suggested a Bible study I would probably lose them as friends. Most of them know that I am a Seventh-day Adventist and they know we do what they consider "strange things", but usually the closest they ever come to a religious conversation is when they ask me if I am offended by something they have done.
They are my friends. And they will remain my friends until either they or I drop off the perch (good birding metaphor!) My prayer is always that the Holy Spirit will let my life will be a light set on a hill, or salt flavouring their lives. I am not a great orator or debater; just a follower of Jesus who likes to photograph birds and help older people remain alert and participate in life. For me, the resurrection of Jesus means that he is alive and living within me. Hopefully, that is something of the supernatural that my friends can see and understand.
I agree with you Maurice. Francis of Assisi reads, “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” Implicit in this saying is the understanding that often the most powerful sermons are unspoken.”
The author mentioned in point 4.that Paul crossed the line when he brought in the subject of resurrection.
I have noticed several times- also lately this week, that I myself cross a line when talking to people who are nominal Christians- especially Catholics about the existence of a devil called Satan. It‘s shocking to me how deluded they are in believing it’s just a myth. Probably that‘s the reason why God is always to blame for all that goes wrong in this life.
My intention is always to focus on God‘s love pointing out that by His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ overcame Satan‘s power and he is our enemy.
There are many other biblical truths people stumble on, yet if we don‘t speak out, how would they ever know. We may be disappointed by not having the success of getting the message through, but when we do our best, God will do the rest.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I agree with you Amina, our desire should be to be available to be used by the Holy Spirit when and where he chooses to use us. We should never limit ourselves when it comes to Spiritual manifestations because it is not about us, it is about the Spirit. Romans 8:16 says, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. NKJV
True say, Melvin P. Case in point:
I witnessed the beauty of the Sabbath School lesson being taught on-line, in English, while I visited Asia a couple of weeks ago - Nov. 2023. In a predominantly non-Christian environment, the obviously well-prepared teacher used strengths of culture and visible elements of science to share increasingly relatable Biblical truths, to young people. What inspiration!
My experience highlighted the importance of first infusing our personal preparedness with prayerful Bible study. Then, in full surrender to promoting the The True and Living God, we engage available gifts, through the aid of the precious Holy Spirit.
Nothing bears greater winning testimony than the quiet confidence of a well-lived and love-propelled encounter with a Christian.
I do not believe that it was wrong to tactfully bring in the resurection. The resurection story brings out the love of God. God loved us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son to save us. When the Athenian people saw this as Paul taught them, and exemplified an apostle of Christ, some of them became believers in God as a living God, and turned their worship to Pauls God, our God. For them as it is with us, life, and hope became much better then their gods of metal and stone, or bringing it home, our worship of materialism. The God of Abraham, our Creator, our Saviour and Friend, is the only way. Yes, trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey Him. This is what I believe Paul accomplished by crossing the line from out of his comfort zone. His mission, our mission, God's mission. Not only do we step into the water, we step out side out comfort zone.
John 3:16.
1 Peter 1:3.
1 Peter 1:8.
1 John 4:9-10.
Many months ago there was an issue with the word begotten and/or translation. Going back to the Greek word, which is monogenes, there are two meanings. The one we want is: pertaining to being one of a kind, or if you prefer unique kind. No Jesus was not created by Our Father He is God, one of the God head, called the Son of God. John used the word begotten to point out the uniqueness of Christ, or if you prefer one of a kind. for this reason, I John, prefer leaving the word begotten in the translation rather than dropping it. I am sure John the beloved would neither.
Perhaps our heavenly Father's Son was begotten when He was made flesh so as to be sacrificed for the salvation of all sinners.
Just wondering.