Meet People Where They Are

Scripture Passage

Acts 17:16–28 (NLT)

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. 18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.” 19 Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.) 22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. 24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Focus Statement

Paul shows us that sharing often starts with learning and listening.

Understanding each other can be the basis for sharing and hearing of the Gospel.

Point of Relation

As someone who is trained in debate as a philosopher...

I know the importance of listening as a skill...

One cannot begin to even dream to win any debate of any kind

by making assumptions and unfounded opinions about the other person’s beliefs.

Yet, even as someone trained in logic and debate,

I can still let my mouth do more of the work than my head.

Our last Theology of Tap, for instance, I have been reflecting on...

There we had someone come in who was agnostic...

But before I knew that, I had assumed atheist…and let my assumption be known...

To which I was corrected…and rightfully so…an agnostic IS NOT an atheist.

If I had listened first…there would have been no need for correction...

and that is just a minor example.

Thankfully, because I am a philosopher and skilled in logic and debate, I did quickly adjust, apologize and listen...

and we had an awesome conversation that followed.

Had I not listened…the conversation would have been over…and I would have been the reason.

Things to Consider

We want to help, we want to fix, and we can be very strong in our convictions.

These are all great things,

but in our call to love others and share our faith with them,

connecting from a place of listening and understanding is key.

What benefits are there to hearing someone’s story

and understanding the course of events that led to their decisions and convictions?

Doing so can help us engage in meaningful and fruitful conversations with others

instead of lecturing others

which can make people defensive and can often come across as unloving.

What Scripture Says

First, our passage today conveys to us this important part of meeting people where they are:

RULE # 1: No pushing.

Some translations of this text, such as the New Revised Standard Version, describe Paul in verse 17 as ‘arguing’ in the synagogue (where others…

such as the New Living Translation which we read this morngin) describe him as ‘reasoning’)

The two are synonymous with each other in this case...

The words arguing or reasoning or debating…

that is what Paul was doing.

Making what he believed to be a convincing argument or point for believing in Jesus Christ.

We can see how off-putting this is to some of the hearers in verse 18.

However, we see that Paul is not just simply trying to beat people up with his own views...

Rather, he was observing who these people were...

what their traditions were...

what their religious observances were...

what their spirituality was like…their strengths and their needs.

We can see this in verses 22-28 where Paul clearly shows he has spent time in the city

and that he clearly understands the culture and beliefs of those who lived there.

He saw the inscription ‘to the unknown god’ on an altar…

most likely to appease any unknown gods who might show anger at having been overlooked...

As Paul meets the Athenians where they are and connects to their own stories,

Paul helps them understand that the God whose anger they feared

was actually the living God who created them, loves them, and has been with them all along..

RULE # 2: Persistence with grace and patience.

Earlier in the chapter,

Paul and Silas had just recently seen success

in leading some conversation partners to examine the scriptures

and believe the Gospel message in Thessalonica and Beroea.

So, Paul could easily have gotten impatient and even pushy with his message in Athens.

We can see that Paul was persistent…certainly persistent…but he was certainly gracious too.

He went to synagogue and marketplace day after day,

reasoning and having conversations with people to learn more about them

and share the message of Christ with an approachable understanding.

Notice, doing this does not guarantee that all will accept Paul’s message (or ours!).

Later in the chapter (verses 32-34),

we see that Paul received a mixed response.

While God calls us to meet people where they are and share our faith with them,

it is not up to us to make people believe what we believe.

In fact, we are to trust that God is working in their lives as God is working in ours.

RULE # 3: A life with God and others.

Paul shares the message that God is not a deity to whom we simply bow down and make offerings in the hopes that the odds will turn in our favor.

Rather God lives within us, and we in God,

and daily we have the joy and privilege of communing with God and being led by God.

In sharing our faith,

we can be reminded that we, too,

have growing and changing to do.

This invites people to a community of disciples who are learning and growing together,

rather than into a club where they are expected to ‘join and catch up with everyone else.’

What This Means for You

When we think of not only ourselves,

but of everyone as being made in God’s image,

we are invited into seeing the ways that others are trying,

the way that God is active in others.

This includes making space to hear other experiences,

seeking to understand other contexts,

and seeking to be in conversation and growing relationship

with those with whom we want to share our faith.

Let me invite you to consider some of your own pre-conceptions

about people who act, live, or believe differently.

What is one step you can take to listen and learn about others’ stories?

Perhaps, for instance, we can be mindful of how often we feel the need to interrupt...

and resist interrupting by actually paying attention…like mindfully paying attention…

to listening to the other person.

That is a tough challenge, for me too, and it is something I work at and have gotten better at over the years.

But I still have to work at it.

I want you to think about your own conversion or coming-to-faith story.

I invite you to think about

the people and words and events

that impacted how you turned toward God.

Pause

How did others meet you where you were during this time in your life?

Pause

How might you do the same for someone else?

What This Means for Us

We, as the church, have a responsibility not only to teach but also to listen.

Every person who walks through our doors or who we meet out in the world

will have a completely different lived experience.

We can learn from Paul’s approach

and we can seek the example of Christ by not trying to get people to where we are,

but to enter into where they are and allow God to begin the conversation there.

Sometimes that bears fruit immediately,

sometimes it’s just a seed planted for a long journey,

sometimes we learn more ourselves,

but we have the opportunity to be a positive connection to Christ

by recognizing and honoring where someone is.

Friends, let us follow the examples of Jesus, Peter, and Paul...

bringing the GOOD NEWS to where people are…

meeting them ;and getting to know WHO THEY ARE...

rather than expecting them to seek us out. Amen? Amen!