Sharing Christ with a Christless Culture

Introduction

-Well, this past week I finally settled on my dissertation topic, and I am excited about it because it involves studying the work and the lectures and the broadcasts of one of my personal favorite apologists: Ravi Zacharias.

-The gist of what I will get at with the paper is that there is an apologetic method used by a few apologists of old that does not merely piece several arguments together to try to prove the existence of God, but rather takes Christianity as an overall worldview and shows people how the world cannot make sense without it. And in general, this is what Ravi Zacharias does.

-Ravi Zacharias takes on cultural beliefs that are opposed to the gospel, shows where these beliefs are faulty, and then argues how things make much more sense through Jesus Christ.

-This is so needed in our day and age as our culture becomes more secularized, and really, more openly hostile to the gospel. And what happens is that when a culture throws out Christ, things begin to decline. It is true what the Proverb says in Proverbs 29:18:

Where there is no prophetic vision/[divine revelation] the people cast off restraint... (Prov. 29:18 ESV)

-So, this is really what we are going into when we go out into this world and try to share the gospel—we are going into a culture that does not know the truths about Christ but needs Christ desperately. Paul ran into the same thing in the city of Athens. What he does there might give us some insight into what we have to face in our own day and time.

Acts 17:16–34 ESV

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

-I want to start by giving you some of the cultural context in which Paul found himself:

-The Roman world was one which had been influenced significantly by the Greeks. The art and literature from ancient Greece, was studied and admired by the Romans, and every well educated Roman could read and write Greek fluently. The fact that the New Testament was written in Greek, gives testimony to the influence of Greek thought and language in Paul's day.

-The culture was very pagan, meaning that they worshipped pagan idols of all sorts. But on top of that, there are two specific points about the culture that is pointed out in this passage by the naming of two philosophical groups.

-First of all, it was a city that personified a culture given over to hedonism, or the pursuit of physical and sensual pleasure. Verse 18 tells us that there were Epicureans in Athens.

-Epicureans held that the gods were distant and uninvolved in the affairs of humans. They were avowed materialists, believing that this life, what you could own during it and experience during it, were all there was to human existence. Denying the existence of eternity, they lived for the moment, professing a belief that the best life was the one lived free from pain, totally given over to the pursuit of pleasure. This philosophy, while only truly understood and held by the educated elite, had made its way into the common culture. Lining the streets and temples of Athens were thousands of sculptures of the human body.

So the culture of Athens, and for the most part the Roman empire as a whole, was given over to the pursuit of sensual pleasure

-Secondly, verse 18 tells us there were also Stoics at Athens. Stoics had a higher view of the gods and held to what, today, we would call Pantheism, that is, they believed that god was to be found in all of nature. We see this type of philosophy today in the earth worship which is expressed in many new age teachings.

-The Stoics held to a more intellectual philosophy than did the Epicureans. Feeling that the divine spark was within all living things, they felt that there was a rational principle that held the cosmic order together. Thus pure reason became the one thing that connected them with the gods. Like philosophers during the enlightenment, reason ultimately became their god.

One scholar has noted that "The prevailing philosophies of the West's post-Christian era - secular humanism's scientific empiricism and the New Age pantheistic type of post-modernism - are remarkably similar to the Epicureanism and Stoicism Paul encountered at Athens."

It was into this sensual and philosophical milieu that Paul brought the gospel of Jesus Christ, much like ours today. So what can we take from this.

I) Cultivate Paul’s consuming motivation

-Verse 16 tells us that his spirit was provoked within him. The Greek word employed here literally means to be enraged or provoked to wrath. Paul was physically upset at the sight of such idolatry and paganism. Why?

A. He knew God's truth

Paul knew that these statues were merely man-made objects that held no power to save, no power to protect, no power to forgive or respond. He knew that it was God who had created the heaven and earth. He knew the truth, and the deception and false teachings that surrounded him stirred within his soul a deep and profound righteous indignation.

-Having God’s Scripture, we know the truth as well, and when the culture goes against this truth, this ought to stir us up too.

B. He was indwelt by God's Spirit

-Paul walked closely with God and was sensitive to the move of the Holy Spirit which indwelt him, as He does all believers. Ephesians 4 tells us that with our words we can grieve the Spirit of God, and we know that He is a person who lives within us, guiding us into truth, convicting us of sin, and leading us in the pathways of righteousness.

-When Jesus beheld the money changers at the temple, His righteous indignation swelled up within him. When Paul saw the extent to which these Athenians were in the dark, he was similarly incensed—the grief of the Holy Spirit over the idolatry of the people spilled over into Paul’s spirit.

-The question is, when was the last time we became upset because of the lostness of the world around us? When was the last time we were moved to words or action by the culture in which we live? The problem with many Christians today is that we are content to let others go to hell, as long as those who are a part of our group go to heaven. This kind of attitude gives evidence to being insensitive to God's Spirit. The same Spirit that was within Paul is within us. The question is: Is our response like his?

C. He was constrained by God's love

-Writing to the church at Corinth, in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul says, "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God, for the love of Christ constrains us, having concluded this, that one died for all..."

-Paul understood why Jesus died on the cross. Not only did he have a cognitive understanding of the love of God, he had a personal experience with the God of love. How is it that we can claim to have died to ourselves and now allow Christ to live within us, and yet we are unmoved by the lostness of those around us? How can we claim to be His body and yet remain indifferent to the eternal lostness of the very people for whom Christ died?

D. He was Jealous for God's glory

-He knew that there is only one God, and yet these Athenians were worshiping mere stones. The credit that belonged to God was going to idols. In Isaiah 42:8, God says, "I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols."

-This is the feeling that swept over Paul as he stood amidst the idolatry of Athens. It was what motivated him to share Christ with a Christless culture.

II) Proclaim Paul’s Christ-centered message

-Verse 18 tells us that Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection. Of course it is impossible to preach that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, without first preaching that Jesus died on a cross. -The gospel, plain and simple was Paul's message. Verse 18 also gives us insight into how they received his message, they called him an idle babbler. A literally translation of what they called him was "seed speaker." It carried with it the idea of a bird pecking indiscriminately at scraps of ideas here and there, and then passing them off as wisdom, with no depth of understanding whatsoever.

-It is, however, of extreme importance that the scripture tells us that Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, for he knew that it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.

-The cultural climate in which we live, brings with it the very real temptation to try and make the gospel more palatable, to make it easier to swallow or somehow less harsh. After all, a message that says we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus to Calvary, is not going to be a popular message in a society that is given over to self satisfaction and the pursuit of material things and pleasure.

-John MacArthur, in his book, Hard to Believe, says , "Now comes the issue that's behind all the pop music and self congratulation and ‘fun' that the seeker sensitive churches promise: People aren't going to buy Christianity if its that hard. If it doesn't meet their needs, they won't be interested. If they want six fruit flavors and you've only got two, you've lost them. They need Christianity that tastes great, and if its less filling in the short run, well, we'll explain all the hard stuff later. There's a name for that in the marketing world," says MacArthur, "and it's called bait and switch."

-The scripture tells us that the gospel is a stumbling block, a scandal, certainly for those who do not know Christ....but the problem today is that it has become a stumbling block for many who profess to know Him. The result is a watered down version of the gospel which, while trying to be relevant to the culture in which we live, ends up compromising the heart of the gospel.

-Now, I don't want to slam all "seeker sensitive" churches, because, first of all, the term means different things to different people. But some of what I've seen has led me to believe that there is reason for concern. In some recent articles several nationally known Christian artists said how the church they attended was now regularly playing secular rock songs as part of their so called worship service. I'm not talking about the style of Christian music, I'm talking about classic rock songs, words, music and all, being incorporated into their worship services.

-Other churches have created an atmosphere so sensitive to lost people that it is forbidden for staff to mention the name Jesus from the pulpit, lest they become offensive to non-believing visitors.

-We must ever be conscious of the reality that it is the gospel, not our persuasive speech, not our ability to market the church or even our Lord, but it is the power of the gospel itself, applied to the hearts of the hearers by the Holy Spirit that leads to salvation.

-Paul's message was Christ-centered. He was not depending upon his own persuasive ability to get people to believe the message of the cross, on the contrary, he knew that was God's job, not his. That doesn't mean he was sloppy or half-hearted in understanding his audience and their beliefs, it simply means that he knew where the power was, in the gospel message of Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.

-Yes, it is offensive to learn that your sin and my sin sent Jesus to die on the cross. It is extremely offensive to come to terms with the fact that because of our sins He suffered and died a cruel and horrible death. But we must never take the offense out of the gospel, lest we convey a message that fails to show the sinfulness of man. We should not seek to be offensive in our delivery or how we relate with others, 1 Peter 3:15 says, "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." While our message is offensive, we, as Christ's messengers should speak the truth in love, not in anger or with a spirit of self-righteousness.

Conclusion

-As I close, I want to read to you five suggestions of communicating Christ to a Christless culture that Dr. Calvin Wittman suggested:

A. Be certain of what you believe

You cannot share what you do not know. If you are not well grounded in your own faith, you will fail at trying to share with others what you yourself do not understand.

B. Be aware of what others believe

Take the time to read books by Ravi Zacharias and others that help explain why other worldviews are different than ours. Put down the television remote and pick up a book. Engage your brain. Charles Spurgeon once said, “I believe a very large majority of churchgoers are merely unthinking, slumbering worshipers of an unknown God." May that never be said of us.

C. Be prepared to share

Don't look at it like a burdensome task, but rather a great privilege. I find that we are generally prepared to do what we like to do. Most Baptists I know are always prepared to eat, why? Because they like to eat. If we enjoyed sharing Christ, we would be prepared to do it. We would be, as Paul told Timothy, instant in season and out of season. Be prepared, you never know when God will give you the opportunity.

D. Be sensitive to the Spirit of God

The people God is going to use you to reach are most often people whom He has put into your circle of acquaintances. Be sensitive to opportunities, crises in their lives, moments of openness, when they are searching for answers. Have an ear open to the voice of God's Spirit.

E. Be faithful

Don't give up. People in different cultures respond differently. In certain places in Africa when the gospel is preached, people respond by the thousands. In western Europe, it may take years of faithful work to see even one person come to Christ. You and I have to be faithful to our Lord in the culture where He has planted us.