Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

You might remember that last week we encountered Paul in Ephesus.

He spent two years there, building the church in Asia (what we now call Turkey), before he left soon after a major riot.

He returned, via a circuitous route, to Jerusalem, taking a large collection of money to support the church back there.

Unfortunately, in Jerusalem, Paul encountered the same hostility as in Ephesus, and he was arrested by the Romans for his own safety.

After another circuitous and lengthy process, Paul ended up appealing to the emporor, and was put on a ship for Rome.

That voyage was a disaster, and it was only God’s provision that protected everyone on board, although God wasn’t so careful with the ship.

After five months of adventure, Paul finally arrived in Rome.

Let’s read what he did there.

Bible

Quote

There are many voices today who are pointing to a new age for Christianity.

A “post-Christian” age.

There is no doubt that the end of the Elizabethan era will amplify those voices.

Pope Francis said in 2019 that the Catholic Church must adopt new approach­es to evangelisation in a post-Christian West.

“We need other maps, other paradigms that might help us change our ways of thinking.

We are not in Christianity, not any more!” the Pope said at the weekend in a Christmas message to Vatican officials.

“We are no longer under a Christian regime because the faith — especially in Europe, but also in much of the West — no longer constitutes an obvious premise of common life.

On the contrary, it is even often denied, derided, margin­alised and ridiculed.”

(Source: The Wall Street Journal, 22nd Dec 2019)

This is a common refrain, but is it really true? Do we really need “other paradigms” because “we are not in Christianity” any more?

We find the same doomsday attitude in Australia, too.

John Carrol wrote in the Australian at the beginning of this year:

“The religious framework that used to provide answers has gone – we live in a post-Christian era.

Which does not mean Christianity has lost its profound influence.

The societies of the Western world remain culturally Christian, while the faith, theology, teachings and religious practices have largely lapsed.

What it means to be culturally Christian is a large topic for another occasion.”

(Source: The Australian, Jan 13, 2022)

But have the “faith, theology, teachings and religious practices” of Christianity ever been dominant in our culture?

Certainly, the ideas that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that God is supposed to be in charge of the world, and so on, have been largely accepted in Western society, and are now far less popular.

But are those ideas Christian?

Don’t Jews believe this, too?

And Muslims.

Why don’t we say that we are living in a post-Jewish or post-Muslim society?

Yes, of course these ideas entered Western culture through Christianity, not Judaism or Islam.

But my point is that these ideas are not unique to Christianity, but shared by the great monotheistic faiths.

So let’s distinguish between what I will call Western Monotheism—the beliefs which our culture is abandoning—and genuine Christian belief.

Confusing Monotheism with Christianity

Why I am making this distinction?

Why I am pushing back on Pope Francis, John Carroll, and the many others who make the same sorts of claims regarding the diminution of Christian faith.

Well, I have a good reason for pushing back on these claims.

Pope Francis says we need to develop new ways of thinking.

John Carroll says society can no longer find Christian answers.

But if society was never actually Christian in any real sense, then both of these claims are wrong.

And it is pretty clear to me that Western Monotheism has never been a genuinely Christian belief system.

Let’s do an exercise:

What are the core distinctive beliefs of Christianity, which set it apart from all other religions?

The Trinity

We find the trinity expressed through Scripture, such as in Peter’s answer to the Sanhedrin after they arrested him.

The fact that there is one God who is three persons who each relate to us and one another in different ways is a key distinction of Christianity, and when that is abandoned (as it is in Judaism or Islam) it transforms the nature of faith.

God becomes more distant, and our faith becomes a religion of working our way towards God’s approval.

And that is what Western Monotheism is.

Western Monotheism is not Christianity.

Saved by grace through faith (in Jesus) alone

The Christian concept of salvation is unique.

The idea that you cannot do anything to save yourself is key to our faith.

We find it in Peter’s account to the church of his encounter with Cornelius:

In fact, the completely unencumbered gift of salvation is what allowed Christianity to become a multicultural religion.

You will notice that both Judaism and Islam are not multicultural.

Rather, because they dictate so many “works” that must be done to please God, they end up dictating cultural structures.

The fact that multiculturalism has undermined Western Monotheism is evidence that it is not genuinely Christian, because Christianity is perfectly comfortable with multiculturalism.

Western Monotheism is not Christianity.

All have sinned and none seek God

The Christian view of mankind is uniquely bleak.

This is possible because Christianity has a uniquely high view of God.

When Paul tells King Agrippa about his conversion, he says that Jesus sent him to the Jews and Gentiles to:

The Christian view is that all people are in darkness, unless they have been set apart by faith in Jesus.

There is no middle way, no half-way ground, no “decent person.”

You are either saved by faith in Jesus, or lost in darkness.

This leaves no ground for a cultural Christianity.

Western Monotheism is not Christianity.

Summary

So, summarising our little exercise:

Western Monotheism is not Christianity.

Is Monotheism a helpful step to Christianity?

OK, so now we know that Western culture has never been Christian.

But is Western Monotheism, the belief system we are shifting away from, a helpful step on the way toward Christian faith?

In other words, is it easier for monotheists to make the step to Christianity than it is for people of other beliefs to do so?

Guess what, we have a case study right here in the last verses of the book of Acts!

Why don’t we take a look at what happened there?

Of course, in Acts, we have the godly Jews, monotheists par excellence, instead of Western Monotheists.

And we also have the control group: Gentiles, mostly Greeks and Romans, pagans par excellence, with their diverse and syncretistic pantheon.

What is Paul’s experience in terms of whether one group is easier to bring to faith than the other?

It is summarised in verses 27 and 28:

Hmm.

Interesting...

It seems like Paul is saying that the Gentiles are more open to the Gospel than the Jews, doesn’t it?

Of course, it’s not that simple.

If we look just a few verses earlier, we see that when Paul preaches to the Roman Jews, some of them believe:

And if we recall last week’s sermon, where Graham talked about the riot in Ephesus, it’s obvious that many Gentiles did not believe the Good News.

In fact, I think Isaiah’s prophecy, which Paul quotes at the Roman Jews, actually applies to every human being:

Isn’t that an apt description of so many people you’ve shared the Gospel with?

They hear it, but they will not understand!

And it is clear that, in Paul’s day, it made no difference whether they were Jews or Gentiles.

And I contend that in our day, it makes no difference whether you are sharing the Gospel with a Western Monotheist: an old-fashioned Australian, or a Pluralist, a modern Australian.

If God opens their ears, they will hear.

In fact, Paul says this directly in the letter that he had written to the Roman church before ever arriving there:

What then are we to do?

So, where do we find ourselves then, as Christians in Australia today?

Do we need to develop a new approach to share the gospel?