Came across an old highlight while reading this morning. It’s a wonderful reminder of what biblical balance looks like. “The Paul of Romans 1 who speaks of the sad state of society is still able to love and connect with that society in Acts 17.”
In sum, Paul directly engages the current culture. He does so with the attitude that although his argument challenges the way people are living, his message stresses the gospel as an invitation into a new life and seeks points of contact with such desires as already exist in the culture. Paul knows his own message and the mentality of the people he evangelizes. Too many Christians know their own message but understand far too little about how and why others think as they do. As Stott (1990: 281) points out, one can admire how Paul could speak to people in the synagogue, to those in the city square, and to the highly sophisticated. This ability to adapt made him very effective. Whether in informal conversation or in formal settings, the ability to set forth the faith at a level appropriate to the setting is a valuable talent.
Key to all of these presentations of the gospel is a theology that sees God in his most basic roles as Paul proclaims here (Stott 1990: 285–87). He is creator, sustainer of life, and thus sovereign over the nations and the Father of us all. For all the disputation over creation and how it took place, the most fundamental truth is that God is the creator of life and we are God’s creatures, responsible to him. This means that God is, and has the right to be, our judge, something our world seeks to avoid acknowledging.
Another important observation is that despite being aggravated by all the idolatry he sees around him in Athens, Paul manages to share the gospel with a generous but honest spirit. The Paul of Rom. 1 who speaks of the sad state of society is still able to love and connect with that society in Acts 17. This also is an important lesson; sometimes we Christians are so angry at the state of our society that all that comes through is the anger and not the love we are to have for our neighbor in need. Those who see this anger and want to represent the faith differently can overreact the other way, almost pretending as if there is no idolatry as long as the religious search is sincerely motivated. Paul avoids both of these extremes. He knows how to confront but does so honestly and graciously. Both message and tone are important in sharing the gospel. Here Paul is an example of both.1
- Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 573. ↩
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