Acts 17:16-34 | in the Worldਨਮੂਨਾ

Being in the world means acknowledging where the world is getting it right; being separate from the world means helping people see where they’re confusing things or missing it.

When Paul talks to the Athenians, he affirms a lot of what they believe: “I observe that you are very religious in all respects” (Acts 17:22, NIV). He affirms the same skepticism towards paganism held by Stoic and Epicureans: “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything…” (17:24-25, NIV). He even quotes their own poets, Epimenides and Aratus: “For in him we live and move and have our being,” and “We are his offspring” (17:28, NIV).

Paul is not afraid to affirm truth where he sees it, even if that truth is coming from people who don’t know Yahweh and whose belief system does not fully conform to his way and will.

There’s an important insight here. Truth is truth. All truth is God’s truth. Aspects of things that are good and true ultimately stem from God. Glimpses of God’s truth will turn up among people (and therefore in their belief systems and cultures) even when they don’t know Jesus. How could we expect any less? People are made in God’s image. He’s hardwired a desire to know him in our being and gives glimpses of his nature in creation.

Instead of insisting on binary right/wrong bifurcations on every single belief system (if it’s called “Christian,” it’s automatically right; if it’s not “Christian,” it’s automatically wrong) that draws us vs. them battle lines, Paul recognizes how the Athenians are glimpsing aspects of God and his way, even if they don’t know the God it’s coming from. For these Athenian philosophers, it was the disillusionment they had with the older mythologies, capricious gods, and superstitious paganism, and their yearning for a unified system by which to understand life and the world and a deeper sense of how to live with a notion of god in everything around us (Stoicism) or separate from us (Epicureanism).

At the same time, Paul knew they’re philosophical systems would only take them so far. So Paul starts with the truth they see dimly, and shows them the truth about God in greater clarity by pointing them to Jesus. The gospel brings clarity and correction to what the world sees dimly.

People today, even people who reject God, still yearn for things of God. They still see glimpses of things like beauty, freedom, justice, mercy, right and wrong, and love. And crave it.

In those moments, follow Paul’s lead. Take what they identify, pick up on what they seek, and point them to Jesus, the author of all things true and good, who brings truth and goodness into all reality.