BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Paul and his companions have a polarizing effect on people. While some receive their teaching as good news for all, others accuse them of ripping apart the fabric of society that holds the Roman Empire together. You’re turning the world upside down!

The Jesus movement rejected popular ideas from Greco-Roman religion and politics, such as the notion that many gods rule the world. In today’s reading, Paul waltzes into Athens and notices tons of religious observance—idols everywhere.

You folks clearly honor the gods, he says. I even found an altar “to an unknown god” in town; you’re acknowledging that there might be a deity out there you’re still unaware of. I want to say there is. He’s the true God, creator of everything, and not contained in any temple or statue.

Some are intrigued, and others assume Paul is mocking their beloved gods. See? Polarizing. Paul isn’t mocking them, though. He’s loving them. He knows their worship of Roman gods stems more from fear than anything else. You’ll see in today’s video that prayer in polytheistic contexts, where people worship many gods, often involves anxiety for the one praying and vague indifference from the deity.

Paul wants to show them a better way. He invites them to worship the God who made them, whose image they bear, and who loves them as family. Paul invites them to be free from deities that require so much, give so little, and care even less.

Paul finishes his speech predictably. All people everywhere must turn around, or “repent,” turning not toward Roman gods but toward the true God. See? Polarizing.

Paul intends to turn the world upside down, but not with military might or political strength. Roman officials are used to revolutionaries carrying a big stick, not preaching a message of love. Perhaps Paul was as interesting as he was polarizing?

Motivated by love, sustained by the Spirit, and providing good news of a better, truer, more loving God to worship. That’s Paul’s goal.

Reflection Questions

• Take a moment to review Isaiah 44. What parallels do you notice between Isaiah’s poetry and Paul’s preaching about Roman deities, the one true God, and idol statues used for worship?
• What role do households and families play in today’s section of the story in Acts? What do these details reveal about how Jesus’ Gospel spreads?