This week we’ve explored a story of Paul, an early Christian communicator, meeting some Greek philosophers who, after an initial misunderstanding, give him a second chance to share the good news of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. In the end, however, it says some mocked. I asked yesterday why that might be.
It’s possible they recognized there was a Jewish doctrine about the resurrection of the dead, and disagreed already with that. Or, they simply didn’t accept any miracles or supernatural events could happen.
Or perhaps the message of Jesus just seemed too simple, and these philosophers wanted more complex answers to live’s questions, or just preferred arguing.
The message of the gospel is that God has done something for us, and it’s not about what we do or earn. Our intellect is a gift from God, not a gift to God. That can be hard to give up, if you’ve built your life on intellectual endeavours!
But that’s what Paul describes, using the language of philosophers and intellectuals.
Then he does something really neat – he quotes a Greek poet, by describing God using the words “in whom we live and move and have our being.”
He’s been reading, listening, and he figured out what they were looking for. They want someone to give life meaning, someone with power and majesty. They are looking for God, who revealed himself through his son Jesus. Paul makes those connections for them using their language, their imagery, their poets.
I try to do this all the time – sharing stories from the news, culture, art and more to help explain something about God and his story.
Challenge: What song, poem, film or other media would you quote to a friend who asked you to describe God?
Meeting with a Group? Your discussion questions are in this week’s Group Study Guide
[permalink append=”#comments”]Discuss the Challenge[/permalink]Two Dates to Remember:
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