Caring for a culture that rejects the gospel
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2021
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How can Christians reach people who reject God's word? If America is post-Christian, or even anti-Christian, how might Christians persuade others that God's best is best for them? Dr. Jim Denison answers this question by looking at a notable event from the life of Paul as recounted in Acts 17:22–23.
Paul's speech and actions provide an example for Christians on how just one person (by God's grace and with God's help) can change the world by speaking the truth in love to those who don't know about God or have a relationship with him. In other words, Paul shows us how to tell others that their "unknown god" is truly the God who knows us already.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to a bonus episode of the Daily Article podcast, presented by the Denison |
| 0:07.7 | Forum. Now, here's Dr. Denison. |
| 0:12.1 | Hi, I'm Jim Denison with Denison Forum. I don't remember there ever being a time in maybe American |
| 0:18.0 | history when the culture seems to have been more antagonistic to the gospel, |
| 0:22.1 | where it would be easier to pull back, easier to retreat, to withdraw, to kind of give up |
| 0:27.3 | on those that seem to be rejecting God's word and God's people as well, when that's exactly |
| 0:32.0 | the opposite thing we need to do. You know, the great commission that we're called to go and make |
| 0:36.4 | disciples. Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth, the light of that we're called to go and make disciples. Jesus said |
| 0:38.2 | that we were the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Salt's no good under the salt acre, |
| 0:42.7 | light under the bushel basket, right? So we know that we're to take the gospel to the culture, |
| 0:46.8 | but there are days when it can be really hard to want to do that. On days like that, there's a story |
| 0:52.7 | in the New Testament, an incredibly surprising |
| 0:55.1 | story, actually, in the New Testament that I would encourage you to remember. I want to talk to you |
| 1:00.4 | about it for just a few moments and we'll draw some principles from it that I think apply to us |
| 1:04.8 | as we learn how to care for a culture that seems to reject the gospel. So we're in Acts 17, |
| 1:10.6 | where the text says in verse |
| 1:12.4 | 22, Paul's standing in the midst of the Ariopagus said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every |
| 1:18.9 | way you are very religious. So let me get some background here if I could and explain why this is |
| 1:24.4 | such a shocking, surprising text and events in the New Testament. |
| 1:28.3 | You know that Paul grew up as what he called himself, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a very, very strict Jew. |
| 1:34.3 | There were never more than 6,000 Pharisees, though they mean separated ones, and to be a Pharisee of the Pharisees, to be trained at the feet of Gamaliel, Paul was one of the leaders of this very strict sect of Judaism. |
| 1:47.1 | Well, one of the things that all Jewish people have in common is their rejection of idolatry. |
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