SAME MESSAGE DIFFERENT APPROACHES
Acts 17:1-3, 22-23 NKJV
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
Imagine what it would be like to go into an area where there were no churches and begin to reach the people for Christ. This was the pattern of Paul’s life. He was a pioneer and the first worldwide missionary. And Paul had a strategy. In our chapter for today, we see his pattern of preaching the gospel.
There was a synagogue of the Jews in Thessalonica. Paul’s initial strategy in most every city was to start in the Jewish synagogues. Even though Paul had an assignment to preach the gospel to the Gentile world, he never forgot his Jewish heritage. He would go into the synagogues and reason with the people there out of the Scriptures. And this made perfect sense. When Paul wrote the church in Rome, he declared the gospel was the power of God to those who believe, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. So by going to the Jews first, Paul was fulfilling God’s plan. And by going to the Jews in the synagogues, he could reason with the people there out of the Scriptures. The Jewish people had a good working knowledge of the Scriptures. They had been taught the Scriptures from early childhood. Their knowledge of the Scriptures gave Paul a point of reference, a starting place to proclaim Jesus as risen from the dead.
The typical response from the synagogues was the pattern we see in Thessalonica. Paul would reason with the people for a few Sabbaths, and a number of people would believe and receive Jesus as Savior. It does seem that more of the Greeks who had converted to Judaism were more apt to believe in Jesus as the Christ. Maybe it was their hungry hearts or simply their ability to pivot away from tradition, but in any case, the Greeks jumped in. Some of the Jews would believe, and then the unbelieving Jews would rise up and kick Paul out or try to hurt him. I appreciate Paul’s courage to go to the Jews first, knowing that it was just a matter of time before they booted him out of the synagogue or did something worse.
So Paul would then go to the Gentiles. In Athens, we see Paul preaching to the Greeks in what was referred to as Mars’ Hill. These Greeks had no concept of God and no knowledge of Jewish scriptures. And Paul made no attempt to connect with these people based on Scripture. He found an altar dedicated to the Unknown God and used their own culture as a starting place. The strategy was Scriptures for the Jews and no Scripture for the Gentiles. And as it pertained to reaching the Gentiles, some would believe, and some would mock, but it was a start.
APPLICATION
A number of years ago, a movement took place in the big C Church called Seeker Sensitive. The idea patterned Paul’s approach at Mars’ Hill. The motive was to reach people who did not have a scriptural basis of belief. Conceptually, it was a great idea to take some of the religious jargon out of church to reach more people. Unfortunately, in many cases, the message became very diluted. And we all learned you can’t be just like the world and reach the world. The message of the gospel is still foolishness to many, but to those who choose to believe it is the power of God to salvation.
So, as a church leader, we need your prayers and Holy Spirit-inspired strategies in order to reach a generation that has moved farther away from God. But the message of Christ crucified and risen from the dead will remain the same. Same message, different approach.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, grant us wisdom to know how to reach a generation that does not know You or have a biblical background.