Confronting Cultural Idols
bring your Bible to the book of Acts we're continuing our series here in this incredible incredible testimony to what God has done in history to how it is that Jesus continues continued and continues to work through his people as his body and so we do that and we continue but this is a larger chunk of scripture that you have in your bulletin right acts 15 all the way up through 18 and we're not covering all of that this morning that's why we send that email out so I hope that you were able to read this whole passage and see exactly what God was doing in those intervening chapters but we're going to zoom in today in particular part of that past me looking back 17 starting over 16 but we're going to before we do that. I want to dry your mind back to what we just did. What I hope you did was worship. What I hope you did was to acknowledge the worth of your savior Our God. That's what I hope that you did. And did you notice the last week saying the songs we talked about this idea of worship, right? Every praise Every Praise right talked about 10,000 reasons to worship write all of these things lead us sometimes to think that has Christ followers, right? Because we sing about it every Sunday, right? We must have a corner on the market when it comes to worship. However, that isn't simply not the case this week. I was looking at this idea of worship and I came across a quote from an author that I've heard other speak. Well of but I've never read and so I confessed that right at the start because there's kind of the stigma that gets associated with this author. Like oh you're one of those people know I'm not but I did find something that he said in a speech that he delivered back in 2005 to be exceedingly instructive on this idea of worship. I'm talking about is a guy named David Foster Wallace. I wrote a couple of books. He wrote a several essays, but she is well known for a speech that he gave to a graduating class the title of the speech was this is water and I would encourage you to take some time and to go find it in to read it. I but I want to read a quote to your to you. He says in the day-to-day trenches of adult life. There is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship if you worship money and things if they are where you tap real meaning in life than you will never have enough never feel you have enough worship your body and beauty and sexual Allure and you will always feel ugly and when time and age start showing you will die a million deaths before they finally Play Into You worship power you will end up feeling weak and Afraid and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect being seen as smart. You'll only end up feeling stupid a fraud always on the verge of being found out. But the Insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful. It's that their unconscious. They are default settings do the kind of worship. You just gradually slip into day after day getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you are doing and the world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self unconsciousness the default setting the rat race the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some incidents. fing now to my knowledge David Foster Wallace was not a Christ follower and I cut that quote down for months of longer speech again that I would encourage you to be aware of because he admits something that so many in our culture are unwilling to admit and that is summed up in his statement everybody worships. Everybody worships. The question is what do we worship write the title today's messages confronting cultural idols. And that's all we're going to see Paul do is Paul is taking the gospel out here in the midst of his second missionary journey. He confronts some cultural Idols as he finds himself in the city of Athens before we get to our texts. I want us to understand it just because there are not statues set up in the corners of our streets here in Enoch, Utah that people are bowing down to or praying to or leaving offerings besides that I don't want us to misunderstand. The fact that I Dollar Tree is Alive and Well in our community Idolatry is alive and well because every single human being worships something. And what is idolatry? Any worship given to anything or anyone that is not Yahweh. the god of the Bible The God Who reveals himself to us in his creation and in his word any worship that is not directed to that. Is idolatry Now it seems a bold statement to say that everybody worships. It seems that that might be laying it on a little thick until we back up and we say what is worship if worship is gathering together with like-minded people and sing some songs, then you're right not everybody worships, but that's not what worship His worship is placing our ultimate. Hope in something. Or revealing. Our ultimate fear of something worship is placing our ultimate hope in something or revealing our ultimate fear of something when we come to worship. What we are saying is not just these words what we are doing by saying. Okay God you can have this hour on Sunday. And then I'm also going to give you Monday Tuesday Wednesday and so on what we're doing is saying I'm putting all of my eggs in that basket. I'm putting all of my hope for the future all of my hope for my life. All of my Hope For Eternity in the fact that God you are worthy. And you say you love us enough to send your son to die for us and to invite us into his kingdom. I'm putting all of my hope in that there's also the sense that we get when we read through the scripture in this is one. I don't want to minimize this morning is that we come in worship to God because he is great and wonderful. and terrible and terrifying are there is the sense that which we ought to Quail in fear before the Holiness of our God a God who is so holy so concerned with righteousness that he would sacrifice his son on behalf of Sinners to demonstrate how serious he takes. Send. Worship is recognizing that God loves us and we can place are hoping that and recognizing simultaneously did if he did not love us and if he did not save us we would be deserving of nothing but his wrath and destruction.
so we have this ultimate hope in this ultimate fear and so we
on a good day and are good moments worship God because he is everything to us. But you look at our culture and you can just as easily see ultimate. Hope or ultimate fear revealed in the actions of the people around us. You can see this not being given to the king of creation, but you can see it being given to a political process. You can see it being given to fame or to money or to beauty or to any other number of things where people say, this is where I find my ultimate hope what is my hope for the future this big fat bank account? That's going to keep me safe. What is my fear for the future economic calamity?
Some of the hedge my bets. However, I can. What is my hope for the future that my party wins the election? What is my fear that the other party wins the election? What is my hope for the future that people would know who I am and would give validation to my existence by clicking the like button. What is my fear that nobody would know who I am and I would be utterly and completely insignificant. in the course of human history We live in a time where all of these idols and many more besides. Are being entrusted with our greatest hopes and our greatest fears. We live in a day and week by week at the altar of money or power or fame or whatever.
How do we respond to that? How do we respond when we are that? First off second. How do we respond? When we see that then? This is where we get to Acts chapter 17 and we see Paul and Paul we catch him kind of in the middle of this journey and he's been going around doing what Paul does which is sharing the gospel. He goes to the synagogue First Years with the Jews and then after they some of them listen to him some of them reject Migos out. He shares with the Gentiles while we catch him in the midst of this journey. And for one reason or another he ends up kind of stuck in Athens and depend of waiting there for everybody else to to catch up with him. end up in this. Of uncertainty of waiting
But it doesn't waste his time. It says in verse 16 now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens. His Spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of Idols. He's not wasting his time. He is waiting for the rest of his party to kind of catch up. He got ran out of town on a rail and now everybody else is still making their way to But instead of just wasting time scrolling through whatever the first century equivalent of Facebook would be. He's in this community and his spirit is provokes inside of him. And what is 4 votes mean? Means he's angry. It means he's mad he's looking at the city, which I've never been to Athens, but by all accounts is just an incredible place right in there still like 2000 years later. There are still people who plan trips to go there in to see the Majesty of some of the temples in that and that the public works that were constructed there. This is this is the home if you will of Western Civilization we owe so much to Athens. in the West incredible City the pause not there is a tourist. He's there as an ambassador of Christ Kingdom instead of saying wow. Look at that. Look at that Temple to Athena.
He's mad. Where the world would say look at this incredible tribute to human Ingenuity and construction. Paul says look at this rejection. Of the worthiness of the God who made everything he's mad but I want to say he's not just mad. He's also sad. The people in Athens don't know any better. He's provoked and not just to righteous indignation, but also to a recognition that this is not how things were meant to be.
To see that they were instead supposed to be recognizing the glory of God their creator. Who is motivated by these twin? You know Kenneth feelings. Like how dare they reject God? And at the same time are they missing out on? And so he does what we ought to do. He starts by seeing the world from God's perspective not his own. I submit to this is what we need to do more than anything else in our culture today is to look at the problems. We face not as Republicans not as Democrats not as Americans. Not as anything else. But to see them as God sees them. When we look at our world from God's perspective all the sudden things shift, we no longer have the same concerns the same overarching idolatrous commitment to certain things that our world does we Step Beyond that and we get a new perspective? When I was younger, I was probably 11 maybe 12 and we live dinner in a neighborhood like like Hobby Farms. You guys know what I'm talking about, like little 5-acre chunks and everybody had another cow with a horse or whatever. It is just five acres never got to pretend to be Farmers, even though they had real jobs. You know why anybody would want to pretend to be a farmer? I have no idea.
I hate my grandpa used to used to say, you know, if you like Grant gambling try farming, you know, you're going to be able to eat next week. Why is everybody in this neighborhood has these little 5-acre chunks in and they would they had this like irrigation plan and everybody shared in this irrigation plan in there. It was really difficult to figure out how to get the water to everybody's place. And so the neighborhood got to get in and we're going to wear to make this big head gate this water diverter and it'll be able to split things out different ways. And these guys my dad and a couple of the other guys there they've got is all scratched up and they're down in this giant hole up at the head gate and they're they're installing this in my 11 year old brain is huge concrete that they've they've made and they're down in the hole in the making sure it's set straight and the water's coming in and all this and I'm staying up there and I said Dad. How's the water get out?
Well if the water gets out, but they designed this thing and the water came in but there was no way to get the water out again, but they couldn't see it because they were down there in the hole. I'm not a genius and at 11 years old. I knew just about as little as you can about water. I wasn't smarter than they were I wasn't stronger than they were none of that because I had a different perspective. I could diagnose the problem and they were fighting. Church you are God's not very smart. Not very strong. And yet gift to the world because you have a different perspective than they do. It's a rather than jumping in the hole and saying yes, let's fight about all of the things that you are giving ultimate. Hope and ultimate fear to step back a little bit and say, Oh my God, how God made it to work? It doesn't make you smarter than anybody else. It doesn't make you better than anybody else just means you got a different perspective on things because of what God has done in your life. So Paul sees the city not from the perspective of a tourist, but from this perspective as a ambassador of Christ Kingdom man Smith. That's how we ought to see the world. Around us as ambassadors of the king of seeing the world from God's perspective. So Paul sees these the City full of idle. He's provoked. So what did he do for 17? He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews in The Devout person than in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there some of the Epicurean and stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said what does this babbler wish to say other said he seems to be a preacher of 4 in divinity's because he is preaching Jesus and the resurrection. So what's Paul's response to this provoking? What's a split Paul's response to seeing the city from God's perspective.
He talks with everybody again. What's Paul's response to recognizing there's a problem and nobody's diagnosing it correctly because they're in the midst of it instead of stepping outside of it hears what God has to say. He just begins to talk to people. This is revolutionary. This is this is earth-shattering. Do you want to change your community? Do you want to change your family? Do you want to change the world?
See things from God's perspective and then talk to other people. How cool is that? Talk to other people Paul goes into the synagogue and he's talking with religious people in then goes out in the marketplaces. He's talking with not religious people. He's talking with pagans. He's talking with Jews. He's talking with epicureans. He's talking with stoics and I don't know how brushed up you are on your philosophy. But the epicureans in the stoics. We're pretty much like an opposite ends of the philosophical Spectrum. These guys were not people that normally hung out in your pulse talking to both of them. Talk to people. why we get so outside is I'm so guilty of this and it's so much easier for me to send a text then to make a phone call.
Listen People of my generation you guys understand what I'm talking about, right? Sometimes talking is hard much easier to text. I used to make fun of an unnamed family member of mine just in case you were to watch this my brother.
Because he and his wife. They're both like the quietest people when you first meet him there dating dating listen to this. They would sit on the same couch. and text each other I'm like dude, there's a better way to do this. Right, we've gotten into this very fragmented Society. We've gotten into this state of being where none of us wants to talk to anybody and it's weird when somebody does talk to you the other day. I was at Home Depot and I'm walking I was looking for something. I don't even remember now. I'm going along and I pick up something and this guy just out of nowhere says will you can do that?
Whatever it was it was one of those things is like pretty self-explanatory what I'm going to do what it's supposed to do. But that started a conversation with this guy who just out of the blue. So what are you going to do with that next thing? I know he's telling me his life story turns out he's an artist and he does mixed-media aren't and he starts expounding the incredible utility and beauty of cardboard and how it's such a neglected medium for art. And I walked away like with his whole new perspective on cardboard.
Hand is sinking Sensation that if he could be that passionate about cardboard there might be something wrong with my relationship with Jesus. If he could expand the benefits of cardboard to some stranger in Home Depot.
Where was I at expounding the benefits of submission to Christ?
Just start a conversation. Don't even plan. It don't even have an idea of how it's going to get to Jesus just start talking to somebody if you're passionate about it. Guess what eventually it comes out as like how do you know somebody's a vegan doing for 2 minutes? Right? It's like if they're passionate about it. It's going to come out. Some friends are going to be here soon. During CrossFit. Everybody's got CrossFit jokes, right? How do you know somebody does CrossFit? Know how do you know somebody that's CrossFit talk to him for two minutes. Right? Like if we could be passionate about cardboard and crop.
Can we be passionate enough about Christ to just talk to people and have him kind of flow naturally into our conversations? I think we should that's what Paul does sees the world from God's perspective get all these Idols. Look at all these people worshipping putting their hopes and getting their fears to things that aren't worthy of them. I'm going to talk to him about Jesus. And then look what happens next when he doesn't he spends more time with those who have questions looking for a 19 with me. First 19 and they took him and brought him to the areopagus saying may we know what this strange new teaching is that you are presenting for you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time and nothing. Except telling or hearing something new if that's not Facebook. I don't know what it is.
Spend more time with those who have questions talk to everyone. And when somebody says wait a second.
I need the I need to know more about this. Well, go hang out with him spend more time with them and talk about it more answer their questions. And this is one of the reasons I think people are afraid people are afraid to talk about Jesus's cousin.
You're not supposed to. Your purpose is an ambassador of not paid make people depend on you and your Genius. Your purpose is an ambassador of prices to be able to point other people to Jesus. Let him answer their questions. Like Spurgeon said do you know regarding the word of God? You don't have to defend the lion you just open the cage door. Jesus doesn't need you to defend him. He just doesn't need you to have all the answers about him. He just need you to point people to him and let him take it from there. I'm convinced you can't read the gospels and not Come Away with respect for this man. Jesus Christ. I'm convinced you can't read the gospels and come away saying.
That's a Jesus that maybe I need to re-evaluate some things. Jesus doesn't need you to have all the answers, but when people have questions spend more time with them pointing them to Jesus and so they invite Paul up to the areopagus and it is given us his interest like the Athenians in the end. They used to do all of this and they spend their whole time doing nothing to tell Ian hearing some new think those are opportunities guys. Just because it's not a Christian aspect of culture doesn't mean it's not an opportunity for you to invest that was some gospel significance, right? If this is what the Athenians want to do with their time pulses sign me up. Write this is where we need to shift. I need to shift my view on so many of the things I see in our culture. I have a tendency to be very much the the Luddite when it comes to certain aspects of our culture like you run away from it.
People want to post on Facebook. Let's post on Facebook. Let's not jump down in the hole with them. Let's share things from a different perspective. Let's Point people to Jesus spend more time with those who have questions. How many of you are fisherfolk how many of you like fishing show fans? I'd be like one of these Jerry can testify to this to make me a fisherman. He's at least half succeeded. But the problem is I don't have what Jerry and so many of you other people who like fishing apparently have which is this ability to look at water. Which to me is just like this whole thing under here is just a mystery right once you get below the surface. Like I have no idea what fish are doing down there. I don't know where they're at. Read the water. And this little Ripple over here. There's a submerged log their cast out there. I bet there's some fish hanging out, right? Oh, it's this time of day. You know what the fish are hanging low. You need to put a little bit more weight on your line, and I'm like, how do you do that?
time you invest time in it. No matter what your spouse thinks right you invest time in fishing. That's how you learn to read the water.
How you going to know who's interested enough to spend more time asking questions? How you going to know where it's productive for you to spend your time as had the gospel shares you spend time you do it you hang out with fish. Hang out with people who have questions and eventually you begin to learn.
This is what I need to be listening for. This is what I need to be looking for. This is this is the person that's receptive. This is the person that just wants to waste time and you begin to develop this sense just like a fish sense for a fisherman you begin develop this Christ sense for an evangelist. This person's open to this conversation going farther this person not that's okay. Just as you would think that you know, it's foolish. You think that it's foolish for a fisherman to cast up on the bank and hope to catch a fish. Right? So too we ought to look at ourselves and say, you know if we're just wasting time with people. We may not be doing exactly what Jesus called us to do. We spend time with those who have questions from God's perspective. You've seen the culture from from the perspective of Christ is King and you're able to then talk with people whoever will listen and you're going to spend more time with those who want to hear more. How do you get from the cultural problem? You've identified to Jesus? How do you get from this idolatrous? Hope or idolatrous fear? To the gospel. Well, this is where Paul becomes another good example for us. Look at verse 22 So Paul standing in the midst of the areopagus said men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious for as I passed along and observe the objects of your worship. I found also an altar to an unknown God what they're for you worship as unknown this what all does is Cici's the culture from God's perspective. He talks to anybody who will listen then he falls it up by spending more time with those who need more time and he begins his presentation of the Gospel by launching from a cultural hope Or if you flip it around a cultural fear, what he does is he says you know what he hears when I see I see men of Athens that you are very religious. He's not condemning them there, by the way. He's commanding them. I see that you're very religious and he doesn't begin to say why they are very religious or anything like that. He simply makes the observation. I see you're very religious. I see all of these items. I see all of these things that you're entrusting your hope to and then when he sees this altar to an unknown God He's also seeing a fear represented. He's seeing this fear of. Oh man, if we don't appease all the gods. Right and something terrible is going to happen to us. If we don't have kind of all of our bases covered then who knows, who knows what terrible thing. Could take place. So there's this hope this identity of the people in their religiosity, right? They they take fried in this but there's also this fear that they might miss something Paul uses that as the launch pad for the gospel. He connects with a cultural hope or a cultural fear and then he begins to move towards Jesus. Here's what you are hoping you and here's what you fear. Let me tell you better. Let me show you something clear. How many of you guys have seen Indiana Jones the Last Crusade?
You know, it's Pop Quiz Sunday. Did you? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I think that's the one I even as I've read that and like me or is that the right one? I'm not an Indiana Jones. But since I've got the wrong movie don't throw anything at me. Is that the one where he's got like the the he's got to take the leap of faith, right? Like he's got to get across the the the the chasm there. Yeah, and he's he's looking across this uniform.
But then he just closes his eyes and takes a step. And what do we see? There's a bridge there after all it was just invisible. He couldn't see it because it Blended in so perfectly with the other side of the chasm, but it was there all along. This is us. This is us. We are that. Really kind of terrified Crusader needing to take a step of Faith to get from the problem the cultural issue the idolatry this misplaced hope or misplaced fear and take people to Jesus more like I don't know how to get there from here while the bridge if you will. Is to identify what it is that they are worshipping what it is that they are afraid of. and then point them to Jesus identify the Hope identify the fear and Say this is how Jesus solves that there's no Jesus fixes that right. This is this is what Paul does he says? Here's this unknown God and you're very religious people but you are worshiping in ignorance, but I Proclaim to use that to launch into his presentation the gospel and how does he present the gospel? Look at verse 24 The God Who made the world and everything in it being Lord of Heaven and Earth does not live in temples made by man, which is interesting when he just back out from the text for just a second because he's literally saying this in the shadow of the temple to Athena Thanks to she's saying this. preaching this with one of those temples right up on the hill beside him. Anything God doesn't live in temples made by man verse 25 continuing nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and he made from one man. Every nation of mankind live on the all the face of the Earth having determined a lot of periods in the boundaries of their dwelling-place, right? So he's he's presenting to them what He does not start the way I think a lot of us have been taught to start. He does not start by saying you're Center. He doesn't start by saying.
You need Jesus or as a shirt that I saw at Walmart in Cedar City of all places. Y'all need Jesus. Cracked me up that in southern Utah. That's the shirt were selling and I can but It's true. Y'all need Jesus. All right, okay, but he doesn't start from that. Something is wrong. I think that's bad and every instance but he start somewhere else. He doesn't start with the cross. He starts with creation. He starts with God as the source of all good things. Why were there all of those Idols? Why were there all of those temples? Why were there is this such a push to worship these gods? Because we needed to manipulate the gods into giving us what we want. We need to manipulate these deities into watching our back and defending us against calamity. And he cuts through that and he says you got all these temples. You got all these Idols. You got all this worship going on. What's your hope is misplaced your fear is misplaced these things don't provide you security these things can't save you because the only God the true God is the one who's the source of all good things. and he doesn't need you. To build him temples. He doesn't need you. to bow down to an idol She is entirely self-sufficient when Moses says who shall I say sent me. What does God say tell him that I am sent you. I am the eternally self-existent one. The one whose existence is not dependent but Independence every single one of us is a dependent creature. God is not dependent on us. He does not need us. He is the source of all things for us.
That is why we can put our ultimate hope in him. That's why we ought to have ultimate fear of no one but him Paul takes them to this reality God is the source of all good things. He's going to address the problem in just a second. There's nothing we don't get there. But he takes this cultural hope this cultural fear. He launches into it says God is the one you're looking for. How many you guys shop online? Cyber Monday tomorrow and all that stuff, right? You shop online and you see something you buy something writer you put something in your cart and you ever get these little pop-ups at the bottom like online retailers of really got R Us pigs. Like they know how to push our buttons. Hey, we saw that you just put this in your cart. Did you know other people who bought that also bought this? Oh, you like this? Well, let me tell you should check this out. Cuz I think you're going to like it too and this can work to our favor by the way, right? I love I love books and I love reading and one of the most helpful things to me is if you like this book consider checking out this book or or music, right? I like music. I can't play I can't sing but I like listening and and I love music services that say, oh you like this guy will hear check out this artist. You might like some of his stuff too. Right. I thought Paul's doing get this. That's All Paws doing he's like you guys like worship. Check this out. You guys like depending on deity for good? We'll check this out. What you Worship in ignorance now I Proclaim to you in truth. Would you put the cookies on the bottom shelf? Let me show you something better. Let me show you Jesus. This is the god that Paul presents to than the one who's the source of all good things all of their hopes God the answer for that all of the fears God the answer to that. God is the solution to the problem. So let's just back up. Briefly to get that overview Paul sees the city from God's perspective. He talks with anybody who'll listen he spends more time with those who want more time. He launches from a cultural hope Cultural fear and he introduces God as the source of all the good things. He introduces God as the solution to that problem or the Fulfillment of that hope but that's not the gospel. The gospel is not just God made everything and God is the source of all good things. The gospel also gets around to saying and you're cut off from him. And you have lost the plot and you have lost your connection with the one who is the source of all good things and so he describes then what keeps us from those good things look at verse 27. Write the God made. All of these things God is the source of all good things for mankind verse 27. Did they should seek God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him.
Will pause not making a negative case but he is kind of getting there in a roundabout way. What's the problem Gods the source of all good things and yet we can't find him. We've lost touch with him if God's not worshipped in temples made by man if he's not served by human hands and what in the world are we all doing here in Athens? What's the point of this Grand edifice? What's the point of this great statue? We're just groping in the dark. It's interesting this I was listening to Tony Merida who's a preacher and theologian. He was talking about this text and he said he said this is the same word is kind of broken after that's classic Greek literature use like when Odysseus remember he gets captured by the Cyclops you guys are you guys are students of the classics, right? You know, this this story right there trying to escape from the Cyclops and they put out his eye but they're having trouble getting out because he's groping he's flailing blindly about Looking for these minutes the same word that Paul uses here to say this is what we're doing. We're groping in the dark were flailing about trying to reconnect with the God. We know we need and yet we can't seem to find something has cut us off from the source of all good things and every time we try to pursue it, what we end up doing is just kind of flailing probably about in the dark. That's the problem the problem. Is that as a culture. We're in the muck. We're in the mess. We understand something's not right here.
So we need to know that God is the source of all good things. We also need to know what it is. That's cut us off from him. Which would you rather have a doctor that told you comforting lies? Where dr. Told you the truth in love? I don't want a doctor who looks at me and says, okay look.
Yeah, you're going to die.
Someday, but right now you're in perfect health.
As I'm laying there with the IV drip in and heart rate of 200. You're fine. You don't don't worry about it. You're good. No, I want a doctor's going to come in and say look. If you don't, you know, lay off the Reese's.
It's not going to end well for you giving your family history, you really ought to be exercising more and eating less.
Why do we prefer the comforting lie? You're fine. And want to reject the truth. Because nobody wants to look foolish. We know our society knows that something's broken. We know that something's wrong in the world right now. We know that there's something sick at the heart of our culture. But we want to pretend like that's okay. We can we can solve this we got this. Now Christ follower, we had the opportunity to speak in our culture and say you wonder why everything's broken. Here's why because you cut yourself off from the source of all good things you've rejected. The authority of Christ is King and substituted these individual little kingdoms. What David Foster Wallace in this is water said your skull size kingdoms. You know, you've made each person the independent Arbiter of what is right. And what is good and then you're surprised when you disagree with one another you've taken away any sort of standard for Morality. You take away any sort of standard for goodness and rightness, you told everybody they're just a cosmic accident that there's no meaning or purpose to life. What you think was going to happen? Nobody knows what they're doing. They're all just flailing around and it's got this whole world all messed up and broken.
We can tell the truth.
Guys, this is just pretty jacked up. We made a mess of things. We can tell the truth we can do so in love. If we don't stop there be so easy for the church to just kind of Bunker up when our society goes to hell in a handbasket The Hideaway in our little Christian cultural bubble. toot it to reinforce the echo chamber we live in
and just say y'all messed up.
And just say good luck with this mess that you've made to our culture but to do so would be telling the truth you guys messed up but it would be to miss the love that says here's the way back to God the source of all good things. Look what Paul does next.
The day should see God in the hope. They might feel that way toward him and find him. Yes. Yes. He is actually not far from each one of us for in him. We live and move and have our being is even some of your own poets have said for we are indeed his offspring being then God's Offspring. We ought not to think that the Divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and Imagination of man the times of ignorance God overlooked but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he is fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has a pointed end of this year has given Assurance to All by raising him from the dead. Paul sees the city from God's perspective. He talks to anybody he spends time with those who need more he launches from the cultural hope and he gives them God as the source of all good things identifies the problem you cut yourself off from him. You can't find him and then he says and here's how you find them again through his son Jesus Christ repent. He calls them to change by pointing them away from themselves and the mess that they've made away from their fruitless flailing around and towards Jesus any points very briefly to Jesus live Jesus death Jesus's resurrection and re turn It is not love for the church to say to the world. You guys made a mess of this thing. We've got our tickets. We got our get out of hell free cards. Sorry about you guys out there. Know the truth of the mess is also what caused the love out of us to say, here's the solution. Here's how God is going to reconnect with him. Winston away from themselves away from their frenetic religious activity away from their cultural idolatry. To the solution, which is Jesus Christ. Did you guys get that?
Jesus is the solution to every single one of the world's problems. Like I feel like if we really got that.
Things would look difference in the way we do Church in the way. We live our lives in the way we talk and the way we engage with our community the way we
Interact with our neighbors the way we sit down at the lunch table with our co-worker feel like everything would change if we understood this Jesus life death resurrection and return are literally the answer to all of the problems.
regard how people respond I want you to hear this when we see things from God's perspective when we go to them with the message of Hope when we confront their cultural Idols when we launched from a place of cultural. Hope or fear and show them the God is the source of all things that we cut ourselves off from him. But did he provides the solution through his son Jesus Christ? People are inevitably going to respond. list three ways briefly that I think will see people respond if we're faithful to do what we're supposed to will see the same result that Paul did look at first 32 now when they heard of the resurrection of the Dead some mocked. Sunmart look at 8 full. To go into our community and say Jesus is the answer to all of these problems. Some will maka's just settle in your mind right now that that's okay. It's okay. If somebody thinks you're an idiot for believing that a Jewish Carpenter was raised from the dead and is now King over the entire universe. It's okay. If somebody blocks you for that. Look at it from their perspective, right? We believe some pretty crazy stuff. We believe it with good reason. But it's crazy though. Some people may mock you and that's okay, but some will be willing to listen more but other said we will hear you again about this. We will hear you again about this. When we share the gospel as the solution to society's problems. There will be some people who mock but they're all the other sewer like, you know, this is entirely new. I've had people tell me this was the solution that was the solution. This was the solution. That was the solution. I've never heard anybody talk about this. Let's talk about this some more that's great. Summer want to hear more take those opportunities. But the final thing is it when we are faithful to confront cultural idols and share the gospel. Some will believe verse 34 but some men joined him and believed among whom also we're dionysios the areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
God is not asking us to be responsible for the response of the people we share with. He simply asking us to be faithful. To see the world from his perspective and to share his solution to what's wrong with it. People are responsible for their response if some mock you that's okay. If some say let's talk more talk more but some some will believe and that is a great Assurance if I could guarantee.
Did 1/3 of the time? Did you invest in the stock market? You would come out a millionaire. Would you invest in the stock market? one out of every three you might invest in this but yeah, I'd say so God is saying there's three possibilities here. So I'm reject you someone to talk more and some believe you have a 1/3 chance. Seeing someone enter the Kingdom of Heaven every time you share the gospel.
Will we share will we confront the idolatry of our culture? Present the solution of Jesus Christ. I think that's the question each of us needs to wrestle with. Let's pray.