Truth in the market
During his journeys in about 50 AD, after spending time in present day Turkey and Macedonia, Paul visited Athens. He had been traveling from city to city, country to country, hearing different beliefs and experiencing different cultures. But, Athens was different, and Paul was “greatly distressed.”
As he walked the streets, he noticed that the people were very religious, worshipping many different gods (little g). Historians have estimated that there were over 30,000 gods. The city was full of different beliefs, philosophies, and idols.
The center of activity in Athens was the marketplace, bustling with people congregating to do business, discuss different beliefs, and socialize. Rather than avoid people, threatened by the different culture, Paul purposely, intentionally, jumped in the busy crowds each day. The Bible says that Paul reasoned in the marketplace, “day after day,” to anyone that was there. The following provides a picture of the scene.
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Acts 17:18-21
Notice that the people listening to Paul aren’t offended. It appears that both sides have a great discussion about faith, and Paul is then invited to the central place of philosophy, the Areopagus, where the freshest ideas in Athens were shared. The people at the marketplace were generally curious and wanted to understand what he was saying.
How did Paul have these conversations, seemingly very naturally, in the marketplace, approaching the people with love? He gives us an answer in his first letter to the church of Corinth. Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul gives a great picture of what love looks like.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
The love Paul writes about is not the emotional feeling that we think of with the word “love.” The love Paul writes about is loved based on truth. According to Christ, the word of God is truth (John 17:17). This love is not loud, irritable. But, on the other hand, quiet faith lacks love. This love is not arrogant, but kind. This love is not selfishly motivated, and freely offers grace. It isn’t irritable or resentful. And, most importantly, the foundation of this love is the truth of God’s Word.
So, in Athens, rather than approaching the people abrasively, he operated through a lens of pure, unfiltered love of mankind. He wasn’t irritable, but simply lived and shared the truth of God’s word. Rather than remaining quiet, hiding what he believed, he lived what he believed. He presented the truth that had changed his life.
Paul’s love was driven by the grace that he had received. Formerly a violent leader against people that followed Jesus, he was radically changed by Christ. He knew grace, and his love for others was full of this grace. He wanted people to know the truth, what happened in his life.
Just like in Paul’s day, the marketplace today is a place of new ideas and thoughts within culture. The market needs the same love that Paul brought to the street in Athens 2,000 years ago. The market does not need a critical, judging eye, abrasive in construct and delivery. The market also doesn’t need a silent voice, afraid to share truth and live faith. What kind of love of mankind exists if truth is not shared?
The market today needs grace-filled truth marked with love. After all, the grace that has been received must be the grace that is given.
Impact others. Love generously.
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