“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
Acts 17:16–17
When I ride down an elevator I’m struck by how many people spend the entire ride glued to their cell phones; checking email, plugged into iTunes, or responding to text messages. It doesn’t make for good conversation or neighborliness or a chance to exchange simple pleasantries.
As efficient as those of us are who use our cell phones for almost everything, I’m willing to bet we don’t exercise terrific skills of observation about our environment when we’re focused on our phone.
It’s a good thing Paul didn’t have a cell phone that day in Athens, while he was waiting for his friends. He had the chance to observe his surroundings, to notice the abundance of idols. The preponderance of them everywhere told him these people had a desire to put their belief in and pledge their loyalty to something beyond themselves. His observation allowed him to take advantage of the opportunity to let them know about the God he believed in.
Paul made a careful and intelligent case for the God we know in Jesus Christ. This is not a god, he said, who lives in temples fashioned by human hands, far removed from the lives of human beings. Paul’s God is engaged in human life and, in fact, is so related to us, Paul claims that “we are his offspring.”
We may not be able to make a speech like Paul’s during our elevator rides, but we all have opportunities to take note of the people around us and to be engaged. Our relational engagement would be one way to model what we believe about God and model what Paul proclaims about God: that the God we know in Jesus Christ is a God engaged with our human lives, willing to enter into our lives, even when we are strangers.
Thought of the Day: Ask God today to disrupt your preoccupation with that which is unimportant. Ask Him to open you to take note of your surroundings and take advantage of opportunities to show others who He is.
SPEAK TO SOMEONE NEW TODAY
Dr. Joe Pettigrew
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