Acts 17
One of the fears that many people have
when they share the Gospel with others is offending and upsetting them. Lee Strobel, the famous atheist turned
Christian apologist, tells a story from shortly after his conversion that
demonstrates this.
One day at work (he was a reporter for a
Chicago newspaper) Strobel felt that he was being led to share the Gospel with
his boss. His boss was a crusty cynical
guy, and Strobel was rather intimidated by the prospect of talking about Jesus
with him. He went in, shared the message
with him, and his boss promptly kicked him out.
How utterly discouraging that must have
been! Can you imagine thinking, “Why
God? Why would You put me through that?”
I wonder if St. Paul ever felt that
way. In Thessalonica he had to hide for
his life and sneak away by night. In
Berea things were going well, until some folks from Thessalonica came down and
started causing trouble. In Athens he
got a hearing at the Areopagus (a.k.a. “Mars Hill”) but many of the Epicurean
and Stoic philosophers there rejected him as a babbler, especially when he spoke
of God’s judgment, salvation, and the resurrection.
We do not always feel comfortable
telling people about our salvation. It
can seem awkward talking about sin, judgment, Jesus’ cross and empty tomb, and
these things we know to be true by faith.
We don’t always get to see the end results either, which seems futile.
In Strobel’s case, he got kicked out of
the office but found out years later that another man had been working behind
the desk, whom he could not see. He
heard and believed. In Paul’s case, the
church in Thessalonica grew, and he wrote two letters to them that are part of
our Bible (1 & 2 Thessalonians). The
Bereans believed and Silas and Timothy helped to establish the Church
there. In Athens, Dionysius and Damaris
believed, and they were but the first of many.
Don’t lose heart. God works through even the most difficult
situations to grow His Kingdom and rescue people from sin.
Lord Jesus, help me talk about what I believe
about You in a way that helps people know You so they can believe in You
too. Amen.
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