How do we move toward being both culturally relevant and biblically uncompromising?
One place in the Bible that can help us with this is Acts 17. One approach that I think is helpful is to consider how Paul could have confronted the culture if he choose to and then look at what he did instead. Where did he choose to find common ground so that he could engage with people on the central issues?
Acts 17:22-23 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
It is interesting to think about what Paul could have said but didn’t. He could have said, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are bunch of pagans! I walked around and looked carefully at your evil and abominable idols. I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Well let me tell you that you’re all children of Satan! You worship the devil and demons and you are all condemned to hell. But I’ve come here to preach the truth to you.”
Acts 17:24-27 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
What Paul could have said but didn’t is this: “The God who made the world and everything in it is … is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. He is a God of wrath and therefore you better repent before he damns you to hell for your idolatrous worship and your perverted behavior.”
Acts 17:28-31 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
What Paul could have said but didn’t: “Your poets and thinkers are all blind and deceived. They have little to offer you but lies and falsehoods. Only in the Bible will you find the truth.”
Acts 17:29-31 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone — an image made by man’s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Notice Paul actually says: “We are God’s offspring” that’s a tremendously gracious statement but Paul goes on to say that God is now commanding “all people everywhere to repent” so there is a balance. There is no compromise but there is a lot of careful engaging of people and culture. There are a lot of things that are true that Paul choose not to stress in this setting. What should we learn from this? How can we, without compromise, engage our culture?
Larry is the senior pastor at 
Right on! The application of your reflections on “what Paul could have said but didn’t” and what Paul actualy said would restore the “good” in the Good News.
This reminds me of something Tim Keller wrote “We have neither a religious nor a secular society but instead a culture divided. This wasn’t supposed to happen, and it has created a crisis. Because both doubt and belief are on the rise, our political and public discourse on matters of faith, truth and morality has become deadlocked, shrill, and deeply polarized. The culture wars are taking a great toll. Emotions and rhetoric are intense, to the point of hysteria. Those who believe in God and Christianity are out to ‘impose their beliefs on the rest of us.’ Those who don’t believe are ‘enemies of truth and purveyors of relativism and permissiveness.’ We don’t know how to reason with or persuade those with whom we disagree. We can only denounce.”
I pray we can move beyond this.
Great quote. I hesitated with this post. I didn’t want to be misunderstood. At Christ Community Church we don’t think we should mute the harder truths of Scripture or conceal everything that might be taken as offensive in Daytona Beach. We should not. But we should be just as wise and careful as we are clear. And we should be gracious.
Peter talks about both gentleness and respect. Paul gives us a glimpse as to what that might look like. The Keller quote points out the very valid concern that if “We don’t know how to reason with or persuade those with whom we disagree. We can only denounce.”
Thanks for the perspective, Larry. It was instructive to consider what Paul did not say! Having been exposed at length to both sides of the spectrum (legalistic judgmentalism on one hand and licentious tolerance on the other) it seems that the only hope for balance is a solid, personal understanding the gospel.
I was struck by the 1 Peter passage you just quoted. If there was ever anyone who could have been brash and insensitive in his approach, it was Peter! Yet he was so gripped by Christ and his gospel that he was now a man defined by hope and concerned about engaging the lost with an honest sensitivity. And Paul… could he ever preach a hell, fire and brimstone sermon! But instead, his heart breaks with compassion and has confidence in the redemptive plan of a sovereign God who hates sin, yet poured out his wrath upon his own Son that he might ransom rebels for his won glory!
I’m so thankful for the increasing dialog in reformed circles concerning winsome, discerning cultural engagement. Like you just wrote, “we should be just as wise as we are clear.” And what I’m discovering is that such thought and methods arise out of a heart that is being renewed and transformed by present gospel awareness. It may seem like a given, or even like splitting hairs, but I see a gospel driven heart as the foundational component for developing and maintaining this delicate balance. When our focus drifts off of Christ our ability to engage people begins to skew left or right of center.
The gospel-gripped life is a strange brew of humility, love, & compassion mixed with hatred of sin & passion for God’s glory. The Lord willing, the honey and hops will balance like a good ale, resulting in culturally relevant, biblically uncompromising communication.
Just some insomniac 3:30am gospel ramblings! Lord bless.
I love the honey and hops analogy! I’m a little concerned about the 3:30 am issue but 3:00 am or not your comment is far from rambling. The gospel, believed deeply, really is the only thing that gives us at the same time courage and compassion, humility and boldness. Grace and Peace.
Awesome!!!