Proclaim Christ Wherever You Are

"Why People Don't God to Church"

Proclaim Christ wherever you are from Acts 17.

¹⁶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. ¹⁷ Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Explain

v.16 – the Bible says that Paul’s spirit was provoked within him. He wasn’t so much upset or angry as that he literally became jealous for God. Perhaps in the same way a husband would be if another man were hitting on his wife.

You see this world was given over to worshiping idols, none of which deserved the rightful worship God deserves.

Instead of being frustrated and throwing up his hands in despair, Paul engages the people right where he is.

v.17 says “he reasoned in the synagogue.” That is he went into the places of worship, the churches so to speak, to again present the gospel to the Jews and Gentile worshipers as was often his custom.

Then he went into the market place where the people gathered in crowds to buy and sell. Everyone must do that, and Paul wanted to be where the most people would could hear him.

Then some philosophers heard him and invited him to the Aeropagus, the place where people exchanged ideas and continually sought knowledge. 

It was so very similar to our own culture for the Bible says they “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”

But the point is, wherever Paul went, whether in the place of worship, the marketplace, or the academy/government, he shared Christ.

I was reminded of the time when I was in the barracks at Camp LeJeuene in 1985 and these guys invited me to a Bible study, and I actually went. I think there must have been a pretty girl involved.

I will never forget that. We went into a barracks room and these Marines sat around and worshiped God, talking about Jesus. They shared the gospel where they were with me, a person who at that time was a lost as a goose in a snow storm.

Now, 99.9% of the Marines I knew could have cared less about the things of God, but these guys cared and still worshiped the Lord and sharing the gospel.

If some hardcore Marines can talk about Jesus to a stranger in the middle of a Marine barracks, the we also ought to be able to talk about Jesus in our homes, or churches, or businesses, or wherever.

Homes? Yes! Who will tell your children of Jesus if not you?

Churches? Yes, churches. Have you ever thought about how little people who come to church actually talk about Jesus. They may do a lot of listening, but not very much engaging.

What about other places of worship? Synagogues, Mosques, JW Temples, Masonic Lodges? Yes.The Lord has brought the world’s religions to our doorstep. I am not afraid to engage any religion with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our faith can stand on its own.Our faith is reasonable. What's unreasonable is to go on in a life of sin and believe there are no eternal consequences.

Should we take Christ into the market place?

Absolutely. I have stood on a shop floor and prayed with a lady who just found out her mother died. I have shared Christ with my supervisor after working for him for nearly 4 years to build a relationship of trust. When I left that company I gave him a Bible. He had not accepted Christ but he accepted that Bible as a gift. Perhaps one day he will need it and read it. I hope so.

Should we engage the academy, the philosophers and thinkers of our day? YES!

I remember the guy who stood on the side walk at NC State when I was a student there and preached the gospel as people walked by. Some stopped to listen and he talked to them. At the time I thought he was a nut and a kook. I swore I would never do anything like that!

Fifteen years later I ate those words, for I did the same thing on the campus of UNLV as a seminary student and you would be amazed at the people who will stop and talk to you about the Lord. Not all agree, but they're hungry to know.

So what?

The devil only wants one thing from us because there is only one way he can win this battle, and that is if we simply shut up and be silent.

That is his new tactic, which is to silence the Christians.

We’ve been embarrassed and ridiculed and accused and basically told to sit down and shut up.

No one can argue against the truth and reality of the love of God in Jesus, so those who want it to go away simply deny and ignore.

But dear Christian, don’t sit around waiting. Get involved. Don’t be told by Satan to sit down and shut up when God wants you to stand up and speak.

You don’t sit down and shut up on politics, or economics, or who the best basketball team will be in the Final Four.

Why would you allow people to intimidate you into not speaking up for Jesus Christ?

Join the apostle Paul and let your spirit be provoked .

Be jealous for God and His glory.

When we see so much that is wrong in our culture, in our schools, in our government, in our businesses, in our communities, and in our homes, why would we not be jealous for Christ to be known in all these places.

Stop accepting everything as “Oh well.” Is not God worthy of all our worship?

Certainly He is. Let's take Jesus with us wherever we go, or rather I should say, let's go with Jesus wherever He goes.