Acts 17: Beyond Religion

Athens was a highly religious community. Paul recognized this in his time there reported in Acts 17 which reads:

²² Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People 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. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

Paul used this religious worldview to build a bridge to the message of Jesus. In the end, he found three results. Some were cold, others were curious, and a few were convinced. Those convinced believed the gospel and became disciples of Jesus. These individuals moved beyond religion to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Still today, we live in a world with many religious ideas, but many who do not know the true God. Our goal should be as Paul–to acknowledge the spirituality around us and to use it to point toward the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, other religions are a starting point for the conversation we wish to bring to the those who have yet to embrace the good news of Jesus.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com