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Discussion Guide Scotts Hill Baptist Church THE MOVEMENT: A STUDY OF ACTS • ATTITUDES TO AVOID THAT UNDERMINE OUR WITNESS • ACTS 17:16-34 • MAIN POINT Finding common ground with people who do not know Christ opens the door to authentically and relationally share the gospel. INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. If someone asked you to explain what common ground is, what would you tell them? How might seeking common ground with someone open the door for ministry or spiritual conversations? Most of us have found common ground with someone and experienced how it brings down walls. Common ground is found in mundane places: people who grew up in the same area or who went to the same high school we did, people who live in our neighborhoods, people who like the same food we do, or people who root for the same sports teams. We may know nothing else about a person, but if we have common ground in just one area, we are more open and friendly with them. Common ground counts for a lot. Paul knew this. Part of his strategy for spreading the message of Christianity around the Mediterranean was to seek common ground with anyone who would listen. Paul and his team needed to find a receptive audience as often as possible. For example, they consistently visited Jewish synagogues first when they came to a new city, because they shared a cultural and religious heritage. They sought common ground in many other ways, but we’re going to focus on one key example: Paul’s speech in the city of Athens. UNDERSTANDING Page 1 of 4 Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about a particular topic. ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ ACTS 17:16-21. What stood out to you about Paul’s actions when he arrived in Athens? How can indifference in the church affect the culture's view of God? In what ways does ancient Athens sound like the 21st-century world? On Paul’s second missionary journey through the Roman world (ca. 49–52 AD), he spent time in Athens, Greece where he found himself debating with some Greek thinkers. He was then invited to address an important group in Athens: the Areopagus. This was an ancient Athenian council that oversaw various religious and civic matters. Areopagus is a Greek word that translates “Hill of Ares,” or more popularly, “Mars Hill.” The council got its name from the small hill that sits nearby the larger Acropolis. This was their traditional meeting place. ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ ACTS 17:22-23. What seemed to be Paul’s strategy in his speech? What can we learn from the way Paul began the conversation? Paul started by commenting on the religious environment in Athens. He doesn’t do it in a condemning way, but just as an observant outsider. Paul saw something unusual that he could use as a starting point – an altar to an unknown god. The other altars in Athens would have had the names of the gods and goddesses on them, but just to be sure that they weren’t forgetting one of the gods, the Athenians created this generic altar to an unknown god. Paul’s strategy was essentially to say, “That unknown god you worship? I know who He is.” ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ ACTS 17:24-34. What stood out to you about what Paul chose to say? What do you feel is the most common misunderstanding about God in our culture today? Paul commented on their city’s religious climate. He leveraged their altar to an unknown god as a launching point. He quoted their own poets to back up his claims. Paul wanted to find whatever foothold he could to open up a dialogue with the Athenians. Paul likely did not view this speech Page 2 of 4 as all he wanted to say, but his best opening statement in what he hoped would become an ongoing discussion. How would you describe Paul’s tone in this encounter (confrontational, respectful, bold, deferential)? What can we learn from this strategy of seeking common ground that was so characteristic of Paul’s team? Seeking common ground is a powerful tool in the hands of a Christian willing to wield it. It overcomes countless barriers to the gospel. When someone experiences common ground with you, they are more willing to hear what you have to say. They are more willing to consider your perspective. Simply put, they are more likely to like you. Common ground gives you a level of influence that you would not otherwise have, because most people are unwilling to be led by someone they don’t know or don’t like. We should view ourselves as the seekers and wielders of common ground with any people or communities that our ministries touch. APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. How could you talk about Christ with nonbelievers in a way that is similar to how Paul spoke to the Athenians? What cultural barriers exist in your community that you could work to overcome? Of the 4 Attitudes, which do you find yourself struggling with most often? What areas do you need to grow in to more effectively minister the gospel in our community? PRAYER Ask the Lord to help you find common ground with other people, that you might see them the way He sees them. COMMENTARY ACTS 17:16-34 17:16–21 By Paul’s day, Athens had lost its political and economic power. It was still the intellectual and cultural center for all of Greece. The remnants of its former grandeur were Page 3 of 4 everywhere, particularly its many statues. Paul was offended by the idols of the Greek gods which were to be seen on all sides. They would soon become the subject matter for his sermon. He witnessed to the Jews on the Sabbath in the synagogue, but every day he engaged the Greek philosophers in the marketplace, particularly the Epicureans and the Stoics, the two leading Athenian schools of thought. Paul’s message was strange to them. They thought he was proclaiming new gods—Jesus and the “goddess Resurrection.” They called him a “babbler” (literally, a “seed-picker,” someone pecking after any new idea). In reality, Luke said, they were the seed-pickers, always looking for the latest. They led Paul to the Areopagus. This could either refer to the venerable Athenian court of that name or to the hill at the foot of the Acropolis where the court had formerly met. The hill had become the Athenian equivalent of Hyde Park. It probably is there that they led Paul. 17:22–31 Paul’s speech on the Areopagus is a masterpiece of missionary preaching. Paul sought to establish as much rapport with the Greek philosophers as possible without compromising the gospel. He began with an attention getter, pointing to an idol he had seen in the marketplace as “the unknown god.” The Greeks had perhaps erected it in case they might have left a god out whom they would not want to offend. In any event, the God they did not know was the only real God, and Paul now proceeded to present Him. He pictured Him as the God who made all things, the providential God who sets all boundaries of time and space. The philosophers could easily follow this, particularly the Stoics. They would especially agree that “we are his offspring,” where Paul actually quoted a Stoic poet. But in verse 29 Paul began to attack the Greek culture more directly. If we are born in God’s image, he said, then we are wrong when we make idols. Idolatry gets things backward; it makes God into man’s image. God will no longer tolerate such ignorance, Paul continued. He is coming to judge us for our ignorance and idolatry, to judge us by a person whom He raised from the dead (vv. 31–32). Paul lost most of his Athenian intellectuals right there. The idea of a man rising from the dead was sheer folly to their thinking. 17:32–34 There were three responses to Paul’s address. Many mocked him. Others wanted to hear him further. A few believed: the sermon was not a failure. Paul knew that one could go only so far in accommodating the gospel. One cannot avoid the very center of the gospel, the folly of the cross. Page 4 of 4.
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