The Scandal of the Unknown God

Read: Acts 17:16-34

The Biblical narrative now takes us to the Harvard Law School of ancient times: the Areopagus of Athens. Actually, the Areopagus was not an actual school, but a hill where a bunch of philosophers would debate and investigate corruption within the political system... much like a law school would today. Only the biggest and the brightest gather at the Areopagus. When rumors circulated about this weird Middle-eastern guy preaching about some Jesus dude in the marketplace, the philosophers wanted to hear about this philosophy, partly because it could been interesting and partly also to make sure it’s not something along the lines of overthrowing the government. So they invite Paul to present his case to the greatest minds of the day.

As Paul argues, note that he’s not trying to present a sustained incontrovertible proof of the existence of God. The Athenians, he noted, were very religious people, and also very comprehensive. So concerned were they, apparently, that they might’ve forgotten to worship a god that they’ve set up a shrine to “an unknown god”! Unlike many secularists today, the Athenians were already convinced that there is a deity out there. Paul’s concern is that of the deities they worship, none of them were God... maybe except “the unknown god”.

So Paul proceeds to make this unknown God known. Paul contrasts the Greek gods with the one true God. The Greek gods that we read in AP Literature did not create the world. No, they were born by Uranus and Mother Earth. The gods, let by Zeus/Jupiter, were powerful, yes, but they have their weaknesses. Some of the male gods, for possibly obvious reasons, were easily motivated by lust for other female gods or humans, arousing the jealously of the female gods, some of whom were their wives. Others were motivated by lust for power, making Mount Olympus into some ancient Ultimate Fighting Championship ring. Oh, and let’s not forget that if the Greeks did not give the gods offerings, 1,000 years of bad joo-joo shall befall upon them (to quote one of my favorite Pixar characters) because the gods would go hungry or somehow diminished without the offerings.

Paul then talks about the one true God created the world by Himself, no help needed. Not only that, but He has no need for anything we can ever give to Him! Instead, He freely gives! Economists talk about the fact that there is no such thing as “free lunch”. But this is what Paul is talking about! God, in all His abundance, is giving us not just free lunch, but free lunch from Red Robin’s, free dinner from L2O (amazing food...), and free buffet from the Ritz-Carlton Singapore (it’s really good...)! Not only that, He freely gives us life and breath. All this to show that our gracious loving God is the Lord of the universe! What’s more, all God wants is for us to draw near to Him! This is so unlike the Greek gods who live distantly on some faraway mountain above the clouds, engineering the world to fit their own desires and pleasures! Plus, who wants to worship the gods when their statues were all made in China? (j/k... well, not really).

As we see later in verse 32-34, the reactions were mixed. The response today would’ve not been any better. In those days, at least the people on the Areopagus listened. Today, so many people don’t have time to listen! Instead of worshipping idols made of gold and silver, people are now worshipping idols with dollar signs attached to them (money). The gods Zeus, Apollos, Athena, and others are now replaced by the gods Prada, Louis Vuitton, Porsche, Bentley, that sweet job at JPMorgan Chase, that high degree from Famous University. Where the gods of the past gave you bad joo-joo for not worshipping them, the gods today make you the object of others’ envy... if you can afford them in the first place!

But Paul’s message remains true today - how can we worship worldly things when everything we have is the Lord’s? Missiologists (people who study missions) and evangelists have said it time and time again that the hardest missions fields are not the restricted countries (e.g. China, Vietnam) but the wealthiest countries (e.g. Taiwan, Japan, etc.) One of my friends, a missionary in Japan, told me once that a church of 5 families is considered a big church there! That’s about 20-25 people at most! The average church in Taiwan is about 100 people or so.

The scandal of the unknown God is that to properly worship Him all the things of this world must take second place... at best. How can Christians properly worship God when a lady comes into church proudly displaying her Louis Vuitton purse? How can Christians focus on our loving God when a loud Porsche roars into the parking lot? Brothers and sisters, let us take our eyes away from the things of this world and (Col 3:1-2) “set our eyes on things above.” For our true satisfaction and joy comes from God alone.

PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray that your friends will lift up their struggles to God. That they know that He loves them.