Laying Down our Offenses

I was thinking about a quote from Jackie Pullinger recently. She was being interviewed for the Alpha course some number of years back, and she made a comment that I’ve long-since misremembered. The original quote is that “God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet.”

And this is a good quote. A thought-provoking quote. But at the risk of offending someone, I like my misremembered version of it even better: God wants us to have soft hearts and thick skin.

The problem is that our modern, American culture has run into the completely opposite direction, and it’s taken many of us in the Church right along with it. Unless we discipline ourselves to rebel against this deleterious trend daily, we’ll find ourselves developing a hard heart and remarkably thin skin.

I had a recent conversation in which the words “racism” and “bigotry” were mentioned, and I was astounded with how powerful these words have become in our modern culture. Even within the safe confines of a private conversation, these words practically had to be whispered so as not to offend any bystanders by the mere mention of such distasteful words.

Oh there are plenty of these words and phrases going around now. Regular words that we now treat as profane. Words that we’ve given far too much power, in my opinion. One can hardly say the word “gender” today without making someone offended. And forget about mentioning anything like a color. You might be looking at the selection inside of a box of crayolas, but don’t you dare say those colors out loud, because someone will get offended.

Contrast this with the Apostle Paul, in Acts 17. “Now while Paul was waiting for them (Silas and Timothy) at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.” (Acts 17:16)

Well here, at least, we finally have a decent reason to be offended. Paul was Jewish – a Pharisee, for crying out loud – but more than that, he was a Christian, a follower of Christ. 

Without recapping the whole of Scripture to explain why this is significant, suffice it to say that one of the most primary themes in all of the Scriptures, maybe even the dominant theme, is that of victory over, and freedom from, idolatry. There are many reasons for this, of course. Idolatry robs worship from God, robs joy from us, and robs clarity of purpose from all of creation. Add to that about a thousand more reasons, and you start to get the picture that idolatry is a bad thing. So then, for Paul to observe a city full of idols? Yeah, offensive is a good word for it.

So how does Paul respond?

If he were us, he might plaster it all over social media, blasting these wretched Athenians for their vial offenses. He might blab about it to his friends and family. He might “cancel” the Athenians, writing them off as just one more lost cause, unworthy of redemption or grace, or even a second thought.

I mean, why not, right? We do it for all sorts of things that are much less offensive than idolatry – much less offensive than the bondage that kills and steals and destroys God’s good creation. So if we do it, why not Paul?

But he didn’t.

No, he did something quite different, actually. Something I wonder if we might strive to emulate?

He went to the Areopagus – or Mars Hill if you prefer Roman mythology over Greek – the very place in Athens where the Epicureans and the Stoics and all of the other philosophers would gather and discuss things like religion, philosophy and pretty much any other “new” or interesting idea. 

Check this out:

“So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.’” (Acts 17:22,23)

Paul then goes on to explain that this “unknown god” is actually God – Jesus! This is the God, the Creator, the Father, and the Righteous Judge. 

But let’s pause for a moment and look back at Paul’s response. He didn’t cancel the Greeks. He didn’t run around like a madman, screaming about how much they were all offending him. Oh, there probably were some other people who had done that, but neither them nor any record of what they were offended about was recorded in the history books.

That’s probably because offense is cheap and annoying and everybody just wants to forget about it. But Paul’s path? Well, now that’s something invaluable and refreshing and makes everybody want to think about it some more. Although Paul’s audience was rocked by the idea of the resurrection, they actually invited him, Paul – a Christian – back to the Areopagus! 

My goodness, what a testimony for us to replicate!

So what did Paul do that was so revolutionary, and how can we apply his strategy in our own day and culture? Feel free to study it for yourself. There’s a lot to chew on, so I’ll just highlight three things for now:

1. Paul complimented the Athenians (see verse 22). Consider doing the same thing with the people who offend you. Perhaps you’re familiar with the old saying that “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” There’s not much that I would add to this, except to make the simple observation that far too many of us have been working with far too much vinegar for far too long, and we’d all benefit by swapping that vinegar out with some honey.
2. Rather than blast all of the heathens for their offensive idolatry, Paul spun it in a way that not only acknowledged their positive attributes (such as being so diligent in their worship that they even sought to worship that which they didn’t know), but which also gave him an opening to share the Gospel message of hope, peace, joy and grace. Repentance IS the good news – we don’t have to live in bondage to sin and idolatry any longer. There’s a better way, and that Way is the way of life abundant!
3. Paul quoted their own poets (see verse 28). In other words, Paul went (proverbially) 90% of the way, meeting them where they were, rather than insisting that they come and meet him where he was. This could probably be applied in a physical sense as well – most folks in the Church like to wait around for people to stumble through the front doors by accident, rather than going out and inviting them in. But this has more to do with the mental/psychological/relational aspect. Paul related to the Athenians in a way that they could understand and appreciate, and this made his testimony so palatable that they actually invited him back.

I know it’s not fun to take the high road, but hey, that’s life. That’s what it means to grow-up and mature. Any toddler can (and often does) throw a tantrum, but Church – people of God, let’s take the high road. Let’s lay down our offenses for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Because when you think about it, that’s really what matters the most anyway.