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Bereans, Babblers and Believers (Acts 17)
This chapter of Acts draws me back frequently
as I find myself facing witnessing opportunities. It never seems as
easy as when you read about it in books. One author brought out a very
sane and helpful book entitled, How to Make Witnessing Slightly less
Difficult. How honest!
I am encouraged to be reminded that even Paul the apostle found the
world of witnessing turbulent, trying and just occasionally encouraging.
As he spoke in Athens he found himself amongst some pretty heavyweight
thinkers and philosophers who wasted no time in saying what they thought
of him:
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began
to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying
to say?" (v18)
What a contrast to his recent experience in Berea! There:
The Bereans were of more noble character…for they received the message
with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if
what Paul said was true (v11)
By the time he had expounded his message in Athens the response was
pretty mixed:
When they heard about the resurrection
of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear
you again on this subject."…A few men became followers of Paul and believed
(vv32-34)
None of this seemed to bother Paul beyond his obvious concern that people
should be saved. He was patient, understood his world and simply got
on with the job. He knew that faith is a huge subject and it can't be
covered in a few sentences or shared in a few moments. There are no
irresistible phrases or guaranteed methods, no unchallengable challenges
before which the unbeliever is simply bound to submit.
A friend of mine who was raised a nominal Catholic suggested that 'the
answer' was to get people from different faiths together and talk it
through until a consensus is, reached. Life doesn't work like that and
maybe it is just as well. When a consensus is sought you end with accommodation
and not the truth and truth is not accommodating it is absolute.
Of course when you have faith it can all seem so simple and straightforward
and when you share the truth you can convince yourself that, since it
is so simple, if they don't 'get it' it must be your fault. But we need
to remember that when you don't have faith the questions can seem endless
and the issues impenetrable. Even when people have faith there are questions
but somehow faith imbues us with patience and trust and this seems to
help us deal with the questions more equitably.
I am always happy to discuss issues of faith but one thing about my
own faith I am very excited about in this respect. I believe that somewhere
in the course of discussion and sharing something new and wonderful
can happen to the true seeker. They can come to know, with a perception
they had previously not thought possible, the truth that motivates faith.
They will see in a way that they might previously have thought incredible.
Talk informs and moves along inquiry but God the Holy Spirit "leads
into all truth." This experience does not bypass discussion and inquiry
but it somehow transcends them.
Gresham Maken observed:
Because argument is insufficient it does not follow that it is unnecessary.
What the Holy Spirit does in the new birth is not make a person a Christian
regardless of the evidence but, on the contrary, to clear away the mists
from his eyes and enable him to attend to the evidence
Faith, then, is not simply academic, but nor is it simply an indefinable
supernatural experience. There is a factual basis for what I believe
and there is a supernatural life that transcends the facts and draws
me to know in a way that mere fact can never know.
Take courage this week as you use this special season to witness to
the wonderful truth of the Incarnation.