Sacred Cynicism

Around the time of 50 A.D. Athens, Greece was a special place. It was no longer the seat of power, since Rome had long surpassed Greece as the dominant world power. It was however, still a place where the leading minds and philosophers of the day gathered to learn, discuss, and debate. You could almost call it a large, college town. In Athens all of the philosophies of the world were held in esteem, and honored. All of the gods worshiped by various peoples were also held in high esteem. None were more valued than any other, and were esteemed equally. It was a world very similar to our own.

One day around this time, a new person arrived on the scene in Athens. He was not familiar to the leaders and philosophers of Athens. He was a short man, balding, and seemed to not see very well at all. His name was Paul of Tarsus. In the city of Athens there were monuments and altars dedicated to the various gods that people worshiped. Not wanting to forget any potential gods, some had erected an altar to the Unknown God. This newcomer named Paul now stood in their midst and told them about this Unknown God. Yet Paul did even more than this – he did not just say that this Unknown God should be worshiped along with the other, named gods; rather, Paul stated that this Unknown God should be worshiped instead of these other gods. This was quite a bold claim.

Maybe it is time to make a similar statement. We live in a world that seems to hold every philosophy in equal esteem. In our public discourse it does not matter what belief or philosophy we hold, as long as it “works” for us. Christianity is no different than Hinduism, no better than being a Wiccan, and no more more exclusive than being a pantheist. So what are we to think? Should we let our thinking follow our times? Should we look at our faith as something that simply works for us, or is it something worth more than that?

For some reason Paul seemed to think that this Unknown God was more worthy to be worshiped than any of the idols around them. Acts 17:16-31 was his impassioned attempt to convince the philosophers in Athens of this claim. So let us ask these same questions – is Jesus Christ any different from the other gods we know? Why is Christianity different than the other religions around us? Should we worship this Christ, or is there no difference between Christ and the other beliefs around us?

Over the next few weeks we will try to answer this question from the perspective of our time and place. Is there something inherently right or better about worshiping Christ? Why is our time and energy better spent in this pursuit, rather than another? Let me make this admission before I start. I believe Christianity is worthy, and that Jesus Christ is different. Hopefully, over the next few weeks we can demonstrate this. Christianity is worth it, and we are not wasting our time.