A Biblical Example of Evangelism: Paul

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

How many times have you heard this verse along with some “new” type of evangelism? Ones like “coffee” evangelism. There’s always some new fad out with how to reach the unsaved for Christ. With so many new methods coming out everyday, may I just suggest a simple one? How about the Biblical approach?

I’m not saying that these fads are wrong; I just don’t understand why the traditional evangelism is not sufficient. I think we focus on these new methods too much. I’m a Baptist, which essentially means that I go by Biblical examples; and the most predominant example of Biblical evangelism other than Christ is the apostle Paul. So let’s take a look at what Paul’s evangelism looked like, and then apply that to today.

One of the best passages when trying to understand Paul’s methods of evangelism is Acts 17:16-32. Here we find Paul in the city of the philosophers, intellectuals, and critics – the city of Athens. This is where Paul gives possibly his most well known sermon of all time; he gives the sermon of “The Unknown God.”

But before we look at the means of the message, let’s look at the motive. We can find the reasoning for why Paul evangelizes in verse 16. It says that when Paul saw their idol worship that his spirit was provoked or stirred with him. This word provoke comes from the Greek word παροξύνω which means to sharpen alongside with or to exasperate. John Gill put it this way in his commentary, “not only his soul was troubled and his heart was grieved, but he was exasperated and provoked to the last degree: he was in a paroxysm; his heart was hot within him; he had a burning fire in his bones, and was weary with forbearing, and could not stay; his zeal wanted vent, and he gave it: “

Paul was so concerned about the state of their “lostness” that he was essentially heartbroken over it. He was so concerned he was moved to action, he could not be silenced. Could this be said of us today? Are we so concerned about people’s relationship with God that we can do no other than to tell them the Truth? Is that our motive for evangelism today? Or are we just making sure we are fulfilling commands, are we just making our quota?

I think if we honestly had this innate desire to reach souls for Christ there would be revival first in our own lives, our relationships, our churches, our communities, our nation. If our heart was really exasperated about the souls of others around us, we would be able to say with Paul in Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. What a statement we find here, such a love for others. WOW!!! If we have this desire and this love we will most assuredly be able to apply the rest of this passage.

So how did he respond to this innate desire? Vs. 17 says that “Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews.” I.e. So he reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue. Because of his desire to win the lost for Christ, he went into the synagogue and in the marketplace declaring the Gospel of Christ to anyone who happened to be there.

If you know anything about Athens, it is that the fathers of modern philosophy were largely based from this city. The Athenians loved anything new. They wanted the latest philosophy so that they could determine if it was valid or not. It says in vs. 18 that the Epicureans and Stoics conversed with Paul. They called him a “babbler” this term comes from the Greek word σπερμολόγος which means that a picker-up of seeds. This term basically means a gatherer of scraps, and in this case referring to knowledge. Some might say that this is a “bad” name but I think Paul would be happy to be called a gatherer of knowledge. The verse goes on to say that they thought he was a preacher of foreign gods because he preached Christ’s resurrection. This was nonsense to them, because despite their love or thinking and philosophy, they had no concept of this.

After this they led him to where all the real philosophers were located. This is where Paul gives his most well-known and most preached on sermon of all time. They led Paul to Areopagus. There they ask him a simple question, “Can we know what this new form of doctrine that you preach is?” Isn’t this the usual case? When confronted with the Truth people will ask questions, they will not understand completely at first. Which is good for us, because we get another chance to retell the Gospel.

After they ask this question Luke gives an authoritative comment. He says in verse 21“Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” This shows human nature, despite all the philosophy and thoughts of grandeur that they already possessed they craved more. They continually wanted “a newer thing.” Could this possibly be the “God-shaped hole?” I would say yes.

After Luke’s brief comment, Paul begins his speech or sermon. He begins with a compliment; saying that he perceived them to be “very religious” this would be very honoring for an Athenian. This shows how one truly can have a loving debate and discussion about the Gospel. Earlier in the text Paul preached they complimented him and then asked questions, then Paul compliments them and truly answers this question. This is a great example of how evangelism can work.

Alright let’s pause for a moment to consider some historical background for Athens. In that day there were thousands of idols in Athens, possibly 35,000 statues within the city. They had so many gods, but just in case they missed one they had an alter to the “Unknown God.” In the days of Paul, it was illegal in Athens to introduce a new God. They desired new philosophies but not a new god, they had enough of those.

Paul knew this. He understood where he was, the culture, laws, and customs of Athens. He took the time to understand and to learn their culture. He knew it was illegal for him to introduce a new god to the Athenians, but he knew he could introduce them to a God they had no understanding of – The Unknown God. He also tells them that they worshipped him in vain, but he was now introducing Him to them. This is an excellent transition; he takes something they understand and turns it into something they need to know. And talk about an attention step! They must have been so eager and excited to understand something that until this point, no Athenian had ever known.

Paul starts his sermon or discussion with the beginning. Telling the Athenians that this Unknown God was the God who created everything, also saying that he is self-existent and sovereign and needs nothing from men. Also telling them in vs. 26 how God rules over civilization saying, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” This flies in direct contrast to what these Athenians believed. Essentially the Stoics believed in fate, and the Epicureans in chance. A fully Sovereign God would totally demolish those philosophies.

Paul then talks about how the Athenians have tried so hard to reach out and find God, but he was never that far from them. Trying to reach out to God through religion and philosophy is impossible; this is what Paul is telling the Athenians. This would most likely confuse them, so once again Paul refers to something that they do understand. He refers to some of their own poets’ writings in vs. 28. This would bring back the attention of the Athenians.

Paul then says in vs. 29, “ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” Paul is telling them, hey this isn’t some made up statue this is a Supreme Being who is personal. This would be very hard for them to understand. A God who wanted a relationship with mere men?? And then Paul tells them how this God demanded repentance, and how He will judge the world by the Man whom he appointed. And that this was made known through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When they heard about the resurrection, the Bible tells us that some mocked and some said that they wanted to hear of this again (after some time of pondering I assume). After this Paul leaves. Not in an angry way, not in a self-righteous “I’m right you’re wrong” type of way, but he just goes out from their midst. And some went with him, some got saved! One of them was a judge of Areopagus, Dionysius. What a conversion, from a judge of a pagan council of prominent philosophers to a man saved by God’s grace!

This text, I believe can show us how evangelism can and should be worked. Notice how Paul compliments the Athenians. He answers questions with humility. He makes the great comparison between the Unknown God and Yahweh. He refers to things they understand when it appears that they had been lost in his speaking twice. Essentially, the reason why Paul’s evangelism was so effective was that he took the time to understand the Athenian culture, and then contrasted it with the Truth.

We don’t need these new fads for evangelism. What we need is to know about our culture, and be able to contrast it with the Truth of God’s infallible Word. Remembering Paul’s heartful concern for the unsaved, and applying the Biblical approach of evangelism we can be like the apostle Paul when it is said of him in Acts 17:6 that he “turned the world upside down” for Christ. That’s my opinion. Take it or leave it. - Dean