Challenge Idols

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Good morning Chapel family. Since the beginning of the year we’ve been studying the book of Acts, which traces the growth of the brand new Christian church in the first century. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus started with a group of eleven guys, and by the end of the book of Acts, about 30 years later, you know how many Christians they estimate were in the Roman Empire? About 10,000, and growing fast. How did Jesus pull that off? I mean, we know it was supernatural, but what was the strategy he used? You know the answer, right? He did it through his witnesses. Jesus wasn’t there in person, so he did it through regular people who knew Jesus, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, and who could not help speaking about what they had seen and heard. He did it through his witnesses.

And every week we’ve been reminding ourselves that we are his witnesses. Because Jesus has not finished what he started in Acts: he’s still building his church, and he’s doing it in amazing ways in 2025, and he’s using us to do it. We are his witnesses.

And I’m so excited about today’s passage, because it shows us how to be a witness in a culture like ours. A lot of what we’ve seen so far in the book of Acts has taken place in a Jewish context, because that’s where this all started. But for most of us, that’s not our context. The people we interact with are most likely educated, pluralistic, secular people. They’re probably not hard-core atheists—there aren’t many of those. Many would characterize themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Those are the people we work with and go to school with and play on softball teams with and bump into at the clearance rack at Marshall’s (I know where you shop). And those are exactly the kind of people Paul engages in the city of Athens, in Acts chapter 17. So we need to pay attention to this. In fact, it’s so important that I’m giving out homework today. Oh yeah—homework. I’ll tell you more about that later.

Okay: Acts 17, starting in verse 16. This is God’s Word for us today…

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he

needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32 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.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. This is the Word of the Lord.

Just a little historical background: many years before this, when the Greek empire was in power, Athens, Greece was the center of the world. Since that time, the Greeks had fallen to the Romans, so now Athens was part of the Roman empire. So when Paul shows up in Athens, it’s no longer the political capital of the empire. BUT it was still the intellectual capital. Athens was the place all the smart people hung out. Which is similar to Morris County, New Jersey. We live in a place of above-average education; it’s religiously pluralistic; a little skeptical. Just like them. So…what can we learn about being a witness for Christ in a place like Athens? Three things.

First, Engage People. Like he normally does, Paul spends time in the synagogue with the Jewish people, and he gets to know them. But the Sabbath is only one day a week. So Paul spends a lot more time in the marketplace—which was more than just a shopping center. The Greek term is the agora, and it was the financial center where deals were made; it was the center of arts and entertainment; it’s where news got shared. It’s where life happened. So Paul hangs out in the marketplace, and gets to know the people there.

In the marketplace, he meets some philosophers—specifically, Epicureans and Stoics. The Epicureans were known for their love of pleasure (anybody get recipes off a web site called Epicureous? Great recipes, and they take the name from the Epicureans—it’s about the pleasure of food). The Stoics were much more, well, stoic—they believed in doing your duty in life, no matter how painful that might be. So Epicureans were fun at parties; Stoics—not so much. But here’s what they had in common: neither the Stoics nor the Epicureans believed in a personal God. So these philosophers strike up a conversation with Paul, and they’re intrigued with what he’s saying, so they do something very significant: they invite Paul to the Areopagus—otherwise known as “Mars Hill”—which was a place where they made ethical and religious policy for the Roman Empire. By the way, the Supreme Court of Greece today is still called the Areopagus.

So if Athens was where the smart people lived, the Areopagus in Athens was the smartest of the smart—which can be kind of intimidating right? A few years ago, Norma Jean and I toured the campus of Princeton. And I remember seeing all these students walking around and thinking, “Even the dumbest one of these kids got a higher score on their SATs than I did.” It was very humbling. But Paul doesn’t seem intimidated, because he’s so confident in the truth of the gospel.

And beginning in verse 22, we have this speech that Paul gives at the Areopagus. Now: when Paul is speaking in synagogues, or talking to Jewish people, what does he normally quote? The Old Testament. But now he’s in a non-Jewish setting, and what does he quote? Two Greek poets. Look at verse 28: ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ That first quote is from a poet named Epimenides; the second one is from a poet named Aratus. Both of them were Greek poets, and the educated people listening to Paul would have immediately recognized those words.

So think about this: why is Paul able to freely quote Greek poets? Because he knows you can only influence people if you have a relationship of respect and trust with them, and if you want to build relationships of respect and trust, you have to know what people are thinking. You have to know something about their culture. So apparently, when Paul had time on his hands, not only did he read Scripture; he also read Greek poets. He was aware of what was being debated in the marketplace. It doesn’t mean he embraced everything in the culture; but he was aware of it.

Are we? I’m not saying we need to be an expert on culture, but do we know the conversations that are happening? Do we know that Disney just released a new version of Snow White, and it’s kind of bombing? Or that there were some very large and very controversial tariffs placed on imported goods last week? Or that the New York Giants just signed a bunch of new quarterbacks to hopefully not be terrible again this year? Or that there’s a significant increase people interested in Christianity and joining churches, especially young men? I think if Paul spent some time in North Jersey, he would know all those things, and be able to talk about them.

And then, on a more personal level, God has put specific people around us—in our neighborhood; in our school; in our job. Are we aware of what’s going on in their lives? You know, it’s easy to talk about loving people as a general concept. “Oh yeah—I really care about people!” But what about the actual guy who lives across the street? What about the girl at your college who’s always alone in the campus café? Do we care about them? It takes initiative and conversation and time…and it’s worth it.

I have to say, I am so inspired by how the people of The Chapel do this. I know a guy who has served multiple terms on his local school board. I know another guy who’s retired and he spends a couple of hours a day at the gym, and he’s like the unofficial chaplain of the gym—he’s always talking to people and listening to people—he’s invited tons of people to church. I know a woman with an empty nest who started coaching at her local high school, and she has great relationships with the girls she coaches. And I could keep going.

When you watch Paul in action, he doesn’t isolate himself from culture; because if you want to be a witness for Christ in a place like Athens, you have to engage people.

If we do that well, we sometimes have the opportunity to do this next thing: Challenge Idols. Paul has enough love for people to challenge them. So when Paul first arrived in Athens, it says he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. Athens was filled with stone images of Hermes, the son of Zeus, and other idols and temples to different gods and goddesses. It was very much part of the culture. And it deeply bothers Paul. So when he gets invited to speak at the Areopagus, he brings it up. He challenges it.

Look at his logic. In verse 28 he says As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And then verse 29: 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. Do you see his logic? He says, “Since we’re God’s offspring, and look what kind of beings we are: we are living,

thinking, feeling beings, which means the One who created us must be a living, thinking, feeling being.” Because you can’t get sentient life from non-sentient life. So can’t you see how foolish and de-humanizing it is to worship gold and silver and stone? You’re cheapening yourselves!

So Paul isn’t afraid to call out the foolishness of their idol worship. And the question is: does this apply to us at all in 2025? I think applies more today than it ever has.

Paul stood on the streets of Athens, and he saw that the city was full of idols. I think of some of the places that I’ve stood. I stood in Times Square, and I saw that the city was full with dazzling, digital billboards with beautiful models in perfect clothing. I stood in Las Vegas, and I saw that the city was full of casinos and bars and shows and promises of wealth. I stood in Madison Square Garden, and saw that the arena was full of images of athletic greatness. I stood on the campus of Princeton, and I saw that the classes were full of ultra-intelligent people with lucrative careers ahead of them. When Paul saw the idols in Athens, it says he was deeply distressed. How about me? How about you? Do we recognize how easily those billboards and those casinos and those athletes and those Ivy Leaguers can take the place of God in people’s lives?

See, here’s what’s true of people. We all long to find ultimate meaning in something that transcends this world. We all know there must be something more. And Paul says to the people in Athens, “Look—you are settling for worshiping something less than what you’re designed to worship.” And people in 2025 America are settling for worshiping something less than they’re designed to worship. So as we engage with people, we’ll notice what their idols are. And through the relationships of trust and respect that we build, we’ll be able to challenge those idols.

You know when the best time to challenge an idol is? When an idol has just let someone down. Imagine you know someone who’s made an idol out of his girlfriend. She is all he thinks about; he’s so in love. And then the unthinkable happens: she dumps him. And that rocks his world so deeply. How do you truly be a friend at that moment? Well, you support him and you spend time with him and you share the misery with him, right? But at some point, you help him to see how he had made an idol out of the girl. How he turned her from a good thing into an ultimate thing. And it’s risky to have those kinds of conversations! Your friend might be offended! But it’s worth the risk. You help him see that making a god out of women is dangerous. And therefore he doesn’t just need to get the girl back, or find another girlfriend. He needs to find something more worthy of his worship.

Last week we talked about crisis moments—like a lobster that has to lose its shell if it wants to keep growing. And those crisis moments are often the times that people are most open to recognizing their idols, and realizing they need something more.

So...how can we be witnesses for Christ in a culture like Athens? Engage people—be involved in their lives and know their stories; and challenge idols—help people to see that they’re trying to fill a God-shaped emptiness with everything but God. And then here’s the most exciting part—point number 3:

Talk about Jesus. Talk about Jesus. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he’s describing his approach to ministry with different people, and look what he says—this is 1 Corinthians 1, starting in verse 22: 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. In the next chapter—1 Corinthians 2, verse 1: When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except (what does he say?)…Jesus Christ and him crucified. That was Paul’s approach—it

didn’t matter the educational level or sophistication of the people he was with; his message was Christ. Because he realized there’s power in the name of Christ.

So as he stands in front of this elite group of intellectual leaders of Athens, he talks about Jesus. In fact, at the beginning of this passage, when Paul was in the marketplace, verse 18 says Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. And now he does the same thing: after he challenges their idols, he says there’s a true God who created them and wants to have a relationship with them, and this is the God who raised Jesus from the dead. Every time Paul preached; every time he engaged people; his main point was always Jesus. He talked about other stuff, but it was always a way of getting to his main point, which was Jesus.

So Paul invites these elite intellectual leaders of Athens to repent of their idols—which means turn away from their idols—and turn to Christ. You know what made that invitation so compelling? At the very beginning of Paul’s speech, he said, “I was walking around your city, and I found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” And sure enough, archaeologists have dug up several statues with those words: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Because people were longing to worship someone or something; they just didn’t know who. Paul basically says, “I’m inviting you to turn to the God you’ve been looking for all along—and you didn’t even know it. And it’s Jesus.”

And guys, this is our model! When you have opportunity, talk about Jesus. You can’t force your beliefs on anyone, but you can tell the people you love about the most important thing in your life, which is Jesus. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to talk about Jesus.

So…I told you there was going to be homework. And let me set it up like this: earlier in Paul’s speech, in verse 26, he says this: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times… and I’m going to stop there. The Greeks had two words for “time.” The first word was chronos. And chronos means clock time. Chronological time. The other word was kairos. And kairos isn’t talking about clock time, it’s talking about an important moment—a significant moment. Tomorrow night at 8:00, if you were in the locker room of the Duke men’s basketball team, imagine if you looked at the team, and you said, “Okay guys—this is your time.” The players wouldn’t say, “What do you mean—8:00 is our time?” Because they would know—when you say “time,” you’re not talking about chronos; you’re talking about kairos—this is your moment! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for and dreaming of all your lives. It’s a kairos moment.

So in Acts 17:26, which word for time do you think is used there? Kairos! Here’s what Paul is saying: there is a God who created you, and he sovereignly marks out the moments of your life. You might think things are random; you might think things are coincidental, but they’re not—they are kairos moments, designed by God. And the implication is: this is one of those moments, so don’t miss it.

So here’s my point: when you walk out of here today, and when you go about your week, you are going to experience kairos moments—specific encounters and appointments designed by God—and I don’t want you to miss those.

If you were here last week, you heard me interview my friend Chris Ankner. Chris talked about a crisis moment in his life when he lost his job as a stock trader, and then he lost his friend in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and God used that crisis to draw Chris to himself. So after the 10:30 service, I noticed that Chris was surrounded by three people, and he was deep in conversation. So I went up and introduced myself. And Chris said, “You’re not going to believe this: these three people are two brothers and a sister, and you know that stock-trading company that I got fired from when the towers came down? Their dad’s family started that company, and they’ve been

coming to The Chapel recently, and when they heard me mention the company, they had to come meet me.” I said, “Wow—what are the chances of that?” And then Chris said, “It gets better. Because their dad—whose family started this company—has never been to The Chapel before…until today. And he’s right over there.” And by the way—if that family is here today, I’m not trying to embarrass you, I’m just saying you were part of a kairos moment. That was not a coincidence. That was an appointed time for you to be in this place and hear the gospel.

One more example: in my prayer journal, I have six lists of names: people on our staff, guys in my men’s group, etc. And every day, I take one name from each list, and I pray specifically for those six people that day. So my last list is people who are unbelievers, and I’m praying that they’ll come to know Christ. Last Friday, the name on that list is a person that I met about three years ago; we’ve had some good spiritual conversations; I really care about this guy; and I had not seen him in about three months. But he was the next name on the list for that day, so that morning I prayed for him. One hour later, I was out in my yard, spreading mulch, and who comes walking by? That guy. And I looked up at God, like, “Okay—I see this.” And we had a great conversation, and I said, “You need to come to The Chapel on Easter Sunday—I would love to have you as my guest.” And he said, “You know what? I’ll be there.” You think that encounter was random? No way. That was a kairos moment, designed and set up by God.

And if we’re looking for them, those moments happen more often than you think.

So…here’s your homework: this week, as you walk around Athens, and you bump into Epicurean types and Stoic types and all kinds of people, keep your eyes open for kairos moments. Interactions with people that you could say, “Oh that’s just a coincidence,” and you could easily dismiss it; don’t dismiss it. Look for those moments, and when they come, take a risk. Engage them in conversation. Ask about their life. If there’s an opportunity, offer to pray for them. And here’s a great idea: invite them to church on Easter. Don’t underestimate the importance of kairos moments, because sometimes, those are the moments that change people’s eternity.

On that day, in the city of Athens, there was not a great revival. There wasn’t a huge number of people who responded to Paul’s invitation. But there were a few who recognized the moment, and they turned from idols to Christ: a man named Dionysius; a woman named Damaris; a few others. See God’s not always after huge crowds; he cares about each individual person. And some of those people, we’re going to encounter this week. Let’s use those moments well.