Evangelizing In Culture

Acts 17:16-34

 “Evangelizing the Culture”

17 April 2106 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            Sometimes I think there are idols in our lives that we aren’t even aware are idols. There is a particular individual in the command that frequents my office. He isn’t here today nor are these frequent visits due to a need of counseling. He just comes by to chat and harass your poor innocent chaplain. Usually these conversations will include some kind of comment about how my office needs some things on the walls, specifically my college diplomas.

            I’d love to tell you that I respond with the theological dexterity of Paul in this passage and mention that I don’t want to place those in my office for fear of them becoming a modern idol that I use to gain status, or even worse, as something that I worship. I’m just blunt and tell him the reason I don’t have anything on my office wall is the same reason the only books in my office are those that have come in from Amazon: I don’t want the hassle of bringing everything here via multiple taxi rides.

            Maybe one day I’ll ask my fellow sailor about if education has become an idol in his mind. Something that is so important that he’s more prone to comment on the absence of proof of education rather than the fact I don’t have any crosses or other Christian symbols in the office (again, I’m too lazy or cheap to pack everything into taxis). For if I did engage him following that opening, I might just be a bit like Paul in this passage.

            We rightfully give Paul credit for spreading the Gospel throughout Asia and Europe. While most of the disciples stayed local, Paul did his best to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth. Yet, sometimes I think we focus more on his results rather than on his method of spreading the Gospel. Even today we tend to measure the worth of a church on the attendance rather than the quality of disciples a given congregation sends into the world. Wikipedia has a list of the largest congregations in the country and the world, but no listing of the congregations that produced the most missionaries, pastors, etc.

            So how was Paul such an effective evangelist? Let’s not make his results an idol, but rather let’s see if there are some techniques we can use in our pluralistic post-Christian world.

            When I hear this story, I envision someone heading to testify to Congress. They walk into the Capitol with it’s statues, dare I say idols, of the religion of America. You walk past Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, beautiful murals of the country’s history, amazing and majestic architecture to show off the might and wealth of America, all while walking on polished marble flooring. You then head into a cramped room where before you the exalted members of Congress sit on elevated benches while you are at a simple table with a microphone and a pitcher of water.

            All of the pomp and circumstance are there to make you cower at the power of Congress, to make you understand who is in charge of the country, who matters. Then sometimes, Paul walks in, sees all of the idols, reads what each one stands for and how important those idols are for the culture, and notices the crying out for something greater than the surroundings of the most powerful city in the world. (Play Colbert Video).  

            Stephen Colbert routinely uses his TV platform to talk theologically with America and many times we don’t even realize what he is doing, much like the Biblical quotes in his testimony to Congress over migrant workers were missed. He is actually a devout Catholic and teaches Sunday School. This clip wasn’t just a publicity stunt because his character is constantly calling out our idols. He once said, “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.” Sounds like a modern day Paul.

            Paul read culture well. Paul looked at his surroundings and paid close attention to both what was being said and left unsaid or unknown. As we engage with the culture, before lashing out in a stereotypical culture war posture, let us pay attention to see how culture is telling us its searching for God.

We can see the show Breaking Bad as a tale of how meth destroys lives. Or, we can also see it as a case study in how through small decisions one can alienate themselves from God, but that even to the end there is always hope in reconciliation. We can venture into an online comment section and say that society has lost all hope, or we can look past the vitriol and vile comments and see that people have lost a sense of something greater than themselves upon which to ground their actions. We can watch The Walking Dead for the blood and gore or we can look for how it explores fear and what it means to be human.

Paul chose the latter option and showed spiritual hospitality to those whom were in a much different place spiritually and quite possibly, morally. By showing grace and hospitality through his acknowledgement of their worshipping many idols and gods, he opened the door to a bold proclamation. Had he come in guns blazing telling them they were wrong from the outset, the opportunity to speak the truth of Christ risen may have never occurred. And that would have prevented the truth of the resurrection from being presented in a humble, Christ like manner to the intellectual capital of the empire.

Paul’s example of grace-filled evangelism in a secular context gives us a wonderful example of how to be in the world, yet not of the world. But, I do need to offer a word of caution. Engaging in this way has a danger of us adapting our message so much that we adopt the patterns of power and privilege that Christ wants us to work against. Sometimes, we may become the culture to which we are called to speak to. That is why having a community of faith around us is vital to keep us in check.

I am one that seeks to speak from within culture and watch a wide variety of shows and read books that Sailors and Marines recommend. It gives me a starting point to discuss larger topics with people that may never darken the door of this chapel. But, I can engage topics such as sin, grace, resurrection, forgiveness, repentance, and many other theological topics using culture as the starting point. I even make references to those books, movies, and shows here in this space.

And sometimes, those in this space come and ask me about why I make those references and engage in a certain part of our culture. Keep doing that. I may not change my viewing habits, but questioning those habits keeps me honest about why I watch shows and forces me to keep looking for the theological images and language that should be gleaned from culture. None of us will do it as well as Paul. But, we should try. Together.

I’ll close our time together with a clip from a television icon who was able to use the new cultural phenomenon of television with amazing results for over 30 years. He saw a potential idol and used it to preach Christ directly into our homes without us knowing that was what he was doing. During his spare time before he became famous, he went to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained by the Presbyterian Church into television ministry. Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was the ministry into which Fred Rogers was ordained. (Play Fred Rogers Clip)

If a show on pubic television can demonstrate how to evangelize within culture, we can all be a modern day Paul and speak to the truth our cultural idols are seeking to discover. Mister Rogers knew TV could be a dangerous idol and slyly bucked culture and used it as a force for good.

There are many cultural idols that need a graceful, humble presence of Christ spoken into them and we are called to be that voice. We are called to evangelize with grace into our context like Paul.  We are called to use culture as a starting point of engaging people so that we can point out idols and shift our collective gaze to Christ at work in the world.