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. 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. 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? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 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. 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.”

Sometimes the most obscure details will gain the attention of those we are trying to persuade, in bigger ways than the most logical rationale. I have found this to be true in risk management and insurance. Many times, an underwriter will have a hang-up on an account and why they should provide coverage. The hang-up may not even seem logical to me. But it is still real.

So I have dedicated myself to listening to their positions and understanding how they think. If I understand what they relate to, I can relate the insurance opportunity to something they are familiar with. This is a winning strategy I have used time and again.

Paul uses the same strategy here. While he debates these Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, he is studying them and the culture at large. They worship many gods. They are open to all religions and all thoughts. They even have a temple which is reserved for “an unknown god”.

It is the search for the new and exhilarating experience that fascinated them, or I like to call it “the bright, shiny”. But in the end, unless it is based on the truth, it will hook you and drag you in a direction you do not wish to go in life, like a bright, shiny lure hooks into a fish and drags it to the fisherman.

So Paul uses this temple to the unknown god to both relate to them and challenge them to consider Jesus. He first compliments them on being “very religious”, then he challenges them that they don’t really know their gods. How can you personally know a gold or silver or wooden object?

With this he builds interest and intrigue in their minds! As I witness to others, what do I use to build interest and intrigue in others’ minds? Am I relating to them and their culture and circumstances, and understanding (but not condoning) their pagan beliefs? This is how the gospel is many times most effectively communicated, through parables and stories the audience can relate to and life situations they are familiar with.

Lord, help me to listen well, observe the details, and look for connection points in the lives of others to help relate the truth of Jesus to them in a way they can receive it. Paul was amazing at this. I want to be too!