"To an unknown god"

Acts 17:22-27, ESV

 22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26And 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, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him.

"To an unknown god."  Imagine St. Paul doing this in todays church?  Imagine St. Paul going into the tribes of Africa and noticing they are very religious, crediting that to them and noticing they had an altar "to an unknown god", "What therefore you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you."  Paul, an important figure in the church, holding up the God of the universe to a pantheon of false gods?  Imagine St. Paul had done that today.  What would have become of him if word got back to certain other shepherds in his church body.  What would have become of St. Paul?  He very well could have had charges brought up against him and have to go on for the remainder of his life defending said actions because he was witnessing in the name of Jesus.  Imagine that...

We need not to speak to Jews as though they are Greek, and we need not to speak to Greeks as though they are Jews.  What does this mean?  It means, without bowing to culture, we must recognize and respect the different cultures that people are brought up in and be somewhat sensitive to that in presenting our message of hope.  The culture of the United States is one that is changing fast and furiously.  Teenagers are looking to fulfill their needs with the myriad of empty false hopes out there.  Many have already been turned off or rejected the church, or by the church for whatever reasons.  We need to bring the Gospel, pure and unadulterated, to these teenagers.  Heck, we need to bring the Gospel to lost people in general.  The priesthood of all believers has that responsibility of bringing that message of hope to people who have heard it wrong, not heard it at all, and even those who have outright rejected it.  Be persistent in fervent love toward one another, including those who do not believe.  

This does not mean we are to water down the gospel or tell them "everything is okay."  Because, outside of faith in Christ, everything is not okay.  Everything is blurry, everything is mixed, everything or anything does not make sense.  The cross is not blurry.  The cross stares you in the face and breaks you.  And at the same time, the cross lifts you up next to the One crucified on it and saves you.  This is the message we need to be bringing to the lost.  In fact, this is the message we need to be bringing to our churches day in and day out, lest we forget why we are there.