We are wired for worship because we all worship something...

This week, we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Acts. As Paul studied the culture of Athens, his desire to engage the residents of Athens with the message of the gospel was provoked. Luke then explained that how Paul engaged people with the message of the gospel gave him further opportunities to share the message of the gospel. Paul joined in the conversations that others were already having in such a way that gave him the opportunity to engage in those conversations instead of simply attempting to force his conversation on others.

And the reason why they were having those conversations; the reason why Paul could have the opportunity to engage in those conversations is because everybody worships something. Today, we see Luke reveal for us what happened as the conversation between Paul and the leading religious and educational experts of Athens continued in Acts 17:22:

 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

Now Paul’s statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious people. I have come to see that you are very religious people because throughout your city there are objects of devotion and worship, because you have recognized that everyone worships something. And as I looked carefully at the objects of your devotion and worship, I even came across an altar which said ‘to an unknown god’. Therefore, I want to announce and make known to you the God that you sense that exists but do not yet know by name.” Paul then begins to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the city of Athens in verse 24:

"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

Now did you notice how Paul shared the message of the gospel with the residents of Athens? Did you notice that Paul did not quote a single Bible verse? Now some of you might be thinking “Well how can you say that he shared the gospel without using the Bible?” You see, instead of using quotes from the Bible which many of the residents of Athens would have been unfamiliar with, Paul turned the residents of Athens attention to God’s activity in history that they would be familiar with.

Paul started by pointing out the residents of Athens what they already knew about the God that they did not know by name. Paul reminded the residents of Athens that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name did not need a place to live and does not need anything from man because He is the Creator of the universe who is large and in charge of everything in the universe. Paul reminded the residents of Athens that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name determined the length of their lives and the nations that they inhabited. And the reason that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name did what he did was so that humanity would have a sense that he existed and would search for Him.

Paul then hammered home the point that humanity was created by this God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name by quoting not from the Bible, but from two poets that the residents of Athens were very familiar with.  Paul quoted from the Cretan poet Epimenides and the Cilician poet Aratus, to reveal the reality that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name had been revealing Himself to them through the creation and their conscience. Paul then brought the message of the gospel that he was announcing to its climactic conclusion in verses 29:

 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Paul transitioned from the reality that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name had been revealing Himself to them through the creation and their conscience to the reality that the God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name had sent His Son Jesus to provide them an opportunity to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion that was revealed by their worship of false gods. The God that they sensed that existed but did not know by name had sent His Son Jesus, to reveal Himself to humanity so that humanity come to know and worship Him as a result of believing, trusting, and following Jesus as a result of His life, death, and resurrection.

Luke then reveals that the crowds that heard Paul’s message responded in three timeless ways to the message of the gospel. There were some in the crowd who sneered, or mocked the gospel that Paul had proclaimed. There were others in the crowd who had questions and wanted to continue to engage in conversation and dialogue with Paul. And there were some in the crowd who responded to the message of the gospel as proclaimed by Paul by placing their confident trust in what God had done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection so as to believe, trust, and follow Jesus as Lord and Leader.

Notice, however, that no one denied that they worshipped something. And the reason why no one denied that they worshipped something is because in the core of our beings, we are wired for worship. And it is in this event from history that we see reinforced the timeless reality that we are wired for worship because we all worship something.

You see, the question is not whether or not you worship. The question is “what do you worship”? The question is “What do you leverage your life towards as a response of worship?” Because worship, simply put, is a response to what we value most: Worship is a life that is lived in response to what we value most.

If you want to know what you truly worship, simply look at there you leverage your time, your affection, your energy, and your loyalty, because that is what you worship. And regardless of what we say, our worship is more about what we do than what we say. Often what we say we worship is betrayed by what we actually worship with our time, talent, and treasure.

So who or what do you worship? Who or what do you leverage your time, your affection, your energy, and your loyalty towards?