Acts 17 provides one picture of how Paul evangelized the lost. In the city of Athens, we learn he went to the synagogue to engage the Jews on the Sabbath, and the rest of the week he went to the marketplace to engage the more secular minded.
The Market Place was this huge open air area in the middle of town where everyone gathered for business, arts, buying and selling, or just to hang out with their friends. We don’t really have anything like it today. Technology has allowed us to spread out and do all these things from the comfort of our office or home.
However, in Paul’s day, the Market Place was were everything happened. It was where everyone gathered. I would imagine Paul walking around the Market Place, getting to know folks there, and then engaging small groups here and there with the gospel.
Today we should do the same.We should reach out, build relationships with folks, and engage them with the gospel where they are on a daily basis. Our Market Place might look different than Paul’s. Instead of everything huddled into one area, it’s spread out. We work in one part of town, shop in another, eat and drink our coffee someone else.
Even though our Market Place looks different than Paul’s, I believe the principle still applies. We should do what Paul did — reach out, build relationships with folks, and then engage them with the gospel where they are on a daily basis.
Question for Reflection
- How do you build relationships in your market place?
Resources
Post adapted from the sermon: Spread the Gospel – Growth Through Discipleship – Week 5
Christianity Matters 
Great post Casey. Building relationships and meeting people where they are reflects true Christ-likeness. Somehow we have got this idea that we just need to invite people to church and let the Pastor do the work. No, no, no. We need to quit inviting people to church and start inviting people to meet Jesus, alive in us, living at his example of life and love, grace and compassion, truth and mercy.
Here’s a link to a post I recently wrote for a friend’s blog. You may choose to exclude it because the title isn’t “pastor-friendly”! http://gsccwordfortoday.blogspot.com/2015/02/quit-inviting-people-to-church.html
Thanks a lot. I will check out the post that you linked to. And I agree we do need to invite people to meet Jesus. He is the one we are hoping people will meet at church and he is the one who people should meet from us. Thanks for the comment.
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