Redemptive Analogies in Evangelism & Missions
God has placed a little of His image in us all, and as a result, all groups of people have traits that reflect God’s person and message (not perfectly, only in small ways). When you discover what these are, you uncover the bridge you can use, some call it the “redemptive analogy” that is the bridge for the gospel.
Missionary Don Richardson talks about this in his book Eternity in Their Hearts. In fact, he talks about the process of Paul in Athens using the “Altar to an Unknown God” in just the way I am describing. Richardson shows how Paul used the redemptive analogy of the altar to illustrate that God was already at work among the people of Athens to reach them with the message.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men 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. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. (Acts 17: 22-23)
According to Athenian history of that day, hundreds of years before Paul came to Athens, the city was under a curse because of the treachery of their King Megales. The Pythian oracle told the Athenian leaders the curse would not be lifted from the city until all the gods had been appeased for his actions. This was bad news for the Athenians since they had hundreds of God’s. One philosopher Petronius said of the Athnians, “Gods are easier to find in Athens than men”.
In desperation, the Athenian leadership came to their city’s famous philosopher Epimenides and complained, “We have sacrificed to all the gods to appease them, yet the curse remains. We cannot figure out what god we have offended” Epimenides, replied, “Perhaps you have offended an unknown god. Make an altar and sacrifice to him and the curse will abate” And so it was.
That is the context Paul spoke into in Athens. He used what he knew of the Athenian history and culture to contextualize the message to them. He even quoted Epimenides! In my opinion, the Unknown God that lifted the curse in Athens really was the God of the Bible, and he lifted the curse because He always is active in redeeming mankind. How awesome He prepared the way for Paul in Athens.
If that story doesn’t make you want to fall to your knees and ask God to reveal to you what his work is among the people you want to reach, I don’t know what will. The unique work of the missionary is to understand the spiritual context of the people they serve. God reveals Himself where you are! What is fascinating is you can see that Paul understood that the group of people he found in Athens had in them a piece of God’s personality. Paul appealed to them using their own culture as a bridge. You can do the same thing in your ministry communication–if you rely on God.
Missionary Don Richardson talks about this in his book Eternity in Their Hearts. In fact, he talks about the process of Paul in Athens using the “Altar to an Unknown God” in just the way I am describing. Richardson shows how Paul used the redemptive analogy of the altar to illustrate that God was already at work among the people of Athens to reach them with the message.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men 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. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. (Acts 17: 22-23)
According to Athenian history of that day, hundreds of years before Paul came to Athens, the city was under a curse because of the treachery of their King Megales. The Pythian oracle told the Athenian leaders the curse would not be lifted from the city until all the gods had been appeased for his actions. This was bad news for the Athenians since they had hundreds of God’s. One philosopher Petronius said of the Athnians, “Gods are easier to find in Athens than men”.
In desperation, the Athenian leadership came to their city’s famous philosopher Epimenides and complained, “We have sacrificed to all the gods to appease them, yet the curse remains. We cannot figure out what god we have offended” Epimenides, replied, “Perhaps you have offended an unknown god. Make an altar and sacrifice to him and the curse will abate” And so it was.
That is the context Paul spoke into in Athens. He used what he knew of the Athenian history and culture to contextualize the message to them. He even quoted Epimenides! In my opinion, the Unknown God that lifted the curse in Athens really was the God of the Bible, and he lifted the curse because He always is active in redeeming mankind. How awesome He prepared the way for Paul in Athens.
If that story doesn’t make you want to fall to your knees and ask God to reveal to you what his work is among the people you want to reach, I don’t know what will. The unique work of the missionary is to understand the spiritual context of the people they serve. God reveals Himself where you are! What is fascinating is you can see that Paul understood that the group of people he found in Athens had in them a piece of God’s personality. Paul appealed to them using their own culture as a bridge. You can do the same thing in your ministry communication–if you rely on God.
