Where the heck is Mars Hill?

"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." Acts 17:22-23

In January, my family went to San Antonio for my sister's wedding -- Yeah, Jenny and Jason!!!

While there, I had a bit of a Mars Hill experience. In the church, we often conjure the "Mars Hills reference" when it's necessary to defend watching certain movies, listening to certain music, having three earrings, etc.

In the last half of Acts 17, Paul addresses the Greek intellectionistas on their home turf -- the Areopagus, Mars Hill. As he strode through Athens, Paul, a cultural connoisseur, took note of what was around him, fashioned the data for his argument and then proceeded to affirm the sensibilities of the Stoics and Epicureans, all the while steering them towards the Gospel.

It would appear that Mars Hill is a historical note, with the notable exception of a couple of church signs in WA and MI. However, during our week stay in San Antonio, my family stayed in Mars Hill.

How is that possible? Glad you asked.

Mars Hill has moved from the shadow of the Acropolis to an apartment near you. We spent a lot of time walking around, looking carefully and taking note of the objects of worship in our host's home. Everywhere, there were signposts of a seeker so close to Jesus that it was almost funny; painfully so. The books on the shelves were varied: law books, politics (conservative), Christian intellectuals and non Christian best-sellers. There was an application for Casa on the desk. All indications said that this was a person whose heart was tuned to humanity and in tune to humanism [flirting with transcendental humanism from the looks of the person's benevolent bent]. Our host was in fact in India observing local elections while we "house sat." This particular individual was clearly hungering for purpose and meaning.

Were we in the same room at the same time, a quick walk through the apartment would have given us the means to speak as Paul did. Everything I needed to begin a relevant conversation about the Gospel was in plain sight.

When was the last time you found yourself in the home of someone who doesn't go to your church?

Mars Hill is where you are.

Are you paying attention?

enough about 'sin' already

If you ask the average person, "what is sin?", truthfully, I don't think they know. The response you get has some vague equivalent to "bad." No matter how many pulpits are pounded or 75 minute sermons are podcast, sin tends to remain a theological abstraction that many people don't want to engage. So, I think we ought to stop talking about sin.

I can hear the KJV's wizzing by my head.

I don't actually mean that we should stop talking about sin, but that we should stop thinking that sin is a concept that is either relevant or easily understood. As we interpret and teach Scripture, when we run across the places where we would be tempted to regurgitate a sin sermon, name the sin instead. What is the sin, specifically?

"Sin" is vague, non-descript. It's easy to talk about but difficult for the listener to personalize. I don't sin indeterminately . I do, however, commit myself to specific attitudes and actions that draw me from the presence of God -- to put it pleasantly.

I think that as we preach sin, the time has come for a new hermeneutical reframing of the language of sin. What this means is making an exegetical decision and personalizing the act (or attitude) of a particular sin presented in scripture. In the general sense, it gives Jesus' statement to the "adulterous" woman, "Go and sin no more [Jn 8:11]," more meaning if you exegete the context of her sin in this pericope.

More specifically, let's look at sin via this passage in Ezekiel. What if we take this verse:

Ezekiel 33:10-11 (TNIV)
"Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" ' Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?'

And interpret it like this:

"Zeke, take a message and give it to my people. 'Feel free to correct me if I've heard you wrong, but unless I'm mistaken you have said, "We can't live with our brokenness and indifference anymore. We are watching ourselves decay from the inside out. What hope do we have that anything will change?" 'Tell them this, 'while you don't know how to live, I do, so take a note: Despite the reckless and mindless commentary of some who claim to know me, I don't get off watching anyone die! Here's what I want: I want to see a spark of passion in the hearts of those who have not yet learned to be a human being. Read a book, start a hobby, take up running...something that will move you in a new direction. Take a little oxygen into your brain and you will know what it is to be alive, if only for a second. Stop living for yourself! Apparently, it's not working for you. You're addicted to yourselves. Replace your self-passion with God passion. Stop. When all you want is more, how much is enough, Israel? How much is enough?' "

Yes, we're talking about sin, but we can't hide behind the authority of the word itself (which, honestly, doesn't bear the authoritative weight it used to). All the sudden sin is preachable and we might hear the end of the sermon before lunch.