by Greg Mundis

Dear Friends:

Did the Apostle Paul Miss It?

Dear Friends:

In Acts 17, Dr. Luke describes when apostle Paul was in the city of Athens. As we know, Paul was a Pharisee who persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ and, through a divine revelation, became a believer in Christ. He was probably the foremost apologetic of the New Testament.

Acts particularly indicates when the apostle Paul entered the record of the New Testament. Paul went into the then known world around the Mediterranean Ocean and did the work of Christian ministry. He spoke in city marketplaces and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel, of course, is the good news that man, who is separated from God by sin, can be reconciled through the atoning death of God’s Holy Son Jesus.

Paul’s record is strong and clear. In the majority of cities he entered, he would preach, evangelize, consolidate believers, and establish a church. This was his custom with few exceptions. Athens was one of those exceptions.

Dr. Luke records that Paul was grieved in his spirit as he walked the streets of Athens and came to a statue to the unknown god. The Athenians had a reputation of dialogue and learning and always wanted to hear new philosophies. Paul was invited to speak at the epitome of this discussion of the society on Mars Hill. The biblical account tells us that he gave a beautiful apologetic for Christ and the Resurrection. The end result, however, was not the norm for his ministry—there is no record of a church left behind in Athens.

I have just returned from Athens, which is a thriving, dense metropolis. As I walked its streets with my friend, approached Mars Hill, climbed up through the Acropolis, and looked over the city of four million people, I realized there were hundreds of thousands of immigrants and millions of Greeks who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I also realized that fewer than a dozen evangelical churches exist in this thriving metropolis, and of the Pentecostal Movement with whom we associate, there are only two.

I looked out over the city and saw, once again, the tremendous need for a message to ring out to Athenians and Greeks—the message that Jesus Christ can free them from their bonds of sin—the sins of disobedience, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting. He can set them free through His atoning death. The message of the gospel must be propagated in each generation.

Thank you for helping us preach to this generation. I just received a testimony of one of our university workers in Athens who witnessed her first Greek student come to Christ this past week. May the message of the apostle Paul be loud and strong in this city through Pentecostal and evangelical churches and the people whom God will call there. We have very few workers in Greece, and we desperately need the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers to this wonderful country. Thank you for praying toward this end.

Sincerely,

Greg Mundis
AGWM Europe Regional Director

Home