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Acts 17:16-34
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Plumeria | Tulum, Mexico | February 2024Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
It’s interesting to me that he learned this secret. For he was decidedly not content when walking through Athens. Pagan gods. Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Idols. The Jewish believers and devout persons were bombarded on every side. I’m thinking walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on a Friday night. Lots there to make a follower of Jesus uncomfortable.
I suppose there is a distinction between contentment and comfort, discontent and a provoked spirit. I understand the feeling of godly discontent, or kingdom discomfort. Sometimes it can be a community that is wealthy but soulless – without any sense of a need for God. Other times it has been the obvious ungodly immoralities hyped on Bourbon Street, YouTube, or NetFlix. Whenever I encounter a world without God, a vapid immorality, or any obvious anti-Kingdom of God value-system, I feel that knot in my stomach. This isn’t right.
Paul’s response was twofold. He engages the philosophers in conversation, and goes into the synagogue to connect with God’s people there. Paul was singularly gifted in this area. He was so obviously compelled by the love of Christ, and aware of being Christ’s ambassador. He was willing to talk with anyone. He knew, also, that those living in that culture were facing challenges daily of slipping into the false ways of the world.
Godly contentment is a good thing. It is essential to living in the fullness of God’s peace. We are soon paralyzed with anxiety if we live in a state of discontent. Paul tells the Philippians years later that he learned the secret of contentment. That state of contentment surely helped him to write those reflective thoughts to the church there. But for now he has a holy discontent that people do not know the source of true life, love, grace, and peace. Perhaps we should feel a little bit of that godly discontent whenever we encounter the broken world around us.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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