Acts 24:14-16

Acts 24:14-16 - However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

         Paul was on trial. They were trying to figure out why he was causing so much excitement and controversy among the people. As he started his explanation he found a way of relating his message to those he was speaking too. He knew that if he found some common ground where they could relate to each other it would make it easier for them to hear the rest of his message.
       This isn't the first time we see Paul doing this either. In chapter 17 we saw him relating to the people of Athens by explaining God as the god they already worshiped as the ‘unknown god.’ Now he does it again saying, “I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets.”
       In order to reach people we need to adopt this way of thinking and learn how to relate to people. Paul wasn't waiting for the people to come to him either, he was going to them. God will bring people into the church to hear of Him, but most times they are brought by somebody.
       We need to get out among the people and start building relationships. That is how they will be won over. It is said that people won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show them you care. Love on them and be relatable.

Acts 17:23

Acts 17:23 - 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 unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

As Paul entered Athens he could see how full of sin the city was. People worshiped anything and everything, with a temple to every possible God they could make up. There was drinking, partying, prostitution; you name it, if it was sin it was there.
Many of us ‘Christians’ today would think it was a sin just to have been in such a place, but Paul had a mission. It was Paul who said, “I become all things to all men, that I might win a few.” He had a heart for the lost and he wanted to bring Jesus to them.
This is where I think many of us miss it. We think that we have to give a ‘traditional’ message of salvation to those that don’t know the bible. Often we forget how to relate to people.
That is what Paul did here. The Athenians worshiped so many gods that they even had an altar to ‘an unknown god,’ just in case they missed one. While many of us would have walked right by and not seen this Paul took noticed and used it. When he began speaking he told them that they already worshiped the real God, they just didn’t know Him yet.
Paul paid attention to their culture and their interests and used it to relate the kingdom of God to them. We need to adopt this practice as well. If we want to minister to someone we must find a way to relate to them. Don’t immediately come down on them for what they are doing wrong. Find what they are doing right and bring the message of Christ to them through that.