Know Your Community

Please read Leviticus 13-14 and Acts 17 if you're interested in reading the Bible through in a year.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. -Acts 17:16-17 (NIV)

How well do you know your community? How well do you know the behaviors and beliefs of the particular area in which you live? I moved into a new community once and made an appointment with several city leaders to ask them about the place that had recently become my new home. These leaders had no trouble telling me some of the wonderful qualities about the community but struggled to answer questions about what problems faced the community and how the church I was serving might help.

Knowing your community and knowing the culture of your community is important if you're ever going to make a difference. In today's assigned scripture reading, Paul visits Athens. It's obvious that Paul knew this community and he uses that knowledge to affirm the positives (they are religious) but also to point out the negatives (they are ignorant to think that God is an image made by human design and skill). You may disagree with his style (Paul can sound quite abrasive at times), but you cannot deny that he was well aware of the behaviors and beliefs of the community and sought to affirm what he could affirm, but correct what he couldn't affirm.

May God grant you the grace to know your community, its beliefs, its behaviors, its positives, its negatives, its needs, and its growing edges. And may you use this information to make your community a better place not only to live but to grow in faith.