You are very religious

 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: - Acts 17.22-23

I don't know that I would over have the courage and the boldness to do some of the things Paul did. Contrary to what I mentioned earlier he did go to the synagogue at Athens. He also went to the Gentiles. He also went to the marketplace to speak to whoever would listen. He was causing quite a stir in the city.

In Athens there was a place on Mars Hill called the Aeropagus. This is where important people went to talk about important stuff. Lest you think I am making that up here is what we read about the place in Acts 17.21 - 'For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.'

Some of the men who spent time heard about Paul and said ‘Let’s bring this guy up and hear what he has to say. We are hearing some strange things and would like to hear more about it.’

So Paul went up to Mars Hill and when it was his turn to speak he said ‘I see that you all are very religious.’  

Notice that Paul did not launch right in to attacked their false worship. He said something that probably made them feel pretty good about themselves. They had a whole litany of gods with images that lined the streets. I suppose these guys though that this Paul was not so bad after all.

‘As I wandered and saw all the idols. I found one that said ‘To the Unknown God’ and I want to tell you all about Him.’

 Notice the wisdom Paul used in sharing the gospel. His heart had been stirred at a city ‘wholly given to idolatry’ but he used that stirred heart to preach the gospel in such a way that it has an appeal.

I think there is a lesson for us. Paul started with what they knew and preached the gospel from that point. He wasn’t rude or offensive. He grabbed their attention. As we read along we see that he did tell them that their worship was wrong and misdirected and did not compromise the gospel.

May we learn from examples like this.