Men From Mars

I have to try and keep myself in check. And really what that means is that I have to deny letting myself "seek" and go after fruitless things. Even in the selection for this week's picture & title: I like pictures that are thought-provoking and titles that are a play on words but not overly obtuse or far-reaching. I have to remind myself that the purpose of this is not to show myself as clever, but to present Scripture in all of it's Illuminating splendor.

It's a common motivation that exists in all of us....not just men. We absolutely resist attempts to belittle us (without probable cause) and some have inner-working "somethings" that push us to promote ourselves when opportunities arise.

This is the age old issue we see when Paul delivers his sermon at Mars' Hill

Here's The Word:

Acts 17:18 - 21 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

I imagine that philosophy hasn't changed much over these many, many years. That promotion of intellect and wisdom to the degree that you "understand" how it all works. Seeing the connections between nature, nurture, propensities and how desires dictate action. These men exalted themselves and found their status in intellectual aptitude. They established their social circle "cliques" based on the presentation of provocative topics.

Right now I'm at a "techy" conference in San Francisco and if you ever wanted to hear high-level pontificating - listen to computer specialists talk shop. Also, it's been almost 2 days since a gunman opened fire with automatic weapons on a crowd of outdoor concert goers, killing 59 so far. All of the news channels are all ablaze with interviews and speculations about "What did you do?" or "How could this happen?". The President has just landed in Puerto Rico to survey and influence the recovery effort since the devastating impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria. Talk about the immediate future and political sway of what's going on is center stage. Life is crowding the stage with more "Look here" events than we've seen in a while.

Remember, where I am right now is like many other major cities - there are really two cities. San Francisco has an alarmingly high and in your face homeless situation. It's a stark contrast to a tech conference attended by IT professionals where the sessions and venues are obviously high dollar. It's hard to understand how such affluence can exists alongside such desperation. People walk by the destitute intentionally oblivious to their plight. I know, it's hard to look at. However, with all of the issues that are promoting themselves as important, these people don't make the cut. But what is affluence? What is desperation? God gauges richness by righteousness, not prosperity or intellect. Paul probably saw these men as impoverished as any homeless beggar as they were spiritually empty.

That's why we have to check ourselves. We have to wake up each day and reaffirm what's important. In the midst of the all of these philosophical considerations, Paul directs their, and our attention to the fact that their "UNKNOWN" God is known. He's real, and He's considerate of all; all life, and breath, and all things (v 25). Furthermore, knowing God is not just an end to a philosophical argument. It's a launching point for action. In Him we live, and move and have our being...not just rationalizing. No one is beyond being served, and even if a person's situation seems beyond our ability to help, we shouldn't let a devaluing of them as a person be the reason that we don't try. God is God of us all.

Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

The Bible tells us to not only look after our own interests, but also the interest of others. This requires us to SEE people in their states and minister to their needs. If all we can do is continually provide for ourselves or polish our own presentation, we're really no different than these men from Mars'.

In Him,
Cros