“For in Him we live and move and exist.” — Acts 17:28, AMP
Earlier this week, I found myself drawn back to Acts 17:22–34 – the account of Paul standing on Mars Hill in Athens and proclaiming the Gospel to people who did not share his biblical background. The more I read it, the more I thought about the world in which we live today.
Athens was filled with religion, philosophy, competing ideas, idols, and people searching for answers.
Paul didn’t walk into that environment and say, “This place is too far gone.” He didn’t retreat from the culture around him, nor did he compromise the truth of the Gospel. He went to Mars Hill. And he talked about Jesus.
Paul began by observing something about the people around him. He recognized that they were deeply religious and noticed an altar inscribed, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Rather than immediately attacking their beliefs, Paul used what he had observed as a bridge to introduce them to the God they did not yet know.
What a picture of evangelism.
Paul understood where the people were, but he didn’t leave them there. He connected with them. He explained who God is. He confronted their false understanding. And ultimately, he called them to respond.
Connect. Explain. Confront. Call.
That same approach can shape the way we share Christ with the people God has placed around us.
Paul told the Athenians that the God who made the world and everything in it is the “Lord of heaven and earth.” He is the Creator, the giver of life and breath, and the One upon whom every human being depends. Then Paul made this extraordinary statement:
“For in Him we live and move and exist.”
The people standing before Paul were searching for God while the God they were searching for was the very One sustaining their lives at that moment. He was not far from them. And He is not far from the people around us today. People are still searching.
They may search through spirituality, success, relationships, possessions, achievement, entertainment, or countless other things. Beneath so much of our culture is a longing for meaning, purpose, security, and something greater than ourselves.
The answer is still Jesus.
But Paul didn’t stop by telling them there was a God. He eventually confronted their idolatry and declared: “God is now declaring to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent” (Acts 17:30, AMP).
And then Paul brought them to Jesus.
God has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness, and He has given assurance of this by raising Jesus from the dead. That is where Paul’s message became unavoidable. The Creator is also the Judge. And the Judge has been revealed through the resurrected Christ.
Some mocked Paul. Some wanted to hear more. And some believed.
Paul didn’t control the response. He faithfully proclaimed the truth and trusted God with the results.
I believe there is an important lesson here for us.
We cannot control the culture around us, but we can control how faithfully we represent Jesus within it.
We don’t need to be afraid of today’s Mars Hill. We don’t need to retreat from people who think differently than we do, and we don’t need to compromise biblical truth to be accepted. Instead, we need to know the God we proclaim. We need to understand the people around us. We need to listen. We need to recognize the spiritual hunger that may already exist in someone’s heart. And then, like Paul, we need to bring the conversation to Jesus.
There is another question we should ask.
Before asking, “How do we reach our culture?” perhaps we should ask, “Have we allowed the culture to shape us?”
It is possible to live surrounded by idols and eventually stop noticing them – success, comfort, wealth, recognition, entertainment, influence, reputation, or the desire to control our own lives rather than surrender them fully to God.
Paul reminded the Athenians that they did not exist independently of God. “In Him we live and move and exist.”
My life is not ultimately about me. My life belongs to Him.
That is what makes Paul’s message on Mars Hill so relevant to us.
God has placed each of us somewhere today – in our families, workplaces, neighborhoods, churches, and communities.
That is our Mars Hill.
The question isn’t simply whether the culture around us is becoming more difficult. The question is: Are we so completely surrendered to Christ that wherever God has placed us, our lives and our words point people to Him?
We don’t have to take back Mars Hill. We simply need to go there. Listen. Understand. Love people. Speak truth. Point them to Jesus. And trust God with the response. Because the God who was sovereign over Athens is still sovereign today.
And the Jesus Paul proclaimed on Mars Hill is still the answer for every searching heart: “For in Him we live and move and exist.”
(Written by Doug Linser, September 2026)
