Observation of Paul at work in Athens provides us with understanding of how this apostolic message bridges the gap, not with concessions to popular pagan culture, but by radical deconstruction of its very essence (Acts 17:22-31). At first sight one might think Paul’s message is incredibly negative, because the speech is built around three denials. The “unknown” God, whom Paul proclaims, “does not live in temples made by man,” (v. 24), “nor is he served by human hands,” (v. 25) and “he is actually not far from each one of us” (v. 27). Paul is quite happy to use contemporary cultural reference points, to illustrate and support his thesis (see v. 28), but he is actually deconstructing the whole foundation of Athenian religion. This is what he means when he tells the Corinthians, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strong¬holds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion (‘every pretension’ NIV) raised against the knowledge of God…” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). That is what was happening on Mars Hill and it is what needs to happen in our preaching today. It is how the Bible teaches us to bridge the gap.

Yet it is important to realize that Paul’s deconstruction method is also laying a new foundation for the positive proclamation, which is the major content of his address. Why does God not live in temples? Because “he made the world and everything in it” for us to live in (v. 24). Why is he not served by human hands? Because he doesn’t need anything, since “he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (v. 25). And why is he not far from each of us? Because “we are his offspring” (v. 28). So how, then, can we human beings imagine that “the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man” (v. 29)? Athenian religion lies smashed in pieces, just as much as Dagon lay shattered in his shrine when he encountered the ark of God (1 Sam. 5:1-5).

But out of the wreckage, Paul teaches the character of the true God, and as the clinch¬ing and most persuasive piece of evidence for his argument he proclaims the resurrec¬tion of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 31). The real God has acted in time and space, in the arena of human history. He is no longer “unknown”—He has revealed Himself. There are no longer the “times of ignorance,” for “now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (v. 30). It’s magnifi¬cent, isn’t it? The gap is bridged by the deconstruction of false thinking at the hands of the revealed truth of God’s self-disclosure.

We urgently need to recapture our confidence in preaching that when the Bible is in the driving seat, God’s power will be at work and God’s Spirit will be armed with His sword. The rebellion of 21st century human ignorance equally needs to be exposed and confronted. As guilt is revealed and the reality of judgment and wrath are made clear, minds and hearts are humbled and wills moved, through conviction of sin, to repentance and faith.