What’s the Punch Line?

“So [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”–because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.” (Acts 17:17, 18)

“So there was a Jew, a Buddhist, an African-American, and a Presbyterian sitting on a porch…”

Sounds like a joke.

But it’s not, and I have no punch line. What it is is a description of what I got to do Tuesday afternoon. I got to ‘reason…in the marketplace with those who happened to be there.’ My reasoning was not persuasive like Paul’s, and I’m sure the word babbler came to a mind or two. But I did speak of the centrality of the resurrection, as Paul would surely have done, and tried to get my new friends to understand some things they may not otherwise have heard.

I was meeting a young man who had been brought to our small group by a visitor to the church. He and I only got to speak for a short time before we found ourselves in conversation with one student, and then that conversation was soon joined by another.

The conversation was wide ranging and really kicked into gear when they asked and found out that I was a pastor. I’m much more comfortable asking than answering questions. But what a wonderful challenge to try to give expression to historic Christianity in a context where it does not normally sit well.

My new friend and I will meet again, and at a place where we can really talk. But I’m reminded of what HPC associate Geoff Henderson recently posted: in an age when the world does not come to the church, the church needs to go to the world. That is the punch line, if there is to be one.