A Walk Through Corinth and Athens

I listened to the patter-clack noise that my feet made as they stepped lightly on the stone pathway, and the sound took me back thousands of years. Did Paul's feet make the same comforting sound when he took strolls through Corinth on sunny, warm days in October? Or was the city always bustling with buying and selling and so much activity that he didn't even notice the clack-clack of his sandals against the gray stones that form the streets of Corinth? 

I am currently on a single missionary women's retreat in Athens, Greece, with eighteen other amazing women who are serving Jesus and ministering to his people around the entire world. 

We've got people who have or are presently serving in over twenty-eight countries including Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, South Africa, Burkina Faso (that's me!), Ghana, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Germany, Scotland, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Australia, and multiple countries in Asia. That's pretty cool. 

Our guide was leading all of us through the ancient city of Corinth, but I was lagging ten steps behind, just reflecting and feeling a moment that transcended time and place. I was entering Paul's world, walking in his footsteps, trying to see what he saw and experience a small part of his life. I tried to picture his tent making shop. Where was the house of Aquila and Priscilla, his friends and fellow Christian comrades? Where did Silas and Timothy like to hang out and where did Paul take them when he wanted to mentor them or teach them something that he loved about God? Where did Paul sit as he penned the book of Romans? (Acts 18 recounts Paul's 18 months in this city, where he preached, planted a church, and wrote the book of Romans.)

Surreal is not the right word. Super-experiential. Emotional. Inspiring. Extraordinary. Transcending. Awe. No, those words just aren't enough. It's like I felt a new emotion that can only be described with a new word that I don't have. 

Then we gathered in a circle in front of the Bema, the building where Gallio would have stood to judge the accused Paul (Acts 18:12), who would have been tied to the stone pillar in the middle of the circle where we stood. 

It was here that the city people stood against Paul, accusing and probably yelling at him. It was here that Paul was persecuted, surrounded by glares, awaiting a decision, and probably afraid. And it was here that we held hands, read his story straight from the Word of God in the exact place where it happened, and we sang "Send the Light".

I have heard the Macedonian call today

Send the light, send the light

There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save

Send the light, send the light

Send the light, the blessed gospel light

Let is shine from shore to shore

Send the light, the blessed gospel light

Let it shine forevermore 

This time no one was glaring, no one was accusing, no one was silencing, and no one was persecuting. In fact, a little family kept hovering nearby, listening to our tour guide share he gospel and hearing our sweet melody of praise. We were free to worship in the place where Paul had whispered silent prayers, and where God had answered him...

"Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." (Acts 18:9-10)

Corinth was a dark place in the day of Paul. We saw evidence of this in the statues and idols that have been found and preserved, which showed the obsession with sexuality, idolatry, human reason, and materialism. 

It was this that made Paul afraid, it was when the people of the city brought him before Gallio that made him tempted to be silent, and it was the words of his King that made him keep preaching. 

"Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."

As we stood in the place where he stood, we could see evidence of this prophecy fulfilled. Not far away is a Corinthian Christian church that holds more than 2,000 people. God did indeed have many people in the city of Corinth, but Paul may not have seen it in his lifetime. 

I held such a high regard and respect for Paul in that moment for his missionary travels, his living in a foreign and dark place, having fear, facing persecution, feeling Gods comfort. I've felt many if not all of those same things to some degree in Burkina, and God strengthened me in that moment with the same words he gave to Paul in Corinth. And I began to see that he has people in my city and will fulfill prophecies through me too, even if I don't see it in my lifetime. 

After our tour of Corinth, we climbed up the Acropolis of Athens, the same mountain that people climbed to worship the goddess Athena in the Parthenon. In Paul's day it would have been filled with statues and idols (some of which we saw in the museum nearby) and people giving offerings, gifts, and sacrifices. We ascended Mars Hill, which is believed to be the spot where Paul gave his famous sermon in Acts 17, and as we read that passage as we sat atop the rocks, it all made sense. The Bible same to life, and we were once again transcending time and space and stepping into Paul's world. 

Everyone present could have looked up at the Parthenon and seen the evidence of their religious activity as people climbed up with the sacrifices and offerings, as they gathered at the top to worship. That's why Paul said, "I can see you are a very religious people (v. 22)." 

His words ring out with new power and truth as he says, "The God who made the world and everything in it, being lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man (v. 24)," like the giant temple that towered above them and was visible from every point of view in the city of Athens below. 

"...nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything (v. 25)," he says as they watch people ascending the mountain with their gifts of service. 

"We ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man (v. 29)," making each listener think about the 13-meter high gold and ivory statue of Athena inside the Parthenon. 

Paul went on preach the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ, calling the people to repent right there at the base of the largest center of idolatry in the city. 

I sat on the rocks and hugged my knees and wondered where Paul had stood as he gave the message. Was it over there on that high rock, higher than the rest? Did people listen right from where I am seated, listening to Paul's words while looking up at the Parthenon and down at the city and wondering if it could be true? 

Our tour guide, a Christian Greek, says that missionaries need to read Acts 17 and 18 every week, and now after being in the places where these stories actually took place, I can understand why. Not just every missionary, by every Christian can be inspired by the words of Paul. His life. His courage. His boldness. His witness. I know I'll never read those stories and those chapters the same. I pray that they will continue to renew my strength each time I read them in such a way as they did today, and that we will all be empowered and inspired to live out our faith with strength and boldness like Paul did so long ago. 

We have a legacy of faith, a cloud of witnesses, and a line of gospel heroes to cheer us on. 

Most of all, we have a faithful Father who says, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."