Acts 17:16–24 ‘What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.’
Do you ever wonder how a stretch of marshland either side of a small river became an internationally significant city? How did a village of barley farmers and eel fisherman become a centre of trade, power and influence?
1345 — ‘The Miracle of Amsterdam’ puts the village on the map. Pilgrims flood to see a piece of communion bread a dying man swallowed and vomited up whole that didn’t burn when thrown on a fire. They come from all over Europe with hope and desperation looking for healing. In a century, nineteen monasteries have sprung up around the city.
1416 — Boat builders in Hoorn develop a long, stout, bulging ship, which, along with a significant fish perseveration discovery, allow the Dutch to corner the herring market. At the high point, the province of Holland catch, cask and export 200 million herring per year. Wealth pours into Amsterdam along with sailors and traders from far-flung shores.
1595 — A small fleet of ships commanded by Cornelius de Houtman sets sail for the Spice Islands. The voyage is a disaster in all respects but one — they discover a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia. This sea route opens the way for the birth of the VOC (the Dutch East India Company). The VOC, the world’s largest commercial enterprise, the first multi-national company, the forebear of the modern stock exchange, launches Amsterdam into its golden age.
For a century, along with its trading monopoly, the city leads European thought in philosophy, science, law and art. Descartes, Huygens, Spinoza, Rembrandt (to drop a few names) call the city home and revel in the publishing and cultural tolerance.
Why Amsterdam? Why have people called this city home? They’ve come as pilgrims. They’ve come to worship at the altars of religion and money, business and innovation.
Is the city any different today?
Perhaps today the idols have changed. People come for tolerance, liberalism, lifestyle, opportunity and money. But still people come to search.
‘Cities are built upon the things from which humanity attempts to derive its ultimate significance. Whether centered around a mosque or a financial district, a cathedral or an entertainment sector, all cities are built in honor of and pay homage to some type of a “god.”’ — Stephen T. Um and Justin Buzzard
In Acts 17, when Paul enters Athens, he encounters a city much like ours. ‘Men of Athens,’ he says, ‘I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’.’
In search of meaning, everybody points their live toward something. And where there are many people with many stories, that worship becomes ever more acute, complex and evident.
But, in modern times, as Amsterdam’s population has continued to swell, as worshippers have come into the city, worshippers have left the church. Such has been the decline that the city’s church buildings now house restaurants, offices, art galleries, nightclubs and even a diving equipment shop.
Where Europe was for nineteen centuries the primary home of Christian life and mission, it has become the birthplace and breeding ground of atheism.
How do we respond?
‘If the Christian church does not learn new modes of urban ministry, we will find ourselves on the outside looking in. The Gospel of Jesus Christ must call a new generation of committed Christians into these teeming cities. . . . there really is no choice’ Albert Mohler
Paul’s famous response to the men of Athens is revolutionary — ‘What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man . . .’
He says to the people of Athens, your search for meaning, your worship of all other ‘gods’ is futile. Here is the one true God. Here is the gospel. Here is the only worship.
What do you think their response was? ‘Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.’ But that wasn’t all. ‘Some men joined him and believed.’
‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18
We have found ourselves called by Jesus to this city. We now have a choice about how we approach Amsterdam and its worshippers.
Retreat, consume or …?
Most people approach cities in two ways. Some retreat. Amsterdam is an intimidating place, even living here you could venture into its depths only when absolutely necessary. Others consume. We could take what we can from Amsterdam — wealth, entertainment, opportunity.
We are called to a different way. We are called to settle, to engage, to contribute. We are called to be in the world, living our faith but not part of it, communicating the unique, life-giving gospel.
‘The gospel is the one story that can rewrite all the misdirected stories that our cities are telling. It is the way that worship is rightly reordered and the way in which worship becomes life giving again. At bottom, the God of the gospel is who all worshipers are truly longing to find. Will they locate us, his people, in the city when they start searching for something to worship?’ — Stephen T. Um & Justin Buzzard