Acts 17:17
In recent times much has been said and written about the need to take our faith and the gospel into the marketplace. Sometimes however we seem to confuse the marketplace with the workplace. In New Testament times the marketplace was a place of public gathering, an arena where the city elders would sit and talk, where conversation took place and entertainment was provided. It was also the venue for traders to bring their produce for sale and for gossip to be exchanged. In short it was the heart of every community.
In the days before television, Internet, radio and even newspapers exchange of news and information was conducted in an entirely different way than it is today. The marketplace was the forum where everything happened. Travelers from other regions would share the latest from the places they had been, the latest philosophies were discussed on street corners and on the plaza and beggars came to receive a few coins to relieve their suffering. Any new religion or belief would be a topic for discussion. The Bible tells us that some religious leaders loved the recognition and applause that came from the marketplace and we read of children sitting there, idle people just lounging around and the sick being brought in case there was someone who could give them healing.
If the good news was going to be preached, this is where it needed to happen. Where else would people from all walks of life, all sectors of society hear the message? When I was pastor of suburban church in a reasonably affluent suburb I would spend hours each day in my office alone. Most people in the community worked and the streets were almost deserted during the day. I found I needed to go and sit in a nearby shopping center just to connect with ordinary people and hope for an opportunity to connect with somebody. The church and its message were not at the intersection of life; they were hidden away in a back street that seldom attracted passing interest.
The marketplace as it was understood in the New Testament is largely absent from today’s society. It has been replaced with mass media and suburban life. However there are still some remnants, there are communities where a market day is a significant part of life, others where the coffee shop strip is a feature and yet others where a significant cultural event provides opportunity for interaction and discussion. The modern shopping mall or retail center has become for many the new marketplace. Young people often go there just to ‘hang out’, sometimes they will go to a movie or have something to eat, but often they will just lounge around talking, enjoying each other’s company and sometimes getting themselves into trouble. Another place where news is discussed and relationships formed is the hotel. The public bar becomes a safe environment in which to share the latest gossip and even personal needs under the liberating influence of alcohol.
Where are the marketplaces of modern life? Where do you go to connect with the people in your community? Are there safe havens you can go to, places where you can be yourself without the need for a mask to hide behind? The disciples knew what they needed to do to get the news of the gospel out: they went to the marketplace. This was where they would find people to speak to. If these men had stayed in the synagogue or even the upper room and discussed among themselves the church would not have been born and it would not have grown. It was good news, people needed to hear it and best way for this to happen was if they went where the people were and told them.