On June 16th, I met up with the group of Westmont alumni/families and flew from Los Angeles to Frankfurt to Athens. I joined them in a Footsteps Ministries’ tour of Historical Cities that Changed the World, with stops at Athens, Corinth, Istanbul and Rome. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips and having taught about Ancient Greece and Rome and how Constantinople came to be, I was thrilled to see these places firsthand and widen my Biblical and historical perspective of the area.
What made the trip even more worthwhile was the group of people I was able to travel with! Being fellow Westmont alumni, we exchanged stories of life during and after Westmont, and they served as a major inspiration for continuing to trust in God’s faithfulness and timing in all things. Our leaders, David and Elizabeth Sparks with Footsteps Ministries were just phenomenal with introducing us to each country’s culture and history and helping the group connect the dots between specific themes or times in the Bible.
Part of my observations are historical, some Biblical and some very personal take-aways from my journey.
1st stop: Athens!
As the plane began its descent over Greece, I peered out the window at the peaks of mountains, rows of cyprus trees and vineyards, and I confirmed the song my 6th graders created about early Athens (the sea traders and why they needed to colonize) and Sparta (the farmers). We were in Athens!
With Greece recently suffering from huge economic strain, I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived. Apart from our comfortable hotel overlooking the Parthenon, most buildings were apartments and there was graffiti in a lot of areas, especially outside the main tourist squares. But still, nationalism and pride were strong, as Greek flags seemed to don the outside of most apartment balconies. A city of 4.5 million people, Athens had homes that seemed to spread for miles in all directions.
The next morning, excitement trumped jet lag as I sprang out of bed ready to join the group in exploring Athen’s Ancient Acropolis. We headed to the Acropolis Museum first, where the Athenians had carefully displayed parts of the Parthenon pediment up close, as well as a host of other Ancient Greek artifacts.
Looking at the numerous statues/vessels honoring the gods/goddesses, I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s statement to the Athenians: “I see you are very religious” (recorded in Acts 17). I saw the rows of carved sculptures and engravings of legs, hands, and other body parts that Ancient Athenians would leave outside the temples to remind their gods/goddesses what part of the body they had requested healing for.
After surveying the 4 floors of artifacts in the museum, I came away with this realization: The Ancient Greeks had made gods in their own image. They wondered about the sun rising and invented the story of Helios, who rode his chariot across the sky. But each god/goddess, while maybe excelling in superhuman characteristics, had faults of their own. Icarus flew too close to the sun and fell to his death. Narcissis loved himself so much he drowned chasing his own reflection. Even Zeus, their head-god, had some major issues of his own.
But the God of the Bible is completely holy and perfect. On our own, this is difficult to grasp since we live in a world with sin and sinful nature. But the Lord says clearly through His Word: He doesn’t tempt (James 1:13), change his mind (Numbers 23:19), forsake/abandon those He loves (Deut. 31:6), and cannot sin (1 John 3..). God the Son came in human form to this Earth to prove that once again, despite living with all the temptations of a carnal world, God cannot sin. Jesus, being both fully God and fully Man lived a blameless life in order that He could be the spotless sacrificial lamb, giving himself on the cross in our place and rising from the dead defeating sin and death and coming again to claim that victory once and for all. Now that’s the God that deserves my worship!
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