Ready, Aim, Engage!

Ready…

It’s September, and I’m about to launch another 12-week apologetics class at my church.  I’ll be presenting “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist”, based on the best selling book of the same title by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. The class is a great primer on apologetics and gives the student foundational knowledge of some of the philosophical, scientific, and historical evidences for the Christian worldview. 

The goal of the class is to provide answers to four key questions: 

1. Does Truth exist? 
2. Does God exist? 
3. Are miracles possible? 
4. Is the New Testament true? 

While today’s Christian may be tempted to just say “yes” to these and be done with it, I want to equip students with solid reasons and rational responses to better engage with people who have their own questions. Believers sometimes struggle with these four questions when pressed, so the mission field is not limited to people “outside the church walls”. We’ve got a lot of training to do! 

That’s right – not merely teaching, but training.  J. Warner Wallace, one of today’s foremost Christian case-makers, has said “If you want to make a difference in the lives of Christian students, stop teaching them and start training them”. There’s a lot of wisdom in this approach. We must continually train and hone our evangelical “skills” to stay on top of challenges from the ever-shifting culture, as well as those making their way into the church. More on that in a future post. 

Aim…

The discipline of Christian apologetics has six main branches:

1. Biblical Apologetics
2. Philosophical Apologetics
3. Scientific Apologetics
4. Theological Apologetics
5. Cultural Apologetics
6. Experiential Apologetics

Each of these branches offer several approaches making it difficult to master them all. While having a general apologetics foundation is beneficial, we should focus our studies in one or two branches where we can make the greatest impact for the Kingdom. The key here is to discover the area in which you’ll be most effective.

It is also important to surround ourselves with people skilled in other branches of apologetics. We can’t know all of the answers, but we can know where to get help.

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

Martin Luther

Engage!

One can be an expert in their apologetic discipline, but disaster lurks without a strategic plan for engagement. When sharing our case for Christianity, how we interact with others is just as important (often times more important), as the arguments we look to promote. Christians need a way to maneuver within conversations, especially in sensitive matters such as the reality of Hell, the sanctity of human life, the theory of evolution, and such. We need a tactical approach so as not to derail conversations in “the heat of battle” if you will.

Greg Koukl, president and founder of Stand to Reason, has such an approach. I encourage you to grab a copy of his book Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. In it’s pages you’ll discover ways to “present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively”. Seriously, this book should be required reading for anyone looking to engage in meaningful discussions.

Reality Check.

You have no control if the message offends someone and they get upset. We do, however, have control of how we communicate our message. The gospel is offensive all by itself and we don’t need to add anything to it. Christians are called to communicate it, but we must do everything within our power to be gracious, winsome, and attractive when presenting our case.

Mother Teresa once said “God has not called me to be successful. He’s called me to be faithful.” We won’t “win” everyone to Christ with our arguments. In fact, we shouldn’t expect to. Also, don’t be discouraged by the person who seemingly leads someone to the foot of the Cross on the first try. Yes, the Holy Spirit can certainly open someone’s eyes during such first encounters. It’s very likely, however, their eyes have been opened through several encounters with people just like you… the “one dollar apologist” who put a stone in their shoe.