Pulpit Apologetics

Introduction

I have been tasked this evening with the topic of pulpit apologetics. It may sound strange at first but through our ministries we defend the faith. Each and every time we stand at the pulpit there is a defense of the faith. The only question is how well we do at defending.

Through this time I want us to think deeply about how we defend the faith from the pulpit, or from our stand, or from your seat at the Sunday School table.

The Necessity of Substance

Our sermons and lessons must have substance first and foremost, there should be more from the Bible than your life, the people listening must know more about the scriptures than about you by the end of it. This is first and foremost because now you have something to defend.

There are so many today that take to the pulpit, read their favorite Bible story, they tell stories for 20 minutes. This is what comes before pulpit apologetics. They cannot do apologetics from the pulpit because they are not even preaching yet.

Why do you think so many pastors lack substance from the pulpit?

How can a lack of substance make it difficult if not impossible to defend the faith?

How can we be sure that we do not lack substance?

The Necessity of Thoroughness

Now that we have substance we are ready to start defending the faith while we teach and preach. The top priority in this it to be thorough.

What does it mean to be thorough while you preach?

Being thorough while we preach means that we do not leave room for objections. We cover the text in such a way that there does not need to be any questions because they were all answered.

What are some things that we can do to help us do this better?

Coming from the perspective of a youth pastor I see this all the time where I will teach a lesson and some of the kids will immediately start to ask questions. At first many would begin to ask while the lesson was going on and it made it difficult for me. I began to think of ways to deal with this and then it hit me, I would not let them ask during the lesson but I would do my best to answer any potential questions through covering the text properly and not leaving any gaps in it. If there is still something they can ask me or their small group leader and it will get addressed.

From the pulpit this is no different except the people are not going to ask you a question in the middle of your sermon, chances are that they are not going to come up to you after the service either, they are still going to have questions though. This is why we need to cover the text fully and thoroughly so that the questions that they have can be answered. This may be to strengthen the congregation or there may be a nonbeliever out there that you are having a apologetics debate with that is all in their head.

How can we ensure that we thoroughly cover the text in our sermons?

The Necessity of Objections

This is by far the most obvious way to do apologetics from the pulpit, it is to use objections in your sermons.

In looking at the sermons of the puritans we see that most of them held to a similar structure, much like how you find so many baptist with a clear introduction, three points, then conclusion. Their structure went more like this; text, doctrine, application. Each of these sections had points and sub points. In the section relating to doctrine there were often objections used as sub points to the points. What this meant is that they would bring a objection to whatever it is that they were talking about and make it it’s own point. They would then address this objection. It was that simple yet it would stand face to face with the hardest of things and face them head on in front of the congregation.

What might be scary or difficult about doing this?

Even the apostle Paul himself did something that resembled this, In Romans 6.1 he goes to say

Romans 6:1 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

He is asking a question that came from what he just said. He was talking about how grace abounds because of our sin. The human mind hears this and thinks well grace is a good thing, maybe I should sin so that there could be more grace! Paul confronts this head on and here is his answer, Romans 6.2

Romans 6:2 ESV

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

He clearly answers it and then explains. This is a big part of what it means to practice apologetics from the pulpit.

What are some specific examples that we can think of for this?

faith alone, if we are saved by faith alone does it matter how we live?

Christ is the only way, isn’t that arrogant?

the Trinity, isn’t God being one and three at the same time a contradiction?

How can we ensure that we do this in our sermons and lessons?

In my sermon writing I look for the things that really stand out as objections to use for this. For the other things I just seek to cover them thoroughly. It is especially easy to see the need to bring forward an objection if it is a hot topic in the world today, for example you might want to bring forward an objection that the lgbtq community would bring up when preaching Romans 1. Also I look for things that have come up in the past in church history, if we are not cautious history will repeat itself. For an example of this you might bring up common objections about the Holy Spirit and you can even reference first century Christians and their battles fought for the proper belief of the Holy Spirit.

The Necessity of Confronting Worldviews

The last part that I have today for pulpit apologetics is to confront opposing worldviews. So many pastors today do not want to specifically name names when it comes to worldviews but the people must be aware of these faulty worldviews and not know why they are wrong.

This is a regular conversation that I have at the church. It starts with someone asking me if I have ever heard of something or someone, I answer that I have heard of them but do not listen to them or read their stuff. They go on about why their stuff is so good and then I shown them how it is all from a bad worldview. They then get concerned or just walk away.

It is important that our people know that opposing worldviews are wrong and why they are wrong. For example if I was preaching Isaiah 43.10 which says

Isaiah 43:10 ESV

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

I could stop after reading this and talk about how Mormons believe that they can become Gods but that clearly goes against this passage. There was no god before the one true God and there will be none after him.

This does not mean that we need to be experts in every worldview but it does mean that it is beneficial to have a basic understanding of the major ones. We should also educate ourselves more on worldviews that are closer to home, Mormons are not far from me but Islam is not in my community yet.

What are some of the biggest worldviews that oppose Christianity right now? What are some of their key issues that we can show are false as we preach and teach?

Conclusion

This is a basis for defending the faith from the pulpit. You want to start with something of substance, without this you have nothing to defend. With that thing of substance you want to be thorough, attempt to cover the text so well there is no room for questions left. While you preach it is helpful to address common and relevant objections that people might have to something, this way you can articulate the truth and how it stands in opposition to other beliefs. Finally it is necessary that we confront opposing worldviews when it is relevant to the text, in this we can show the true way and why it is the true way.

Is there any points that you have thought of that I have missed?