apologetics may 9
Notes
Transcript
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
What is apologetics? The English word “apologetics” comes from the Greek word apologia, which means “defense.”
Every believer, whether they know it or not practices apologetics. Every person in the Bible including Jesus practiced apologetics. It is a matter of how we talk and defend our faith. Typically when we are discussing our faith with non believers in Jesus Christ. Many of us probably think of debates. Paul would go into the synagogues and even government offices to debate the faith. Debate by the way used to be a primary form of how we talked about our differences, unfortunately for us in a digital age the ability to debate has been reduced to 1 minute reels and attempting to catch someone.
For example my preferred way to practice apologetics is with the scriptures and conversation. But first let’s dive into a little background and some starting points. While apologetics has always been around throughout the Bible it really took off under Roman persecution. The Roman’s and particularly Nero blamed the Christians for many things. The word Christian was actually a slur back then. They were accused of being cannibals because of communion.
What we are trying to do with apologetics is two things. But first understand one thing. We do not have the ability to convert someone. You do not have that power. That is between a person and the Lord.
To be obedient to the Lord and Stand on Biblical values
To put a pebble in someone’s shoe
Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources Patristic Apologetics
He also, in his Confessions, made a compelling argument from personal experience: “Thou hast made us for thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”
St Augustine to this day is one of the great theologians. He grew up with a pagan father and a devout Christian mother. He strayed very far from the faith. He loved woman and we can leave it at that. He tried reading the Bible but he felt it was to simplistic. He then fell into a cult called Manichesim and rose to a high place as a teacher. Yet he still struggled. He struggled with his desires and could not get his life together until one day read the Bible again.
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
That day he gave his life to Jesus and become who God meant him to be the entire time.
Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel Apologetics: An Invitation to Come Home
C. S. Lewis stated in The Great Divorce, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.
The baseline to apologetics as both C.S. Lewis and St Augustine point out is that the truth of the world is the truth of God. In our modern world we have vainly attempted to say that truth is somehow subjective. This simply isn’t true. Truth is concrete. The truth is that man is created in the image of God and that through Jesus Christ we can be reconciled to that God. So let's look at worship for example, not necessarily worship music but the act of worship.
Everyone person is wired to worship, this is simply a fact or truth. Now that doesn’t mean that everyone worships God. We have a sin nature that corrupts and thus we can have corrupted worship. However the fact remains that everyone worships something in their life. The question is what are they worshipping? In our times mostly it is self worship, but we have all kinds of idolatry in our world. Politics, sports, celebrities, and then we have false ideologies.
Christians can have corrupted worship as well. The easiest example of this is progressive churches but even in Bible preaching churches can be lead astray as well.
Questions so far?
Basic levels:
The first thing to understand, is that you do not have to have all the answers. You need to have confidence in the Holy Spirit that He is guiding these conversations.
Two: Understand the situation or who you are talking to.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Very quickly about the situational aspect of it. You need to be situationally aware of where you and who you are talking to. This doesn’t mean that you are comprising your faith or anything like that. It means you adjust your approach and your strategy. For example, I testified in a committee for a private school bill. Originally I was supposed to have a minute but that got knocked down to 30 seconds. You can ask my wife or my friends, I can go for a lot longer than a minute. My strategy is different. If I am talking to a fellow brother or sister in Christ , even if it is a difficult conversation, my approach is different. I never come with an attack because I love them. I want them to hear what I have to say, I want to have a conversation about it.
Situational awareness matters. Jesus had situational awareness. He approached sinners looking for a savior differently than He approached the Pharisees. This is most Christians issue right here. 1. They do not think it is their place or 2 they approach the situation incorrectly.
This is why I like conversations, or the ability to ask questions. If I go to somewhere , an event or something, and I do not have the ability to ask questions. I won’t be back again. Listen to the words that people use and you can find out really fast if the person genuinely wants to have a discussion or not.
Questions: Jesus asked a ton of questions during His ministry. You need to ask a lot of questions and let the other person attempt to explain their logic to you.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Everything in life goes back to the Bible. A person cannot be double- minded. That is when confusion and chaos enters the picture because you are not standing on a firm foundation. These are simple questions you can ask people. Why do you believe that? Take evolution for example, for decades they have attempted to prove it. It is why it is still a theory. So someone that doesn’t believe in creation, why do you believe that? Do you know what the mathematical odds are that you would even be alive let alone standing here based on evolution? What are the odds that all of us would all be in this room today?
The other reason why I like to ask questions is because truthfully, people’s worldview today is very shallow. The majority of people get their viewpoints from social media or talking points. They do not get their view points from research and reading. The majority of people cannot express what they think and that includes our elected leaders. Dr. Huffman can tell you better than I can. Questions are asked about bills and you can almost see their minds short circuit because they have to stay with the ideology no matter what but can’t answer a basic question.
Questions put a pebble in someone’s shoe. It also allows them to start to unravel their own worldview and come to their own conclusions.
We can look at the redistricting amendment to see this logic of a shallow worldview. Tell story about speaking with democrats
Another basic tenant of humans is faith. Just like worship everyone puts their faith into something. My faith is in the Lord Jesus. But when it comes to God people want a guarantee
Talk about delivering pizzas. You are putting your faith in the pizza company that they actually used cheese. I put faith into WaWa that it is actually gasoline I am putting in my car. I don’t test it before I use the pump. These are funny examples but the truth is that every person puts their faith into something.
Questions will always lead to deeper conversations. Good conversations lead to great conversations which leads to God conversations.
The final part is our own lives, the testimony of a transformed life by Jesus
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Our lives is the ultimate form of worship and it is the ultimate apologetic. Our lives are to be different, we are to be different , transformed people through the power of Jesus
Look at the disciples during the Gospels and the book of acts.
Preach the Gospel at all time, use words if necessary
Francis of Assisi
