Apologetics is the discipline of providing a rational defense for the Christian faith. It is derived from the Greek, apologia, meaning – to give a reason or defense. There are a ton of reasons for apologetics to be relevant in the life of the believer. We’ll delve into the most germane over the next few months.
Apologetics is commanded by God. Okay…that’s a pretty good reason for us to take up the call to employ apologetics, God told us to. There are many verses from scripture which fall under the umbrella of us defending the historic Christian faith but there’s probably not one more fitting to be our battle cry than (1 Peter 3:15), “But in your hearts set apart 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.” Simply put – we have to be ready. We may not encounter people who ask tough questions about the Christian faith; however, we still need to be prepared to respond when someone does. Preparedness isn’t just being a walking library of knowledge but also possessing the right attitude. We need to be not only ready but eager and excited to pass along the truth of our faith. When the questions come we need to “give the reason” and recognize that that’s our job – period, The Holy Spirit will take it from there. We’re not responsible for what’s done by those we interact with but we are on the hook to present.
This command also knits together the work of pre-evangelism with Christ as Lord of our hearts. Here’s why…if he’s really Lord and not just our Savior, then the natural flow from us should be one of obedience as “we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need to confront concerns in our minds as well as the thoughts and views of others that hinder us and them in knowing and connecting with God. This truly is what apologetics is.
In Philippians 1:7 Paul refers to his mission as “defending and confirming the gospel.” In verse 16 he adds, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” Super important that we pick up the implication that the defenders of the Gospel, us, are out where we can encounter the world and defend the Truth!
Jude 3 has this to say, “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Jude’s audience had been plagued by false teachers, he needed to urge them to protect (literally agonize for) the faith that had been revealed by Christ. Jude also makes an important statement regarding our attitude – verse 22, “Be merciful to those who doubt.”
An examination of Titus 1:9 prescribes knowledge of evidences as a requirement for church leadership. An elder should “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Paul also provides a picture of what our attitude should be in 2 Timothy 2:24–25: “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to knowledge of the truth.” In answering unbelievers you will be wronged and likely lose your temper, patience or both – but the goal is that they (unbelievers) might come to a saving knowledge of Who Jesus is and understand His great love for them.
Reason demands it. We, humans, were created to reason – this is part of being made in His image (Genesis 1:27; Colossians 3:10). It is reasoning that we are distinguished from “brute beasts” in the NKJV (Jude 10 ). God calls us to use our reason (Isaiah 1:18) to discern truth from error (1 John 4:6) and to identify right from wrong (Hebrews 5:14). Fundamentally, the principle of reason is one that should give sufficient basis for belief.
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” As it’s been said by modern day thinkers he (Socrates) surely would have been accepting of the premise that the unexamined belief is not worth believing. It is our responsibility as Christians to give a reason for our hope. The great command for us to love God was not just with our heart and soul but also with our mind too (Matthew 22:36–37).
People are justified in refusing to believe without evidence. God created us as rational beings, He expects us to live rationally, as the expression goes – look before you leap (informed faith vs. blind faith). Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t push faith out the door, but God wants a step of faith in the light of evidence, rather than a leap into darkness.
The evidence for truth should come before faith. No rational person sits in a chair without some reason to believe it will hold him up. A reasonable person doesn’t get on an airplane that is missing part of a wing. Generally, people deal in two dimensions of belief: 1) belief that; and 2) belief in. Belief that gives evidence and a rational basis for confidence needed to establish belief in. When belief that is established, you can have/place faith in it. So, a rational person requires evidence that God exists before he places his faith in God. Rational unbelievers want evidence that Jesus is the Son of God before they place their trust in Him.
To really appreciate just how relevant apologetics is, we only need to take a look around us. Whether you survey the world as a whole or your own little community it certainly doesn’t take much to see that we are being flooded with an excess of beliefs and ideologies. Secular humanism to New Age mysticism, folks everywhere are being inundated with false/counterfeit ideas and world views. (“world view” is an interpretive framework through which or by which one interprets the world around themselves)
These false world views are so appealing due to their ‘apparent’ ability to make sense of the world/universe in which we live. These respective world views purport to give the correct explanation of reality, giving people some reference by which to order their lives. Additionally, it’s accurate to say that a world view affects almost every aspect of an individual’s life.
In the coming months we’ll be taking a deeper dive into “How?” to defend our Christian world view and with any luck will have some accomplished veterans stopping by to share with us their strategies to glorify God by standing for His truth in a loving way.
GBU – 1 Peter 3:15
