Monday, March 29, 2010

Defense of the Gospel

I have heard many Christians take part in lengthy intellectual discussions with nonbelievers regarding the faith and justifications for the faith. I have long questioned the value and fruit of such conversations and felt that it is better to stay away from highly intellectual areas of sharing the Gospel and stick with the truth of Scripture. I think that its also good to take unbelievers' eyes off of the thinking side of all of it and instead focus them on Christ and what he has done personally in our lives.

I was reading a friend's blog and he was talking about just this thing. I would highly encourage you to read it by clicking here. The main portion to read is what is italicized. This is a way of explaining the truth of God and what He does and means in our lives that I have never heard before. I think that it is excellent because it will meet a person where they are at, connect with them, and show them the truth in what is being said, rather than taking 4 hours to debate the intellectuality of it all only to shut their soul off to the whole message. The one thing that I see as important in this is that one properly explains that, while our encounter with God needs no more justification than their use of drugs, sex, money, etc..., our encounter with God is entirely different because we walk away satisfied and full of life.

May you be prepared in and out of season to give a response to those who ask about the hope that you have. May you think about, ponder, and formulate creative ways for expressing your relationship with God and what it means to you. May you listen to the Holy Spirit as God teaches you the things of Him and grows in you a spiritual understanding that is always applicable to life. May you speak the truth to those around you.

2 comments:

  1. Ahhhhhh. I was pointed to Carl's blog by Pam Hill after this post. Pam and I have been back and forth on this topic of what I call 'the good life' apologetic. It's actually what I'll be posting on later this week.

    Being part of Worldview has provided me with many wise men who believe very strongly in the use of intellectual apologetics, and so I have heard many good arguments for studying and using them, and they are clearly warranted by Scripture. That said, I understand your point of view that they often disintegrate into arguments that lead no where, and because of that I have argued at Worldview for a stronger focus on the power of God and the Holy Spirit in our evangelism and apologetics.

    I encourage you to check our my blog later this week where I am responding to 'the good life' apologetic.

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  2. I am looking forward to reading your posts. As I ended my post, I think it is important to be prepared to give a defense of the hope that we have. I am very interested to see what you have to say on the topic, but I'm not sure that I'm recommending a 'good life' apologetic, which I understand to mean sharing the gospel through one's life RATHER than through one's words. Rather, I am proposing revising what we say and making it more applicable and 'real life', so to speak. I'm not sure if that all made sense...

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