The Need for Apologetics
For two years I had tried to persuade my pastor to allow me to teach a small group or conference on apologetics. I set up appointments so he and his staff could get to know me. I shared my background and experiences, gave them opportunities to ask me questions, and even offered references from other churches where I had taught. I offered to show videos and facilitate discussions on the teachings of well-known apologists like Greg Koukl, Frank Turek, and J. Warner Wallace so the church leadership wouldn’t need to worry about platforming a heretic, and I shared my blog so they could see my work for themselves. Several months later, the entire church leadership admitted they had not read my blog and probably never would.
Over the next couple of years I continued to offer to introduce apologetics to our congregation through any format deemed appropriate, but nothing came of it. Eventually, my husband was relocated and our pastor, along with a dozen others, helped us load our moving truck in exchange for pizza, soda, and one last evening of fellowship.
During our conversation, as we were sitting on the empty floor, eating pizza on paper plates and drinking soda from plastic cups, my pastor mentioned that he frequently visited a certain coffee shop in the area that was very unfriendly to Christianity. The owners even had a sign on the wall that said, “No crazy talk”, which they had made clear included talk of Jesus, miracles, and the gospel. I commented that it seemed like the ideal place to share truth with people who needed to hear it, and I asked if that had been his experience.
“How do you even begin to discuss those things in an environment where the gospel isn’t welcome,” he replied.
“Personally, I would go with the Cosmological Argument, but you could always share the Teleological Argument. If you’re talking to college students, though, I’d definitely look for opportunities to share the Moral Argument. Young people seem to relate most to that line of reasoning,” I said.
“Sorry, what did you say,” he asked, as if I had just begun speaking in tongues in front of his Presbyterian congregation.
“The Cosmological Argument,” I repeated.
Blank stare.
“And the Teleological Argument”
“Teleo-what,” he asked quizzically.
“It means having a purpose or a design,” I explained.
“So how would you go about sharing these arguments with non-Christians,” he asked.
It was getting late and we were all exhausted, but this was important. This is what I had wanted to share for two straight years. I looked at my watch and told them I needed four minutes per argument in order to explain adequately. I was given the green light, and for the next twelve minutes I summarized for my pastor and about ten others what I had not been able to share with the congregation.
When I finished talking, people began clapping, ooh-ing, and aw-ing. “Wow,” someone said. That was amazing. You should do TED Talks!”
The pastor chimed in, “That’s remarkable. I wasn’t familiar with those arguments.”
I don’t share this story to point out how great I am (although I certainly won’t object to that conclusion 😊) And I definitely don’t share it to bash my pastor. He is wonderful in so many ways, and in all honesty, I believe he was exactly the pastor I needed for that difficult season. I share this story because the unfortunate reality is that his attitude toward apologetics represents that of most pastors I’ve known, and we simply must do better.
The larger culture is racing toward secularism faster than at any time in U.S. history. Young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate. And churches across the nation are failing to equip their congregations to interact with the world around them. Parents are sending their children to youth group, where they learn how to flirt with boys, throw water balloons, and (in the best-case scenario) listen to Bible-based lectures and memorize Scripture verses, but they aren’t being convinced of the reasons why the Bible or its verses ought to matter to them. And so, when the ridicule comes at them from the world, which it inevitably will, and when there is a cost to maintaining a Christian lifestyle, the verses are tossed aside and alternative worldviews are embraced.
But there is an answer! It’s called apologetics, and it’s critical to any Christian’s walk with the Lord. In fact, it is commanded of all of us in 1 Peter 3:15-16. And yet pastors across the country fail to communicate this essential information to their vulnerable flock, even as seminary-trained apologists beg them for opportunities to stand in the gap.
If you are a pastor, and you are not already equipping your people with apologetics, you are not pastoring them adequately. I implore you to please learn the general arguments that apologists make, and to entrust reliable people to lead classes so that your congregation is always prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks them for a reason for the hope that is in them! If you are not personally able to make time for this, order DVDs for people to watch, such as Focus on the Family’s True U; I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek; Tactics by Greg Koukl; and Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace. Show debates by William Lane Craig, and write out questions to guide their thinking. Task members with talking to non-Christians regularly to ask them for their best arguments against Christianity, and then put your researchers and readers in charge of finding the answers to be shared with others.
If you are not a pastor, and your church is not equipping you to share even the simplest arguments that apologists make, I hope you will request this critical knowledge. If the request is denied, find it yourself and teach it to your children and friends, or go to a church that does value this essential knowledge. If you are unable to explain the three arguments mentioned above, I dare to say that you are not equipped to obey the command of 1 Peter 3 or to emulate the examples found throughout the Bible for how to defend the truth.
I promise you we cannot afford another generation of playing church without learning the reason for the hope that we have. Let’s stop the foolishness and get to work.
