It’s common these days to find a plethora of books, seminars, and conferences on the subject of defending the faith. We live in a tough world and we’d better be ready for some fierce battle if we’re going to engage in conversations about Jesus. Right?
Yet the downside of this is that many Christians find themselves doing more defending than advancing. And since we’re never quite sure if we have enough fire-power to keep from getting blown out of the water, we seldom—if ever—find ourselves communicating the wonderful message of Jesus. It’s just too risky.
When asked why we have to be so geared up these days, the answer usually goes something like this: “Things are different today than they were twenty, fifty, or a hundred years ago. We’ve got the internet, advancements in science, and people trust human reasoning more than God." All this is true. Yet every generation faces new challenges, and every generation always seems to think they have it the hardest.
In Jesus’ day there was religious antagonism (Judaism), political hostility (Rome), and competing philosophical ideologies (Greek). So how did the Apostle Paul deal with these? I Corinthians 2:1-5 tells us he didn’t defend the gospel against the thinking of his day but simply proclaimed it: God, sin, love, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and salvation. And lives were changed.
The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries marked the emergence of modern science with developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology and chemistry, which changed the landscape. The Age of Reason (Age of Enlightenment) in the latter 17th and 18th centuries questioned the credibility of Christianity and any thinking not based on justifiable reason.
Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, published in three parts between 1794 and 1807, reflected the cultural change of the times. It defended Deism—that God existed only as Creator without any connection to religion, people, or the Bible—and debunked both the Old and New Testaments. In volume two, Paine pointed out what he considered to be lies and inconsistencies in each of the Old Testament books, as well as the four Gospels. He concluded that only those religions rooted in reason rather than revelation were valid. Thomas Jefferson published what became known as the Jeffersonian Bible, systematically removing any mention of the supernatural in the Gospels, including the resurrection.
It was against this backdrop that two dynamic followers of Jesus appeared on the scene: George Whitefield and John Wesley. The thinking of the time had seriously affected many, and commitment to Christianity and the church was way down. These men took to the streets, speaking thousands of times to thousands of people in England and America, and many thousands became followers of Jesus. And what was their message? God, sin, love, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and salvation. John Whitefield’s favorite sermon text was the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3: You must be born again. They didn’t defend the gospel against the culture; they simply proclaimed it.
Then came the work of Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, using science to promote a theory that challenged the need for God even as Creator. Humanism, a view that asserts the nonexistence of God and places humanity at the center of everything, got better organized in the early 20th century and made major advances in education. By mid-century, this overflowed into a period of radical unrest in America, challenging existing norms and values and those responsible for their enforcement.
But then something happened. It started small in California, but soon rippled across the country and the world. Today we know it as the Jesus Revolution, and its message was clear: God, sin, love, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and salvation. Thousands upon thousands discovered that what they had been hoping in didn’t work. The good news of Jesus provided a better way.
Every generation deals with the same issue in various forms: sin—a rebellion against the ways and authority of God. Those of every generation will gladly parrot cultural thinking if it keeps them secure in their independence. It has little to do with intellectual reasoning and more to do with feelings, emotions, and desires.
I often spoke open-air on college campuses during the 1970s and '80s to engage students in their questions about Christianity. It was a very productive experience, and I'm sure I heard just about every objection in the book! In the process I discovered two things that have affected my approach to the gospel to this day.
First, most have a very poorly constructed patchwork of objections to Christianity. They're usually only repeating things they've heard or read and have never given it serious thought. Secondly, they know very little about the Bible and have little understanding of the true Gospel. So, today my objective is simple: a) give them a clear explanation of the gospel so they can at least know what they don’t believe, and b) get them to begin reading the Bible so they can at least know what it says. Now the Holy Spirit has something to work with!
Does this mean the gospel doesn’t need defending? That depends on what we mean by defending. While Paul references his defense of the gospel twice in the first chapter of Philippians (vs 7,16), both times he’s reinforcing his commitment to keeping its proclamation pure: sin, Jesus, love, the cross and resurrection, and salvation. Peter tells followers of Jesus to “always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). He's telling them they should be able to clearly explain the gospel as the foundation of their lives at a moments notice.
There is no question the field of apologetics provides valuable historical, scientific, philosophical, and logical data to support the credibility of Christianity. It has its place and has benefited many, including me. But the problem comes when followers of Jesus think they can’t engage in conversations with others about Jesus without it, which just isn't true!! I’ve spent hundreds of hours in its study and, while it’s built my confidence as a follower of Jesus, I seldom us even a fraction of what I’ve learned when talking with others about Jesus. My approach is to answer questions as briefly as possible so the conversation can turn to the gospel. You can find these kinds of abbreviated, bite sized answers at https://www.thereforeproject.com/bite-size-answers.
Use whatever you can to build your confidence as a communicator of the gospel, but don’t get stuck in the endless cycle of thinking you don’t know enough. You may need training in how to engage with those who don't know Jesus, but if you have a good grasp of the gospel message and can tell your own story, you’re well on your way.
Never forget that the gospel needs proclaiming way more than it needs defending because it alone has the divine power to change a life today, tomorrow, and forever.