Answering the Postmodern
22/02/09 11:56
We are living
in an age where everyone is a skeptic. Our culture is
steeped into postmodern thought and pragmatic
philosophy; I believe that that is why everyone is a
skeptic. It seems that the “arm-chair”
theologians are coming out of the woodwork attacking
everything that Christians hold dear to their hearts.
These folks are everywhere and can confront us at
anytime. It may be because they just watched the
latest documentary on so-called “new biblical
findings” or some
“made-for-television’ movie, but they
feel empowered with this new knowledge that seems to
undercut the Scriptures. Often times the
conversations with these folks go bad, and tend to
keep subsequent conversations very volatile.
“Don’t go there” is often said to
stop any type of evangelical attempt by sincere
loving Christians. Another stumbling block in
evangelism is the Scriptural ignorance on the part of
both the skeptic and the Christian. It is a weak
defense, Christian, to say, “I read my Bible
five minutes everyday.” I heard a minister on
the radio the other day say that if he could put a
tape recorder in the living-rooms of both the saved
and unsaved for the hours from 6pm to midnight, there
wouldn’t be a nickel’s worth of
difference from the television shows heard on that
tape. I’m afraid that he is right and the
unsuspecting Christian doesn’t realize that he
or she is being boiled into a stew prepared by the
liberal media and seasoned with anti-God propaganda.
We have to call it like we see it folks! Jesus is the
Word, right? Christians winsomely sing, “I know
God!” or, “I know Jesus!” Well, if
you don’t know your Bible –then you
don’t know God! Or, to put it a little more
diplomatically, your knowledge of God is in
correlation with your amount of Scriptural knowledge.
Apologetics is the branch of theology in the defense of Christianity. Its proponents use reason and logic to form their arguments. In my opinion, Ravi Zacharias is the most anointed apologist living today. While attending one of his seminars a few years back, I asked him how far apologetics could take the unsaved? Can someone be converted by reason and logic alone when we know the Scriptures say, “we are saved by grace –through faith…?” I asked him this during the lunch break and just before the afternoon session was about to begin. Being a minister myself, I knew that the time just before he ministered he would want to be talking to God, not to some inquisitive fellow that should have known better. I apologized profusely and he was very gracious to lead me to some authors that had helped him. But what he told me was exactly what I felt in my heart all along. All of the tools that Christians use to try to win the lost can only take us so far. Sometimes apologetics isn’t the tool; sometimes it is a song, a sermon or maybe a cake to the new family in the neighborhood. Ultimately it is God who causes the increase. It is the work of the Spirit that brings them to the Cross and changes their lives. Peter tells us to be ready to give an answer to those who would question our hope and Paul tells us to be instant in season and out of season. One man sows and another waters but it is God who brings the growth. Here is a little secret on evangelism: True conversion brings the sinner to the Savior. At the Cross of Christ, the penitent lays down his pride, his self-justification and all his excuses. For years, especially here in America, the Church has tried to answer life’s toughest questions for the unbeliever while attempting to let them hold on to their self-esteem and narcissistic behavior. The answer for today’s society is the same answer that was the Answer for yesteryear’s –the Cross of Jesus Christ. The old hymn still sings true; “At the Cross, At the Cross, where I first saw the light. And the burdens of my heart rolled away…” Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Cross of Christ is God’s greatest victory and the Answer for all!
Apologetics is the branch of theology in the defense of Christianity. Its proponents use reason and logic to form their arguments. In my opinion, Ravi Zacharias is the most anointed apologist living today. While attending one of his seminars a few years back, I asked him how far apologetics could take the unsaved? Can someone be converted by reason and logic alone when we know the Scriptures say, “we are saved by grace –through faith…?” I asked him this during the lunch break and just before the afternoon session was about to begin. Being a minister myself, I knew that the time just before he ministered he would want to be talking to God, not to some inquisitive fellow that should have known better. I apologized profusely and he was very gracious to lead me to some authors that had helped him. But what he told me was exactly what I felt in my heart all along. All of the tools that Christians use to try to win the lost can only take us so far. Sometimes apologetics isn’t the tool; sometimes it is a song, a sermon or maybe a cake to the new family in the neighborhood. Ultimately it is God who causes the increase. It is the work of the Spirit that brings them to the Cross and changes their lives. Peter tells us to be ready to give an answer to those who would question our hope and Paul tells us to be instant in season and out of season. One man sows and another waters but it is God who brings the growth. Here is a little secret on evangelism: True conversion brings the sinner to the Savior. At the Cross of Christ, the penitent lays down his pride, his self-justification and all his excuses. For years, especially here in America, the Church has tried to answer life’s toughest questions for the unbeliever while attempting to let them hold on to their self-esteem and narcissistic behavior. The answer for today’s society is the same answer that was the Answer for yesteryear’s –the Cross of Jesus Christ. The old hymn still sings true; “At the Cross, At the Cross, where I first saw the light. And the burdens of my heart rolled away…” Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Cross of Christ is God’s greatest victory and the Answer for all!
|