The Rest of Us

5/9/18                Dan      (video)           about 45

So what about the rest of us?

I’m so grateful for all the truly gifted evangelists, preachers, bible scholars and apologists out there, exercising their gifts and living out their callings as men and women chosen of God for such a time as this.  I have learned so much from their clear teaching, their biblical insights, and their cultural analysis through their books, videos, sermons and lectures.  

I’ve learned so much from the experts, but unfortunately, I remember so little.

I’ve learned enough to know there is good solid evidence for my Christian faith.  There is solid biblical and theological evidence for our orthodox beliefs, strong archeological and historical evidence for the authority of the Bible, and solid philosophical and logical evidence for a defense of God’s existence and purposes in the world.  Likewise, there is plenty of strong evidence against the various secular and religious beliefs and philosophies that undermine or attempt to replace Christian faith.

I know the specific evidence is there, but I just can’t remember much of it when I need it the most!

Conversational evangelism is so different from, say, preaching a sermon because one can’t really know ahead of time where the conversation will go.  I have a terrible memory for details, so I am usually not citing many apologetic facts or much biblical chapter and verse.  After most conversations, I am motivated to do some research to defend my beliefs, but by then it is too late and I usually forget the details long before the next time I want to recall them.  I am pretty sure I am not alone in this.

For many years I was motivated to share the Gospel, but I gave up trying to initiate conversations due to my poor ability to articulate and defend my faith.  Fortunately, I could prepare ahead of time for, say, a Bible study or a Gospel presentation at a youth group gathering, so I was able to share the Gospel that way.  But that meant waiting for people to come to me rather than going out to where people are at.  I also want to go out to share the Gospel with passersby in the streets or in the marketplace.

Like Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 9 – “I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” – or at least to share it somehow.  I’m not a gifted preacher, and I am slow to recall facts or scriptural references.  I can’t persuade people through great oratory skills or out-debate them with a sharp memory for details.  So I have learned to be a good listener to share the basic Gospel message and to testify how God has been working in my life.  

However, every so often I start to depend on my own abilities far more than I should, and I get an embarrassing reminder of why I need to be completely dependent on the power and authority of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to do the work of persuasion that I can never do.

That’s what happened in a recent street corner conversation with a man named Mike, which devolved into a pointless debate about apologetics, each of us trying our best to quote our favorite experts.  I offer it as an example of what not to do, of what happens when we rely merely on our own human effort.

We are called to bear witness to the gospel with the goal of making disciples, not to win arguments or debates.  For me, the real value of all the apologetic evidence for our Christian faith is not to win arguments, but just to show that as a reasonable person I listen to both sides of the debate and am able to give at least some defense of my faith.  

It also helps me personally later on, after my faith is shaken by the questions and claims of skeptics, to help give me renewed confidence that evidence for the Gospel is, indeed, reasonable and convincing.  In the meantime, we have the Holy Spirit and God’s moral law to help us appeal to the heart of our hearers, rather than depending on apologetics.

In my conversation with Mike, it felt like God and the Gospel were on trial, rather than using God’s law as I should have  to help Mike understand that he, in fact, is the one to be judged.  The law is meant to help others see where they stand in relation to God so that they can understand their need for the Savior.  It should be used to help us share the Gospel at the level of the conscience, not the intellect.  Instead, my poor ability to defend the faith intellectually was put to the test, and I failed miserably.  

So what about the rest of us – those of us who don’t have great powers of persuasion or intellectual prowess.  Is there a place for us to share the Gospel too, or should we just leave it up to the “experts”?  

I say, let’s leave it up to the real experts – not necessarily the gifted and talented people God has blessed, but the resources that all of us have been given - the Holy Spirit and the authority of God’s Law.  These are the gifts that can flow through any believer, whether through one of the experts, or through one of the rest of us.

 See my conversation with Mike HERE