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Apologetics 101
The word, apologetics, sounds a lot like apologize. Though they both have the root word “defense” in common, they mean two entirely different things. Apologetics is the act of defending ones doctrine or beliefs. It comes from 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” The word, defense, is translated from the Greek words, pros apologia, which means an answer for or a defense of.
Let’s look in depth.
Answer for. There are times when someone may inquire as to what you believe and why you believe it. Why are you a Christian? Why do you believe that Jesus is God? How do you know Jesus was raised from the dead? What do you think your religion is the right one when there are so many? If God is so loving, why did He create Hell? People who want to know more about our faith may ask these questions or questions like them. We need to be prepared always to have answers for their questions. Jesus was asked many times about religion and His doctrine (John 4:1-26, John 14:5, Matthew 19:1-10, 16-26), yet He never shied away from honest questions and neither should His disciples.
Defense of. Jesus had said earlier that the devil was the ruler of this world (system). C. S. Lewis once said that Christians live in enemy-occupied territory. Because the world system is ruled by the devil and occupied by sinful humans, Christians will face persecution (John 16:33). Part of this persecution is the need to defend our faith against skeptics and mockers. Instead of dealing with inquirers, we are dealing with inquisitors. How do you know Jesus is the only way? What makes your religion the correct religion and makes everyone else’s religion false? How do you know there is a God? Why should I believe the Bible when it was written by a bunch of shepherds thousands of years ago? What difference can Jesus who lived two thousand years ago make in my life today? These are all questions that unbelievers and deniers of the faith will ask, not for information but in an attempt to expose us as frauds. Whether standing before mockers or kings, Christians should be able to give a coherent defense of what they believe and why they believe it. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:41-42, “Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord— Your salvation according to Your word. So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.” Later he writes, in verse 46, “I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed.”
Argue with. Some in the faith believe that the word, apologia, not only means to defend or give answer to, but also to argue with. It does not. At least, not in the colloquial sense of “to argue” meaning to contend, combat, or strive against, as in a verbal tug-of-war. Christians are not called to argue with anyone to prove a point. You can present an argument, a logical statement of position, without arguing. The idea of defending the faith is so people can enter into the Kingdom because they can see that our faith is not an illogical, blind faith, but one of reason and evidence. You will never argue anyone into the Kingdom. At best, you will turn them off. At worst, you will fortify an enemy of the Cross.
The importance of studying.
God has called and commissioned us to be His witnesses. Part of being a witness is to be able to give an answer to questions that people have about a faith we claim to be so dear to us. In some regards, giving an answer or a defense is giving a testimony. People may be able to argue with facts but they cannot argue with a testimony (unless it is a false one). If you know Christ personally, if you have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, no one can argue with that—unless your life does not reflect it—then it is a false testimony. But if the testimony is real, what argument can a person give against it?
How do we present a cohesive answer or defense of our faith? Any lawyer will tell you that the key to a good defense (or prosecution) is preparation—knowing the ins and outs of the case and the law pertaining to the case. Similarly, a Christian is able to adequately defend him- or herself or to give an answer only by knowing the Word of God and knowing the God of the Word. We should prepare ourselves to give an answer or to defend what we believe, lest we either put Christ to shame or prove ourselves to be false witnesses of Christ.
This type of studying is often called, self-feeding, as compared to being fed. Being fed by others is easier, but studying God’s Word for yourself not only allows you to study what you want at your own pace, but it also allows you to get from the Word the interpretation and application the Spirit gives and not someone else’s. Then you truly own what you’ve learned because you got it directly from the Source (John 16:13-14, 1 Corinthians 2:11-16).
In conclusion, I believe the Apostle Paul said it best: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV).”
Essentials of a Church
Church Steeple
This entry is probably more opinion-based than scripture-based but I felt this needed to be said. I was thinking this morning about people who say they don’t go to church because it is full of hypocrites. I’ve addressed that issue in a previous blog entry. To sum it up, it all boils down to this: if you love Jesus and you want to obey Him, you would not let hypocrites stop you from assembling with other believers who love Jesus and who want to praise Him.
The other thing that occurs to me is that people say the church is always asking for money. For some churches, this is true. Some smaller churches ask for money because they need it to meet the church’s obligations but the people are not paying the tithes God asked them to that would support the church. Because of this, some churches have to ask for money to give a love offering to guest speakers because there is no money in the church’s coffers to do this. Then there are the prosperity preachers. They are always asking for money to increase both the church’s treasury, and their own, with the promise of a return from God down the road. Yet, there is nowhere in the Bible this is mandated or promised.
So this got me thinking: what is the make-up of a “good church”? I believe there are several things a new believer (or even an established believer) needs to look for when picking a new church. So, in no particular order:
Sound biblical teaching. I believe this is a crucial thing a God-honoring, God-endorsed church needs. The teaching must be in line with other scripture and the whole counsel of God not just what the preacher believes or wants to teach. The preacher/teacher must also encourage his congregants to search the scriptures for themselves and not just take his word for it because he, too, is fallible. This is one thing that Paul applauded the Bereans for—they didn’t take the teachings of people at face value but they tested their teachings against the revealed Word of God (Acts 17:11).
Emphasis on sin, repentance, eternal life, not just temporal living. A sound church teaches the full counsel of God. This mean they teach the pleasant things and the not-so-pleasant things. Sin and repentance are not pleasant but they are essential to salvation. {I’ll talk more about this is a later entry.} A sound church wants it members to grow more in the image of Christ and to look less like this world (Galatians 5:24). A sound church has an eternal perspective not just a temporal one (Colossians 3:1-2). What good does giving money to gain wealth do if you die the next day in a car accident? What good is it to live a good life if you die and go to hell because you had no relationship with the Author of life? This world is finite but our souls are eternal. A sound church has a biblical worldview and an eternal perspective.
Jesus is exalted. Christ is the head of the Church. A sound church exalts Him and not the world. Praise songs should be about lifting up the name of Jesus. He is the One who saved us and called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. He is the Author and the Perfecter of our faith.
Worship style. This is the most subjective of all. Everyone’s worship style is different. Some like hymns while others like contemporary. Some like a blend of both. There are churches that are for those who like country music, rap, rock, Vineyard, Celtic, Ethnic, Gospel, and Southern Gospel. The point is for the believer to find a church that worships in a way that speaks to them. God wired us all differently. There are congregations out there that any believer of any taste of music can be a part of.
Desire of believers for spiritual growth. Do the members of the church desire to grow spiritually or are they satisfied with superficial teaching? Do they desire to seek out the deep things of God? Do they desire to have a deeper walk and relationship with Him? Do they want meat or just milk? If they are happy with the milk, move on. Some churches are full of hypocrites because they are full of people who are happy with the milk and shun the meat.
Feeling of belonging. This is another crucial part of a church. If there were a list of the things that turn people off from church, at the top would be the teaching and the people. Who wants to be part of a cold church where when you walk in no one speaks to you or even acknowledges you were there. (That has happened to me.) If truly the love of Jesus is in the hearts of its members, even the most introverted person will leave feeling welcomed. Then there are the cliques. Yes, even churches have cliques. These are social groups that hang together at the church (or even outside the church) that no one else can be a part of. This is not biblical. We should welcome everyone and everyone should feel comfortable talking to anyone. If there is no feeling of connection, visitors will leave and not come back. Not only that, they will tell others about their experience. So, no matter how sound of doctrine a church has, if a person doesn’t feel they belong, they will not be there to hear it.
Shepherded. This goes hand-in-hand with a sense of belonging; however, this is about feeling more connected with the leadership. For smaller churches, do you have a connection with the pastor? Does he know you or your family? Has he reached out to you? How about the deacons or ministry leaders? Do they know your name? Have you been invited to be a part of a ministry? For larger churches where the pastor cannot possibly know everyone, does it have a cell, pod, or small group leader that you can interact with? Are they aware of your personality, gifting, and needs? Have they reached out to you to be a part of ministry or fellowship? Do you feel that you are getting the spiritual nourishment and guidance you need from leadership? Whether it is a senior pastor or small group pastor, you should not feel like a castaway Christian who has to fend for himself all alone on an island of salvation. If you do, move on.
These are just a few of the things that I believe people need to consider when picking a church. Now I know there are things that I have left off that you will remind me of, like ministries and community involvement, but I felt these are the essentials. If a church has these things, there shouldn’t be too many hypocrites in it for long.
The Call to Disciple
God’s Word
Why disciple? The church needs teachers. Teaching, in fact, is one of the core missions of the church. Ephesians 4 tells us the God gave some [people] to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12, emphasis added). As a friend once pointed out, there is no comma between pastor and teacher because a pastor must be a teacher. His job is to equip the saints—giving them the spiritual tools they need to do the work God has given them—witnessing to the lost.
Discipleship is not new. It did not come into being at the dawn of the church age. Discipleship has been around as long as Israel has been around. God commanded the Israelites in the Book of Deuteronomy to disciple their children. “You shall teach them [God’s commands] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:7).” Later in the Proverbs, Solomon reiterates this command: “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).” Parents are called to be the main disciplers of their children not the church.
Jesus commanded that we be disciplers of men. In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:18-20, emphasis added).”This Commission is repeated in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:15). It was never the Christian’s job to convert anyone. It was, and still is, the Christian’s responsibility to make disciples. We are called to be two things: witnesses and teachers. When we evangelize, we are simply telling the Gospel story and leaving the results up to God. We can attempt to persuade but the end decision is theirs and the end result is God’s.
Discipleship was the model Christ gave us. When He came to earth and began His ministry, He chose twelve men. These men would accompany Him and watch Him do His work. He would then send them out to do it. Talk about on-the-job training. The model was later used in the Church. Barnabas took Paul under his wings and taught him. Later, Paul took Timothy, Titus, and few others under his tutelage. In his final letter to Timothy, Paul charged Timothy to do the same thing: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2).”
There is a desperate need for discipleship in the church. First, it is essential to disciple new believers. Those new to the faith do not fully understand even the fundamental doctrines of the faith. They are babes and they need to be taught the core beliefs. As Peter told his church, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.” I believe that this is one of the reasons churches have what has become known as the revolving back door. New members join but they don’t stick around because they are not being spiritually fed. And like any starving soul, they look for nourishment elsewhere.
Second, there is so much false doctrine being taught in our seminaries, on television, and even in our churches. Christians need to be taught the truth so that they will be able to distinguish it from error. Paul wrote “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (Ephesians 4:14).” If you don’t know what you believe and why you believe it, you will fall for anything (any lie of the devil or trick of slick talkers). [In another lesson, I will discuss False Doctrine and False Teachers.]
And finally, we should disciple other Christians because it was the model Jesus gave us. As mentioned earlier, it was the method Jesus used to train the twelve. It was the model Barnabas used to train Paul and Paul later used to train Timothy. It should be the same model we use to train others. It is not solely the responsibility of the pastor to teach the Word but it is the responsibility of every mature believer. Just as a parent teaches a child how to walk and to talk, mature Christians should teach newer Christians what the Bible says about how to live godly.
Not only are we to teach or train others, but we are to teach them what the Bible says and not what we want the Bible to say. God gives us enough information to form truthful doctrine. We don’t have to add to it or take away from it. For instance, I have heard some say that the reason Cain’s sacrifice in Genesis 4 was not acceptable to God was because it was not a blood sacrifice. However, that is not what the Bible says nor what God said. The Bible said Abel brought of the firstfruits but Cain just brought an offering. Second, the command to offer blood sacrifices for sin had not even been given yet. Third, God told Cain if he did well, he would be accepted. The Hebrew term means to be cheerful or to do good. This suggests that God was referring to Cain’s heart or motive in offering and not his offering itself. As I’ve heard many times and found to be true, the Bible interprets itself. In other words, rarely does the Bible says anything just once but either the command or lesson is repeated in another place.
I hope you see now why discipleship is so important in the church. Without it, people will fall into all sorts of error and begin to believe things that are ungodly. It is because people failed to disciple the next generation that the churches Paul and Peter and Timothy led were rebuked in the opening chapters of Revelation. They had fallen away from the faith and into false doctrine. It is because the generation before ours and our generation have failed to disciple that our society is in the quandary that it is in—godliness on the decline and homosexuality, pornography, greed, and malice on the uptake.
If we want God to bless America, then we need to bless God by studying and teaching His Word…before it’s too late.
Cyber-Discipleship 