I’ve recently been part of an evangelism workshop in a few locations around our diocese. One of my roles in the workshop has been to speak to the “Intellectual Approach” which is one of 6 styles that we cover following Mark Mittleberg’s writing on evangelism styles. The other styles are: Direct, Relational, Testimonial, Invitation, & Service.
It is my conviction that in dealing with Millennials and Gen Z, we need to take a different approach to apologetics (the intellectual style) than in generations before. Therefore I offer the following as my presentation to the audience at our workshops. there are two excellent books on Apologetics that I mention in the presentation. I commend both to you but the Voddie Baucham book is briefer and more direct to the point.
I’m Dave Wright and I’m not really an intellectual, but I worship at our cathedral surrounded by lots of hipsters. So I have that going for me. The name of this approach may have caused you to immediately decide it’s not you. Be open-minded because it’s not as it appears! Really what we are talking about is apologetics, which is something every believer needs to be capable of doing. In fact, I am convinced that this approach is one of the most important ones in the context of the world we live in today.
The word apologetics comes from 1 Peter 3:15. …always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. Apologetics is not apologizing for our faith; it is giving a reason for why we believe what we believe. A simple definition: A reasoned defense of the Christian faith.
The context of 1 Peter 3 is suffering. The exhortation toward gentleness and respect is vital in 2019 and the culture we live in. Never in my half century of life have I seen so much opposition to Christianity in America and persecution in the world. In the polarized context of our society it is vital that we engage in apologetics with gentleness and respect!
Two years ago I took a seminary class on Apologetics (seminary has been a hobby of mine for over a decade). I was shocked to learn that there are many different approaches to Apologetics. We studied five in particular. I want to very briefly tell you about three because I think it’s valuable to see the relevance of different approaches. These are classical, evidentialist, and what I call worldview apologetics.
Classical is about first making a case for the existence of God and then a case for Christianity. It is a two-step process. This is an older and more philosophical approach. Some examples of well known classical apologists are: William Lane Craig, RC Sproul and Norman Geisler.
Evidentialist is about using a stockpile of evidences to convince a person that the Bible is believable, that Jesus was who the Bible tells us, and that Christianity is therefore true. Josh McDowell and Lee Stroebel are good examples. They talk about manuscript evidence, miracles, proofs of the resurrection, numbers of witnesses, etc. They seek to build a case for Christianity much like a lawyer builds a case in court.
Worldview is what I call the third approach. We all have a worldview and so presenting a reason for the hope in us involves helping others recognize their worldview and then contrast that with ours. Only a Christian worldview makes accurate sense of God and the world. This approach uses scripture more than physical evidences or philosophical arguments. John Frame’s book on Apologetics explains this approach very well. Ravi Zacharias is a good example of a worldview apologist.
Taking the worldview approach Voddie Baucham’s book “Expository Apologetics” does a great job showing how to do apologetics. He emphasizes the idea of answering objections using scripture. It only makes sense to let the Bible speak to the skeptic rather than relying on our own ideas. Voddie learned to do this by following the example of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans.
The reality if you are interacting with anyone younger than let’s say 50 years old, is that the classical and evidentialist approaches are less relevant. That’s because younger generations have mostly embraced pluralism, postmodernism, and relativism. The objections have changed. The average person knows less about what Christians believe and what the bible teaches than a few decades ago.
The intellectual approach to evangelism is what Paul modeled in Acts 17 when he reasoned with philosophers and the deep thinkers of Athens. He engaged their worldviews and presented his own. We see as we read Romans that Paul is continually addressing objections.
If you find yourself naturally drawn to engage people in the deeper questions of life, enjoy reading theology, philosophy, etc you may more naturally be an apologist. However, all of us are called to be ready to give a reason for the hope within us. That means we all need to be students of scripture. We don’t always have the answers and will encounter objections that we can’t respond well to. In those instances, we can simply tell a person “let me do a little digging and get back to you on that”.
Mike was about 17 when he first showed up to the youth group I led. He was very clear and forthright about not believing in God. Yet it was friends, and a girlfriend, that brought him to our group. He saw the hope in the lives of his peers and wanted to know more. Yet he had a million objections, most of which were in his words due to his scientific way of looking at things. Why believe in a God you cannot prove to exist? Yet through many long conversations with myself and others, the objections started to fall. One day Mike came over to my house to tell me he had become a Christian. None of us converted Mike. God did that. None of us convinced him that God was real. The spirit did that. Yet God called us to give an answer for the hope within us and used that to draw Mike to himself. Today Mike is a dentist married to a psychologist and together they are raising two girls to love Jesus like they love Jesus.
As many have said, evangelism is nothing more than one beggar telling another where to find bread. In that sense, the apologetic approach can be viewed as one truth seeker showing another where to find answers. It’s about opening the bible with people. We show them the truths that shape our understanding of the world.
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