Giving an Answer

I once was talking to this dude named Blakey who told me that there's no excuse for going a month without blogging. Well, today is day 31, and I don't want the CBC to take away my blog, so I better get crackin'!

Lately the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to have many spiritual conversations that I didn't even actively seek for. The Lord sent them to me, much like he did with Christian. I have done my best to obey 1 Pet 3:15, and I can only pray that it has made an effect in conjunction, of course, with the Lord's grace in allowing me to live a life pleasing to Him.

What I want to do is something I've always wanted to do, which is study the Biblical examples of people who defended the faith, how they did it, and what we can learn from their example.

The first, I think, should be Paul, who was appointed by God to be a missionary to the Gentiles. Hey, that's me! Cool, whats the dude got to say?

I think that possibly one of the most common passages that pops up in Christian apologetics (along with 1 Pet 3:15; 2 Cor 10:5, and Col 2:8-9) is Romans 1:18-20 which says that

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

I'd say that's about as clear cut, inconsiderate, straightforward, offensive, and intolerant as it gets folks. No one is without excuse. I often hear people say, "If God existed, he would make it more obvious." This is a wake up call to those people. It IS obvious. The reason you don't believe is because you love your sin more than the truth. God has graciously given you a chance to turn from your ways and run to Him for forgiveness.

Of course, this is to be expected, since we are by nature sinful, do not understand, and do not seek after God (Rom 3:11). So what is a Christian to do? Give up on those filthy sinners? They can't understand anyways, so why bother? No, I don't think Paul would be happy with that. He shows us what his attitude was toward the unbelieving when he visited Athens and reasons with them...

"his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there." (Acts 17:16-17)

So Paul was a straight up street preacher who talked to anyone who would listen! There are a few distinctive traits concerning Paul's style of preaching.

1) He uses logic

Some people erroneously mistake using logic with "leaning on your own understanding" (cf. Pr. 3:5). Sound logic, however, is the wisdom of God, which we should strive for (Pr. 4:5)! For example: every time you read "therefore" in the Bible, the writer/speaker is appealing to logic. "your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore" (Acts 8:21-22). Peter here is telling Simon the magician that his heart is not right with God, so the appropriate, reasonable response is to repent. It naturally follows logically. X therefore Y. Your heart is not right, therefore repent. In Paul's example he uses this kind of logic to denounce idol worship. "We are the offspring of God," therefore "we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising" (29). There's that X therefore Y setup again. See how easy this is?

2) He engages the culture (but doesn't participate in it)

Paul, as he has a chance to speak publicly to a crowd (an example of open air evangelism), lets us know what he has done in preparation for this moment. He says, "I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship" (Acts 17:23). He got acquainted with the culture. He found out what was meaningful to these people. He also found a sort of discussion starter with the "Unknown God" idol, and proclaimed to them who that God is. They thought they might be missing something. Paul noticed this, and filled in the gap. That there is a God they do not know (23), but he can be known (24-26), wants to be known(27), and is not far(27).

3) He appeals to their authoritative texts

In a later verse, Paul reveals to us that he even knows something about their pagan writings! No, Paul would never spend time reading pagan books to see what they say so he can effectively use that as a witnessing tool to win many to Christ... would he? You bet he would, and you should too, within reason of course. Please understand that Paul quotes only one line of one pagan poet(28), uses one line to appeal to their desire to be religious(22) and uses the rest of the passage to proclaim Him who they "worship without knowing"(23). I'm not calling everyone everywhere to have a 1:1:8 ratio, but there is a principle here:

4) He keeps his focus on the gospel

He feeds them God's spiritual truth first and foremost, appealing both to their current status as "religious" people, an authoritative text, and logic to make his case persuasively.

What is his case for? It is but this: that "all men everywhere repent, because [God] has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained." Did Paul preach a repent or burn message? Well... yes and no. Paul preaches repentance and judgment ("...repent, because... He will judge..."), but he doesn't couch it in the typical hellfire and brimstone terminology with hateful words and a condescending attitude that we typically associate with people who preach those things. Let's not lie to people. If someone never believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is not saved. That's the hard truth. This is naturally part of our message. But then again, let's not make the bad news our focus. The gospel is "good news" for a reason.

Paul takes a bit more friendly approach, yet without compromising the hard truths. He says that they are "in all things...very religious" (22) What's he doing here? He is using something important to them to lead into spiritual conversation. He is taking some part of their lives, their culture, and using it to connect to the gospel and preach the good news that men should repent because Christ has been crucified and risen.

Let's do the same.