Apologizing For Your Hope & Faith
What? Christians are to make an apology for their faith. Peter commanded Christians of the first century: “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” (1 Pet. 3:15, New American Standard). The fact is the word “defense” in the original Greek is apologia which means “a reasoned defense.” It is a “verbal defense, a speech in defense” (Vine 53). Ferrell Jenkins wrote, “an apology is a defense against a single attack…apologetics is a complete system of defenses.”
Christians are not commanded to acknowledge or express regret for having faith or hope in God. Instead, they must be ready at all times to answer anyone who has questions about our hope. The when of this command to defend our hope is “always.” Those to whom Christians are commanded to present their defense of their hope in God and Christ is “every man.” Christians cannot have the luxury of choosing when, where, and to whom they are to make their apology. Thus, we must be prepared ahead of, and at all times, in all places, to all men who ask.
Paul was prepared to answer when questioned about his faith and hope in Christ. One such time was while he was a prisoner and being questioned by the Roman Governor Festus and King Agrippa. “Now as he [Paul] thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:24-29). A Christian must back up his hard-to-accept claims with reasons that make good sense to the honest inquirer and doubter in order to persuade them to become a Christian.
Being able and ready for any question at any time by anyone is a formidable responsibility. It involves more than just answering a few common and expected questions from our denominational neighbors like: Why are you a Christian? What must I do to be saved? What church should I join? Can a Christian sin so as to lose their salvation? Today many are expressing doubt in the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible as His Word, and in Jesus as God’s Son. So, they will ask questions like: Are science and the Bible at odds? Are miracles possible? Is God an invention by mere men? Has science shown there is no such thing as a soul? Who made God? Is the Bible really reliable? If God is good and loving, why does He allow so much evil and suffering in the world? Didn’t God use evolution to create the world?
Christians provide answers to questions like those listed above in the form of evidence. Our English word “evidence” comes from the Latin verb videre, “to see.” When we give a defense or answer to these questions, the inquirer needs to be able to clearly see the proof. This evidence can be internal (from the Bible) or external (from without the Bible). External evidence comes from such things as historical documents, archaeology finds, observations of creation, scientific laws, etc.
Just how important is it to have on hand all this information to answer the questions Christians may face as they share and/or defend their faith? First, everyone must strengthen their own beliefs. Faith can be weak or little. Doubts can arise even among faithful disciples, like Thomas. “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So, Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:19-23).
Even John the Baptist expressed his personal doubts as to who Jesus was and sought evidence from Jesus. These questions come from messengers sent from John while he was in prison (Matt. 11:3-6). As Christians study to answer common questions from others, they become prepared to answer their own doubts and build up their personal faith and hope.
Furthermore, our children must be brought up “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). They need to grow up having their own faith, not just one handed down or inherited from their parents. God has no grandchildren. Children must believe the truth, but they need to be able to demonstrate why they believe it based on evidence. After all, when you send our children out into the world and school their teachers, peers, the media, textbooks and many others will challenge their faith. Nearly 70% of first year students in college will lose their faith as they transition from home and church to live on campus. All the more reason parents should “train up a child in the way he should go” so that “when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
Another reason Christians need to be ready with an apology is all the lost souls in need of salvation. “He that is wise wins souls” (Prov. 11:30). First, he is wise because he is helping to save what is most valuable in all the world, an eternal soul. Second, he gains wisdom by preparing himself. Furthermore, they have to be ready to face those who attack God, His Word, and His Son.
There are many atheists who reject any idea of the supernatural and embrace only naturalism. It is the belief that ascribes all events to natural causes, as opposed to supernatural. They will argue that God is not the creator of the universe, but a big bang started it all and through biological evolution man came to be. The Bible is viewed as nothing more than a collection fo Jewish myths. And Jesus may have been one of many great teachers, but lived and died a man just like the billions of mortals that came before him and since he has died. By being prepared with a ready defense against these false teachers, Christians will be able to help save the lost, train up their children, and strengthen the faith of both fellow believers and them.
One of the first lessons a defender of the faith must learn is to know where to begin. When the Holy Spirit had sent Philip to preach Jesus to the Ethiopian, Philip did not start right in on the Ethiopian’s need to be baptized. He first asked where the Ethiopian was at in regard to his knowledge of the scriptures and if he understood them. “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’” (Acts 8:30,31). It was only then that “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35).
A good apology begins with a proper assessment of the inquirer’s level of knowledge. You cannot convince someone of the necessity of baptism into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, if they do not believe that Christ died, was buried, and arose from the dead. Furthermore, they are not likely to accept the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus, if they do not believe He was God’s Son sent from Heaven to save the world. Then if they do not believe the Bible is God’s Word, they will not have the evidence from the scriptures to believe Jesus was God. Finally, it is a futile effort to try to convince someone the Bible is God’s Word, if they do not even believe in God. To save time and increase the chances in converting the lost, a Christian needs to first properly assess where he needs to begin his apology.
God has blessed man with a mind that can rationally or logically look at the evidence. Once he weighs the evidence, he can make a reasonable judgment on what is the most reasonable thing to believe. He must then make a choice as to whether to be honest and accept the truth or blindly turn away from it and reject the proof. Far too many skeptics after seeing the evidence respond as if to say, “do not confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up.” Perry Cotham wrote, “you can lead an atheist to the evidence, but you cannot make him think.”
An example of the willful rejection of evidence happened at Glen Rose, Texas several years ago. Creation scientists had gathered with new crews at the Paluxy riverbed to lift a layer of sedimentary rock in order to expose dinosaur and human footprints. Evolutionary scientists were on hand to witness the evidence. After the tracks were exposed, proving humans and dinosaurs coexisted at some time in the past, reporters approached the evolutionists. They asked them if they saw human tracks in the rock alongside the dinosaur’s. They all claimed they did not see the evidence. That fact is, they all refused to look.
– Daniel R. Vess