Rather than claiming to be a "Christian" on the basis that their beliefs truly coincide with the definition of that word, many today merely apply the label and then substitute their own definition. And why is this so important to address? Well, obviously, if most people lack a biblical worldview, then there must be many people who are not saved even though they think they are. So it is extremely important that we examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5) and be sure that God and His Word act as the foundation of our lives and not just an accessory. The discipline of apologetics can aid in this task by providing a defense for orthodox Christianity, and by emphasizing the need and setting forth the challenge for Christians to examine themselves in light of the Scripture to see if we are truly in the faith.
The church today needs a wake-up call. The fact that many of our churches are becoming more and more liberal and seeker-friendly only goes to show that Christianity is being infiltrated by the culture, rather than the culture being infiltrated by Christianity. And as statistics indicate, it turns out that unfortunately the reason for this is simply the fact that many professing Christians are not honest in their profession of faith, so they do not stand for sound biblical teaching. They do not truly believe in what they claim to believe. The truth is we live our lives according to what we truly believe (our worldview), not simply according to what we profess to believe. And this is an extremely important issue to address, not only for the sake of our salvation, but also for the sake of unbelievers who are getting a false impression about Christianity because of the way they see so many professing Christians live and act.
The church is suppose to be what equips and deploys Christians into the world to spread the gospel and show people why Christianity is warranted for belief. In Titus 1:9 we learn that a requirement for church leadership is that elders know the truth of Scripture and are able to refute those who oppose it. An elder should "hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict." And yet some of our largest churches in America today are run by those who sound like they've only read a few isolated verses out of the Bible, and half of the time they can't even quote them correctly. The terrifying fact of the matter is that a significant portion of people today who profess to be Christians are not actually Christians. Many don't even seem to know what that word means.
The shift of traditional values and the introduction of New Age and Postmodern worldviews are decaying our culture and stripping everything of its meaning. "Love" now means to just tell someone whatever they want to hear. "Tolerance" now means that you have to accept all views as being equally valid. "Ignorant" is now considered by some to be an accurate description of everyone who disagrees with you (but of course, if they say the same of you, they're being intolerant and unloving). "Truth" now means virtually whatever you want it to. There's no longer any such thing as something truly being "good" or "evil", it's just a matter of how you choose to view things. And yet everyone knows all of this is absurd deep down because no one truly lives this way. But somehow these absurdities have even crept into the church as well. "Christian," according to many today, seems to simply mean that you believe God is out there, you attend church, and you live as "good" of a life as you can. But this is not the biblical definition of a Christian.
Francis Shaeffer states in his book, The Great Evangelical Disaster, that,
It's Not Just for the Experts
On a final note, it is important to mention that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be equipped with some knowledge and ability to defend the faith. This may sound a bit overwhelming to those who are not familiar with the discipline, but there is no need to feel intimidated. In its most basic form, apologetics is simply the application of biblical truth to the issues we face today. While Christians should certainly do what they can to adequately equip themselves for apologetic encounters, you don't have to be a philosopher, scientist, scholar, or historian to be an effective apologist. In fact, what is probably most needed today are lay apologists - the typical Christian who may not be an expert on the subject, but can connect on a personal level with his or her friends and relatives and help them to remove the barriers to genuine saving faith in Christ.
The lay apologist actually has a certain advantage over the experts in this respect. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take much time to read anymore. The information is out there - Christianity is warranted for belief - the problem is many people are simply too lazy or not concerned enough with the matter to find this information. NEA surveys indicate that today almost half of Americans are not concerned with reading books that are not required for work and school, and this percentage has been steadily rising for the past few decades. Instead, many choose to rely on biased media sources who will often take advantage of the ignorance in America to further their own agendas (the media's representation of Christianity, by the way, is often pathetically inaccurate).
Only very rarely does a non-Christian come to faith in Christ as a result of the arguments themselves. Although the evidence can be very compelling, a non-Christian will naturally feel inclined to come up with an objection to that evidence because of the underlying bias presented by that individual's worldview. Since Christianity is a worldview, convincing someone to accept it will never be as easy as merely presenting facts and arguments. When you're dealing with an issue of worldview, you're not just asking someone to agree with a single isolated or arbitrary belief; you're asking someone to undergo an entire shift in the way they live and in the way they view the world.
The lay apologist can help to explain the importance and the need for this shift in worldview, point the non-Christian to the information that justifies the truth claims of the Christian worldview, and personally connect with the non-Christian individually to demonstrate the love of Christ and help them overcome the barriers that are preventing them from accepting Christ. If done appropriately, the Christian can present the gospel in a persuasive manner that is much more likely to be accepted.
www.warrantedfaith.org
The church today needs a wake-up call. The fact that many of our churches are becoming more and more liberal and seeker-friendly only goes to show that Christianity is being infiltrated by the culture, rather than the culture being infiltrated by Christianity. And as statistics indicate, it turns out that unfortunately the reason for this is simply the fact that many professing Christians are not honest in their profession of faith, so they do not stand for sound biblical teaching. They do not truly believe in what they claim to believe. The truth is we live our lives according to what we truly believe (our worldview), not simply according to what we profess to believe. And this is an extremely important issue to address, not only for the sake of our salvation, but also for the sake of unbelievers who are getting a false impression about Christianity because of the way they see so many professing Christians live and act.
The church is suppose to be what equips and deploys Christians into the world to spread the gospel and show people why Christianity is warranted for belief. In Titus 1:9 we learn that a requirement for church leadership is that elders know the truth of Scripture and are able to refute those who oppose it. An elder should "hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict." And yet some of our largest churches in America today are run by those who sound like they've only read a few isolated verses out of the Bible, and half of the time they can't even quote them correctly. The terrifying fact of the matter is that a significant portion of people today who profess to be Christians are not actually Christians. Many don't even seem to know what that word means.
The shift of traditional values and the introduction of New Age and Postmodern worldviews are decaying our culture and stripping everything of its meaning. "Love" now means to just tell someone whatever they want to hear. "Tolerance" now means that you have to accept all views as being equally valid. "Ignorant" is now considered by some to be an accurate description of everyone who disagrees with you (but of course, if they say the same of you, they're being intolerant and unloving). "Truth" now means virtually whatever you want it to. There's no longer any such thing as something truly being "good" or "evil", it's just a matter of how you choose to view things. And yet everyone knows all of this is absurd deep down because no one truly lives this way. But somehow these absurdities have even crept into the church as well. "Christian," according to many today, seems to simply mean that you believe God is out there, you attend church, and you live as "good" of a life as you can. But this is not the biblical definition of a Christian.
Francis Shaeffer states in his book, The Great Evangelical Disaster, that,
"something has happened in the last 60 (now 80) years. The freedom that once was founded on a Biblical consensus and a Christian ethos has now become autonomous freedom, cut loose from all constraints. Here we have the world spirit of our age - autonomous man setting himself up as God, in defiance of the moral and spiritual truth, which God has given... The world spirit of our age rolls on and on claiming to be autonomous and crushing all that we cherish in its path."
Our culture is decaying away into immorality, ignorance and selfish ambition. People need to realize the truth of Scripture and the church needs to be more concerned with equipping believers and refuting and casting out the false teachings that are turning so many Christians away from the true gospel message. It's Not Just for the Experts
On a final note, it is important to mention that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be equipped with some knowledge and ability to defend the faith. This may sound a bit overwhelming to those who are not familiar with the discipline, but there is no need to feel intimidated. In its most basic form, apologetics is simply the application of biblical truth to the issues we face today. While Christians should certainly do what they can to adequately equip themselves for apologetic encounters, you don't have to be a philosopher, scientist, scholar, or historian to be an effective apologist. In fact, what is probably most needed today are lay apologists - the typical Christian who may not be an expert on the subject, but can connect on a personal level with his or her friends and relatives and help them to remove the barriers to genuine saving faith in Christ.
The lay apologist actually has a certain advantage over the experts in this respect. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take much time to read anymore. The information is out there - Christianity is warranted for belief - the problem is many people are simply too lazy or not concerned enough with the matter to find this information. NEA surveys indicate that today almost half of Americans are not concerned with reading books that are not required for work and school, and this percentage has been steadily rising for the past few decades. Instead, many choose to rely on biased media sources who will often take advantage of the ignorance in America to further their own agendas (the media's representation of Christianity, by the way, is often pathetically inaccurate).
Only very rarely does a non-Christian come to faith in Christ as a result of the arguments themselves. Although the evidence can be very compelling, a non-Christian will naturally feel inclined to come up with an objection to that evidence because of the underlying bias presented by that individual's worldview. Since Christianity is a worldview, convincing someone to accept it will never be as easy as merely presenting facts and arguments. When you're dealing with an issue of worldview, you're not just asking someone to agree with a single isolated or arbitrary belief; you're asking someone to undergo an entire shift in the way they live and in the way they view the world.
The lay apologist can help to explain the importance and the need for this shift in worldview, point the non-Christian to the information that justifies the truth claims of the Christian worldview, and personally connect with the non-Christian individually to demonstrate the love of Christ and help them overcome the barriers that are preventing them from accepting Christ. If done appropriately, the Christian can present the gospel in a persuasive manner that is much more likely to be accepted.
www.warrantedfaith.org
