Apologetics

Each year I try to do something different for my devotional reading.  Many years I will read through the Bible as I did again last year.  Some years I read a number of commentaries and other resources as I did a few years ago with the book of Romans.  As I considered what I would focus on for my devotional reading this year I settled on reading apologetics.  In particular, I am reading some of Ravi Zacharias' books.  Over the years he has become one of my favorite authors and speakers.  In addition to reading his books I download his podcasts to my I-Pod to listen to while driving.  I also recently discovered William Lane Craig's podcasts, and I have added him to my regular listening each week.  He is another excellent speaker in the area of apologetics.

Why apologetics?  In our current society there are so many assaults on our faith.  Much of the music we hear, the movies we watch, many in the media, and some of the books and magazines we read all at least challenge our beliefs, if not outright attack them, that we hold as Christians.  In light of that continual onslaught even the  firmest of faiths can become shaken over time.  For me, reading books that present an apologetic defense of the Christian faith and hearing excellent speakers address the issues of the 21st century from a biblical perspective helps keep me grounded in my own faith in God.

I am currently reading Zacharias' book Can Man Live Without God?.  There is a move today to promote the concept that man can be good without God.  This is certainly not a new concept, but it seems to be one that the atheists have returned to the forefront of their challenges of the Christian faith,  Throughout the book Zacharias proves how empty that philosophy is.  Eliminate God from life and we
remove moral absolutes from the equation.  At that point every person is free to choose his or her own morality leading to complete chaos.  Sounds a little biblical doesn't it?  In Judges 21: 25 we read, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  Even a brief reading of life in Israel during those times illustrates the chaos and futility of living without a moral code that comes from a greater authority than our own feelings of right and wrong.

As I visit different churches each week I hear very little apologetic preaching.  I think that is a tragedy.  Unless we can provide believers with a solid biblical foundation for their faith we will continue to see them tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along.  We will continue to see our young people going off to secular colleges and universities, and in some cases Christian schools, to have their faith savaged by secular professors whose only goal it seems is to destroy people's faith in God.

We have a lot of feel good preaching both on television and in our churches.  At the other extreme we have some preachers who feel it is their calling to beat their sheep each week.  What we need are preachers who will give their congregations a foundation for their faith that will stand against all the pressures that will come against them in their journey through life.  That means that we who preach must first ensure that our own faith is solidly rooted in Christ and the Word of God, and, secondly, it requires that we spend the time necessary to develop messages that will deepen the faith of our listeners.  Such preaching will not tickle the ears of some, but this may well be one of the greatest needs in our churches today.