Influence from afar

Some of the people who have a great impact on our lives can be people we never meet. Such a person for me is Ravi Zacharias. I've never met the man. Many of his book sit on the bookshelves in my study. When I traveled a lot I downloaded his podcasts to listen to when I was on the road. Zacharias is a Christian apologist who has debated some of the leading atheists in the world, written numerous books, spoken to national leaders all over the world and has spoken on many university campuses. It was recently announced he has cancer, and the head of his ministry reported last week that the cancer has advanced to the point that there is nothing else medicine can do for him.

Zacharias was the person who introduced me to apologetics and helped me understand how important it is to be able to defend the faith against the popular beliefs held by many in the world today. Since I began reading his books and listening to his podcasts I have added a number of books to my library from some of the leading Christian thinkers today. People such as J. P. Moreland, Alvin Plantinga, Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Dallas Willard and a number of others have helped me grow deeper in the faith and caused me to think deeper about God and my relationship to Him. But it all began with Ravi Zacharias.

During a recent stint as the Transitional Pastor of a church that was seeking a new pastor I shared with them a number of sermons based on sound apologetics. We had a series of why if God exists is there evil in the world, and a few weeks later another series of why suffering exists. We looked at some of the apologetic arguments for the existence of God such as the Moral Argument and the Fine-Tuning Argument. One Sunday we examined Paschal's Wager. There is not enough of this type of preaching in many of our churches, and our people reflect that by the shallow Christian lives many of them live. They've never been challenged to go deeper than the standard Sunday school lesson plan.

If I was pastored a church again I would probably have a couple of sermon series each year that addressed issues and questions from the perspective of an apologist. I would also determine if a small group or class could be formed around a study of apologetics. William Lane Craig actually teaches a class in his home church called the Defender's class. The lessons are available to be used in churches so the class could have the benefit of being taught by one of the leading Christian apologists and theologians in the nation.

We must find ways to deepen the faith of our fellow believers as well as deepen our own faith. One way to do that is to expose ourselves to some of the best Christian thinkers. We need to let them help us drink deeply from the well of Scripture. This will not only help us grow but also give us the tools we need to share our faith with others. Ravi Zacharias helped me understand this, and I am eternally grateful for it. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.