Apologising for Apologetics

Have you ever found yourself stumped after someone challenges your faith?  You’ve reasoned and quoted till your brain feels tied in a knot and the other guy seems like he’s barely breaking an intellectual sweat.  You just want to shove “The Bible says so!” down their throat and make all their science and logic go away.  Well, there is good news for you: Apologetics!

Apologetics comes from the same Greek word from which we get ‘apology,’ but apologetics is not saying you’re sorry.  Apologetics is, in some ways, sort of the opposite; it is to speak or reason in favour or defence of something.  In modern Christianity, apologetics is used to explain what we believe, why we believe it, and how to defend it against critics.

In the past several years, the church, seeing how many people have lost faith over basic questions about science and doctrine, has increased its efforts in the field of apologetics to help people with struggling faith and unanswered questions.  People like Ken Ham, Ravi Zacharias, and Lee Strobel have provided books, films, and curriculums filled with information explaining how faith really isn’t so irrational.  Knowledge/information is power.  Put strong apologetics in someone’s hand, and you’re giving them the key to an atomic power.  But will they use that power to energise their faith or to build a bomb?

It can feel so good to finally have the answers to the hardest questions that may have once plagued one’s faith.  There’s a sort of victorious feeling that comes from stopping a critic and their argument dead in their tracks.  But if you take a closer look at Christians who were formerly atheists, I challenge you to find a single one of them who was won over to Christ by someone arguing with them.  What happens when we begin to muddle the line between apologetics and witnessing?

A current trend in evangelical circles is to put apologetics in the context of a supposed “culture war.”  I mentioned this several articles back, when I took a survey of the variety of people around me in an army base (many of whom would be considered on the other side of this “war”) asking them what they thought about said war, finding they had never heard of such a ridiculous thing.  Evangelicals seem to enjoy a sense of ‘us-against-the-world,’ which is understandable, given that as Christians we are called to be in the world, but not belong to it.  But who wants to join a religion that makes them feel vilified?  What would happen if we stopped packaging apologetics in ammo crates and used first-aid kits instead?  What if we made it clear to students of apologetics that they are being handed not ammunition to shoot down their opponent or their arguments, but instead as medicine to heal and improve their own lacking understanding? 

The Sword of the Spirit is an incredibly powerful and important tool.  Use it right, and you will block the enemy’s attacks every time, protecting your heart, mind, spirit, and soul; use it improperly, and you’ll only strike down potential friends and allies.  Apologetics is not about winning arguments, but personal growth and learning.  Someone arguing against faith may not feel impressed or their heart touched by an argument, but what if they saw someone focusing on building their own personal faith and encouraging others instead of blasting anyone who doesn’t believe?  While perhaps a bit cliché, the old saying is still true: actions speak louder than words.  A faith of good, loving works free from doubt is a powerful witness.  Jesus didn’t preach the gospel of being right - He preached the gospel of Love.

Our English word ‘apology’ may not mean the same thing as the original Greek word, but I think it’s just as important.  There are so many people out there for whom an apology goes so much further than apologetics. If I want to leave a potential debate opponent speechless, a sure-fire way is if I apologise for how often the church in general (but especially myself personally) completely misrepresents Jesus Christ and misses the mark.  I find myself needing to give apologies far more often than needing to give apologetic arguments.  By all means learn to understand and speak up for your faith, but not at the cost of learning God’s language of Love.   After all, I’m right.