Do Apologetics Help?

Remember when you were a kid and your parents said utterly ridiculous things like, “eat your vegetables and you’ll grow up big and strong.”  My parents used all kinds of methods to get me to eat vegetables.  They new how important it was that I learn to eat in a healthy manner.  Some of those methods worked, but most of them didn’t.  I’m not a vegetable fan (unless you count potatoes), but over the years I have figured out how to eat them.  Spinach, for instance, is a vegetable most people don’t like, but I have found that if you add a little butter and salt it’s not too bad.  Creamed spinach is actually pretty good.  Put a little cheese on Broccoli and it’s at least edible.  The arguments my parents proposed to me didn’t have an immediate impact, but as I got older and more interested in eating in a healthy manner I heard those same arguments in slightly different terms from other people and I began to eat my vegetables.

I have been told by many people that they have “never seen anyone come to Christ because of apologetics.”  This is an amazing statement to me, because virtually every person I have ever lead to Christ has come to Christ because of apologetics.  For a long time I had a hard time with this statement.  I couldn’t figure out what people who made this statement were thinking.  Why did people come to Christ if it had nothing to do with reason?  Now I know people have all kinds of different reasons for believing things.  Sometimes people believe things because their parents believed them, they are looking for approval, logic, etc…  I wonder if peoples definition of apologetics is too narrow.  Let’s define apologetics as giving reason for ones beliefs.  It seems this is exactly what Peter had in mind when he wrote, “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

It seems to me that when we are witnessing we are giving testimony to the story of God and Man.  We are in essence telling people why we believe in Jesus.  Isn’t this apologetics?  Apologetics doesn’t mean arguing, spewing facts, appealing to archeology, or being obnoxious.  When apologetics is done well it sounds a lot like a normal conversation.  Asking questions, talking about what Jesus did, why we need to be saved, and when it is helpful providing useful information for someone who is contemplating making a decision are all forms of apologetics.  In the process of sharing the gospel I have answered all kinds of questions giving reason for what I believe.  Once while sharing the gospel, the person I was talking to expressed to me that they had asked all kinds of people about the problem of evil and had never had a satisfactory answer.  After spending some time in conversation answering that question he told me that his question had been satisfied.  Though he didn’t accept Christ that day, one objection was removed and maybe the next person will lead him to Christ.  Apologetics when rightly understood and practiced is not arguing or debating, it is giving reason to why a person should trust Christ.

Students need to learn apologetics as part of the Christian story, not as an add on to the gospel or a separate track.  When we share the gospel we should be reminding people that Jesus was a real guy, who really died on the cross and rose again.  Paul believed this was pretty important (1 Cor 15).  Just as my parents continually spoke truth to me when it came to eating vegetables, so we must continually speak truth about who Jesus is, what He did, and what He will some day do for those who believe.  In essence that is apologetics.