Throughout history the Christian faith has been the object of ridicule and even direct persecution. Yet many professing Christians feel that in contemporary society Christianity has experienced increased hostility and opposition. In particular, it seems that Christian belief has become the special target of certain “intellectuals” who dismiss religious sensibilities as severely outdated and immature. Today, not only are there atheists—who simply don’t believe in a god—but antitheists—who seem to have made it their life-mission to aggressively argue against religious belief and ideas to show their irrelevance to contemporary life.
Enter the Christian apologists. These are believers who take on the task of defending the Christian faith, giving a reasoned answer to the antitheists’ arguments. However, there are some who take this task of defending the Christian faith too far, to the point of discrediting the very faith they seek to defend. They feel that in defending the faith they are defending God. But in the effort to defend God they end up going against the will and the ways of God.
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of his disciples took up a sword to defend the Lord. And Jesus rebuked him: “Put your sword back in its place … Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26.52–53 NIV) The disciple’s intention may have been good, but his action very much stood in the way of what the Father was about to accomplish in Jesus. “The Scriptures must be fulfilled” (Mark 14.49 NIV).
This is a picture of the misguided approach to the Christian defense of the faith. Many misguided apologists see their task as putting down the person instead of the arguments of the antitheist. Ravi Zacharias rightly describes it as the approach “that castigates and condemns, the attitude is born out of a superior posture of mind—spiritual dominance.”
True Christian apologetics must remain within the purpose of the gospel. “The arrogance of condemnation … has to stop and take a second look at what our answers are all about. We cannot simply vanquish the person in an attempt to rescue the message. The value of the person is an essential part of the message. This means that the apologist’s task begins with a godly walk” (Zacharias).
Scripture reminds us, “Set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect” (1 Peter 3.15–16 NET).
—Keith Y. Jainga