I Am Put Here for the Defense of the Gospel: Dr. Norman L. Geisler: A Festschrift in His Honor

By Terry L. Miethe and Ravi Zacharias

Dr. Norman L. Geisler has been called the "father of evangelical Christian philosophy." He has written more than one hundred books and taught at universities and top seminaries for some fifty-six years. He was the first president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the founder and first president of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. He has spoken or debated in more than two dozen countries and held pastoral/pulpit ministries in four states. Many view him as a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Billy Graham. No one has done more to communicate the modern challenges of the Faith to the "average" Christian, to the church, and to the academy.

This volume offers creative and constructive essays from twenty-three contributors, all notable in their own right, who preserve and propagate Dr. Geisler's ideas and express appreciation for his influence. Those who know him best say he is "true, faithful, and blessed by God!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Release date: Apr 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781498221863

Book preview

chapter 1

Using Apologetics in

Contemporary Evangelism

by David Geisler

It certainly would not

be an understatement to say that I have been greatly influenced by my father, Norm Geisler, in the area of Apologetics. Of course, this is true for many others around the world as well. In fact my current ministry as an evangelist/apologist has been shaped by much of what my father taught me about apologetics and theology over the years. Even as a young boy, I had access to answers to questions that many Christians may have struggled with to different degrees. Unfortunately this may have caused some believers to even doubt their faith at times. But for me, I cannot really relate to that kind of experience. From the age of five when I accepted Christ, I honestly don’t ever remember a time in my life that I had any doubts about whether my faith was true or not. Even as a little boy, having at my fingertips scripturally sound answers from my father to any potentially challenging questions about the Christian faith was a great asset. It certainly gave me great confidence in what I believed and why I believed it. I also learned early on how important it was to give other Christians solid answers to challenging questions to help build up their faith. Like many others, what I owe my father for what I learned from him is a debt that can never be paid back. But I certainly plan to pass on what I learned in order to further his impact around the world.

Having some background in apologetic issues at an early age, combined with having a passion for evangelism, has, over the years, provided me a unique platform from which to observe and critique both disciplines. The unfortunate part is that even as a young boy I could walk into any Christian bookstore and see many books on apologetics and many on evangelism, but not many (good or bad) on how to use apologetics in evangelism.¹ I was certainly puzzled by this because as I studied the New Testament it was clear that evangelism and apologetics were normally used hand in hand in connection with reaching others for Christ! The use of evidence was a common practice that accompanied the proclamation of the gospel in the New Testament.² (see Matt 4:23; John 5:36, 10:37–38, 20:30–31; Acts 9:22, 14:1, 17:2–3, 26:28–29, 28:23). This was especially important in Jesus’ ministry to others because by continually showing evidence of his supernatural power it helped some to believe in Him. The miracles that Jesus performed demonstrated to the Jews in a tangible way that God did send Jesus! This was also true for Jesus’ disciples.

The apostle John pointed out that there were other miracles that Jesus performed that weren’t even mentioned in his book but that these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31). Also, the apostle Paul did not just proclaim the gospel to the Jewish people but his custom was to reason with them from the Scriptures (Acts 17:2–3). In Acts 28:23, Paul’s goal was to help Jewish non-believers see that Jesus’ life and death was the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, which they had already accepted as being true. The apostle Peter declared that we are to give reasons to others for why we believe what we do as Christians (1 Pet 3:15). Overall, in the New Testament, some kind of Christian evidence normally accompanied the proclamation of the gospel as was emphasized both by Jesus and his disciples.

But it is not just that some untrained laypeople didn’t seem to understand this important link between apologetic and evangelism that bothered me the most. It bothered me even more that those who were trained in apologetics didn’t seem to understand at times how to use Christian evidences in the most fruitful ways in witnessing situations with their non-Christian friends! That is why I appreciated so much an important principle that my father taught me about using apologetics in my witness to others early in my life. As a result, I believe it helped me to avoid some of the mistakes that some have made over the years in their witness to others. This principle can be summarized in the words that I’ve heard my father utter on many occasions: You don’t go to war with a pea shooter, but you don’t go to target practice with a bazooka.

This principle is something that God has used to shape how I witness to people today and what I teach to others. In fact, over the years practicing this very simple but profound principle has helped me in so many ways to maximize the use of apologetics in my witness to others. It has also helped me to avoid at least two misunderstandings some Christians may have concerning the use of apologetics in our witness to others today.

On the one hand there are those who believe that there is no value in learning about the objective evidence for the Christian faith but believe firmly that they simply need to unleash the gospel as a lion. For example, I remember once having a conversation with a well-known and respected evangelist who tried to assure me that God had called him to simply proclaim the gospel and that he didn’t feel a need to concern himself with answering questions that others may have about the Christian faith and thus engage others in apologetic dialog. Now certainly the gospel may be simple, but getting to the gospel is not always so simple in the world we live in today. It certainly puzzled me that this seemed to escape his notice, but he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. In the last twenty-five years of training missionaries, pastors, and church lay people both in the East and the West, I’ve met many evangelists who didn’t seem to understand that they had to do more than merely proclaim a simple gospel message and share their own personal testimony to lead people to Christ.

Although God sometimes uses our testimony to draw people to Him, in the world in which we live, a testimonial only approach to witnessing is having less and less appeal to those we are trying to reach. From a non-believer’s perspective everyone seems to have a religious experience of some sort. So how do we determine which ones are legitimate and which ones are not so legitimate? Furthermore, because the world’s view of truth has changed so dramatically, many today may simply believe that Christianity may be true for you but not true for me. As a result, some will say, It’s nice for you that you believe in truth, or It’s nice that it works for you, but it doesn’t work for me or mean anything to me, or It may certainly be true for you, but not for me.³ In the kind of world we live in today a mere testimonial approach to evangelism seems incomplete, and certainly getting to the gospel may not always be so simple. We now live in a world where right and wrong are seen more and more as personal preferences, similar to a person’s taste in ice cream. Consequently no one’s religious experience is seen as being more valid than another, and therefore no story should be preferred over any other, including the Christian story.⁴ Our world has trouble seeing the need for a savior when from their perspective they have no sins that need to be forgiven.⁵

On the other hand, I’ve also met those who seem to have a decent understanding about some of the evidences for the Christian faith but unfortunately have a tendency to bring out their heavy apologetic guns and blast people away no matter what the barriers to faith really are! They don’t seem to understand that there is an art to using apologetics in our witness with others in order to maximize our potential effectiveness. Many times not being sensitive to how one uses apologetics can lead to discussions that really don’t go very far and unfortunately produce more heat than light. I am afraid that too many of us who have been trained in the discipline of Christian apologetics have not learned how best to use our vast apologetic resources in each witnessing situation we find ourselves in today. Certainly reason and rationality must play an important part in our attempt to reach the hearts and minds of those we want to reach today. Yet former students of my father, like Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias, are aware of the importance of finding an appropriate use of reasoning in our witness to others today. He reminds us that: there is just enough of the modern worldview left so that reason still has a point of entry. But we have to use this knowledge wisely. We cannot give an overdose of argumentation.⁶

Unfortunately, not being careful in using apologetic content in our witness to others has led many to miss seeing the value of apologetics in our witness today. Even after so many great books on apologetics have been written in the last forty to fifty years, still today the word apologetics conjures up to many an image of someone who has a Type A, driven personality, who likes to argue with people and who may be perceived as a little insensitive in how they approach any critical dialogue. For the vast number of evangelical Christians in the United States, this image of what an apologist is does not encourage greater participation in apologetic dialogue. Certainly as Christian apologists we must find a way to better communicate the scriptural mandates to destroy speculation (2 Cor 10:5) and yet do so in a way that non-believers will know that we deeply love and care for them (Acts 17:16; 1 Cor 13:2–3), and that will set a good example for other Christians to follow (Phil 1:14; 1 Thess 2:8). We must learn to destroy speculations and yet not tear down the person in the process and come across as harsh and or insensitive. This is an art that all Christians will need to master in order to be faithful to the commands of Scripture to share the hope that we have as Christians (1 Pet 3:15 NKJV).

Certainly, the apostle Paul was able to practice the art of destroying speculation, and yet he did it in a loving way. In fact, in Acts 17, it was because of his great compassion for the people in Athens that Paul was motivated to reason in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 17:17). It was because Paul was so distressed—his spirit was being provoked within him (Acts 17:16 NASB)—that he felt compelled to do something about it! Somehow we need to be able to show both compassion towards others in how we speak to them, and like the apostle Paul, speak to others in such a manner that many may believe. (Acts 14:1 NASB.)

I think that another reason why the average evangelical lay person in the pew perceives that apologetics has no practical value in their witness today is because far too many of us apologists have failed to model and teach the manner by which we are to give answers to others, that is, "with meekness and fear (1 Pet 3:15 NKJV). Certainly, we must be careful not to come across as arrogant or portray ourselves as being better than others because of our beliefs. As D. T. Niles says, Christianity really is ‘one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.’"⁷ So if we are going to be heard, we must learn to present the truth of Christ in a meek and gentle way.

For example, one day I had a conversation with a guy who grew up in a Baptist church but hadn’t attended any church in twelve years. In fact, he told me that he doesn’t really enjoy talking to his former Baptist friends. However, he did tell me that he enjoyed talking to me about my Christian faith. I believe that this may be because I let him know from our first conversation that apart from Christ’s work in my life, I would be a sinner like anyone else! Certainly, discussions with him about my frailties in life and my need for Christ created an open door for me to having some interesting spiritual dialogue with him and helped me, over a period of time, to uncover his spiritual interest.

We also need to speak the truth in a way that is not showy or that takes stock in our spiritual conquests. We certainly should never do so in order to score notches on our spiritual belts. We must also be careful then not to talk about Christ in a way that wins the individual battle but in the end loses the war, simply because we forgot to dialogue with others in a spirit of meekness and fear. Unfortunately, far too many have developed neither a greater sensitivity as to how to present the truth of the gospel nor an ability to gauge when it might be appropriate or not appropriate to go further in the conversation with apologetic content.

Moreover, I personally feel that as trained apologists we must really go the extra mile to win the right to be heard to make sure we are communicating the right message to non-believers. As a result, whenever I am witnessing and share some of the evidence for the Christian faith, I always try to temper my approach with a more open disposition. When non-believers ask me questions like, Is it possible you can be wrong about Christ? I will simply say to them things like, Hey! If I am wrong, will you please tell me? I don’t want to believe a lie! Remember, even the Bereans went on a fact checking quest in order to see if what Paul was saying was true (Acts 17:11).

I also remind them that the apostle Paul basically communicated the same perspective in 1 Cor 15:14 and 19, when he implied that if the resurrection did not really happen, we should give up our faith. Furthermore, it is important to demonstrate both a teachable spirit and an openness to learn. Otherwise, many times we could end up alienating people and cutting off any spiritual dialogue prematurely. It also may help us to be more honest with ourselves about what theological beliefs we should in fact hold onto tightly (which are spelled out clearly in scripture), and those that may be considered more or less gray areas. The apostle Paul himself reminds us that we don’t see everything in this life always so clearly (1 Cor 13:12). So it is always good to be open to reflect on our own beliefs as well.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons why many Christians don’t see the value of apologetics in our witness to others is that very few have been taught how to use it in productive ways that actually contribute to someone taking one step closer to the cross in their spiritual journey. Some may even see this exercise of engaging others in apologetic dialogue really as an exercise in futility. Certainly this is understandable when so many Christians who have some understanding of apologetic issues have used it primarily as bat to whack people over the head with the truth and deconstruct (dismantle) what is wrong with someone’s beliefs and yet go no further! I remember one occasion preaching and doing training in a very large and influential church in Asia. The senior pastor mentioned to me that he had never let anyone speak in his church about apologetics before I preached on that Sunday. I was sad to hear that part of the reason was that he’s never seen apologetics used in a way that actually helps others to take steps to the cross. I was grateful to God to learn in his introduction of me on Sunday that someone from his church who attended the training I did Friday night and all day Saturday was so excited about what she learned that she went out Friday night to practice what she learned and led someone to Christ that night! At least this pastor now saw in a very practical way how training in apologetics can make a difference. But there are so many Christian leaders today who don’t seem to understand the value that apologetics can actually play in our witness today.

Part of the difficulty today with using apologetics in our witness to others is that many non-Christians are especially turned off by a merely deconstructing approach of their religious beliefs by their zealous Christians friends. As a result, I believe we must do more to reach people than just tearing down their arguments (2 Cor 10:5). The fact is that people can get defensive very quickly even in one casual conversation about issues that touch directly on spiritual matters or that have indirect spiritual implications.⁸ As a result they may not want to give you another chance to continue the conversation, especially if you have first put them on the defensive.

Certainly, then, if we are going to make some progress in today’s world we need to balance our efforts better in using apologetics appropriately in evangelism. We need to make a more concerted effort to sensitively wed the two. The fact is if we are not careful in how we do this, we can lose our effectiveness and opportunity to have an impact on this new generation. We need an apologetic that we can live with that will help us stand against the tide of relativism and yet one that is sensitive enough to speak to the concerns and priorities of our postmodern friends.⁹ We also need to adopt a methodology that fits in the kind of culture in which we live today. Let’s be realistic, many people today are turned off by the way we proclaim the truth of the gospel. As a result, we need to put new wine in new wineskins as it relates to sharing the gospel with others. Practically, this means that we need to understand the times in which we live (like the men of Issachar in 1 Chron 12:32) and know what we should do. Now if we truly understand the times we live in today, we will learn how to better speak to this current generation using apologetics in more culturally and personally sensitive ways.

What does this mean practically? you may ask. Let me sketch out briefly some ways forward based on my own experience and teachings that could be helpful.

Practical Ways to Use Apologetics in Our Evangelism

Allow Others to Surface the Truth for Themselves

To start with, we must first remember that in today’s world, it is better (in general) to allow others to surface the truth for themselves rather than proclaim the truth, as we have done for so long. This means that when we use apologetics in our evangelism, we need to find a way to package it in a way that others don’t feel preached at or argued with. Rather they should feel challenged to go on a spiritual journey with us in exploring the potholes in their beliefs, which may also give them a desire to hear more about Jesus.

Many times this can be accomplished by asking thought-provoking questions that create a desire for others to find answers to the questions and issues you have raised, without your telling them directly what you think they should believe. This is what Jesus did with the woman at the well in John 4. Certainly in the world we live today this is prudent approach, because more and more people are turned off by an in your face approaches to evangelism. As a result, sometimes you have more traction with people if you use a more indirect approach.

For example, one day I had a conversation with one of my wife’s non-Christian relatives (my wife is a Chinese Singaporean). Now she has a very interesting perspective in that she believes in one Creator, who is female. She also believes that this female God has different people working under her: Jesus for Christians, Buddha for Buddhists, and Mohammed for Muslims. So here is one of the key questions I asked her: "Why do you think that our Creator would purposely confuse us by having Jesus say that he’s the only way to God (John 14:6; Acts 4:2; 1 Tim 2:5) and not just one of the ways, and yet have Buddha say something else, and Mohammed say something else? Now to make a long story short, the last thing she said to me was that I had given her some things to think about and that she was going to try to find something similar in her religion that could do what Jesus did in Christianity. Now you need to understand something about this conversation. This could have gone very badly for me. This was a family member. Had I just pointed out to her all the things she believed that were contradictory, it certainly would have made her defensive! This could have alienated her from us, and kept us from having any positive witness in her life from that day forward. But because I was careful not to dump a truckload of challenges in the form of questions on her all at once and was sensitive to her situation, it actually turned out to be a very positive witnessing experience that ended in her allowing me to pray for her! In my approach with her I was keeping in mind the wise counsel my father taught me as a little boy that I mentioned earlier: You don’t go to target practice with a bazooka."

One ex-Jehovah Witness turned Christian has come to a similar conclusion concerning the approach we need to use today: If the Christian warrior corners an individual Jehovah’s Witness and lets him have it with both barrels in rapid fire succession, the result is likely to be disappointing.¹⁰ Certainly my wife’s relative’s reaction may not have been so positive had I not taken the time to help her to surface the truth for herself. This is an important skill we need to learn in today’s world, so that our efforts in building pre-evangelistic bridges today will lead to more open doors for evangelism tomorrow.

Couple a Deconstructive Approach with Building Heart Bridges

Second, when using apologetics to deconstruct someone’s false beliefs, it may not be very effective unless we couple it at the same time with building positive heart bridges to the cross. A heart bridge is a deep-seated need that our pre-believing friends carry deep down inside that Jesus can meet but that cannot be met in practicing other religious beliefs.¹¹ For example, one day shortly after 9/11 a student on a college campuses said to me, I realize now that my life has to count . . . I can’t live my life working just nine to five . . . There has to be something more. This student may not have realized it, but his statement showed that he was on a spiritual journey and that his heart’s longing was to be a part of something bigger than himself! Solomon alludes to this specific heart longing when he declares that He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Eccl 3:11 NIV). On another occasion, a college worker in a Muslim-oriented culture who had a Hindu background told me the heart bridge that had a big impact on him was when he learned as a little Hindu boy that when Jesus died on the cross, he said, Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:24). He realized that for Jesus to say this to those who were crucifying him, there had to be something supernatural about Jesus!

The bottom line is that in a world that equates fundamental beliefs with hatred and even terrorism, we need to teach others what Jesus taught; we are to love our neighbors and pray for those who persecute us! So coupling our deconstructive approach with building positive heart bridges is an important strategy in our witness today. The key is that in today’s world one must master the art of finding the right balance in using both a deconstructive approach to dismantling a non-believers worldview and a heart bridge building approach if we are going to effectively use apologetics in our daily witness!

Unfortunately, our non-believing friends have been so turned off so much by an in-your-face, matter-of-fact approach to witnessing that as a result, we must be careful even in how we surface uncertainty, even in how we ask probing questions. If our questions come across as though we are attempting to load both barrels of our shotgun, we should not be surprised when they decide (figuratively speaking) not to come to our hunting party, especially when they may suspect that they are the main target! They may not even be curious enough to want to find a resolution to the potholes in their own beliefs.¹² I have found in both the East and the West that when you expose some possible problems with someone’s beliefs, it is not always helpful to end the conversation there without trying to build heart bridges to the cross. Far too many lay people trained in some form of apologetics fall short in their apologetic dialogue with their non-believing friends and acquaintances from also building heart brides about what Jesus can do for them. Apologetics certainly should be used today in a way that we help others understand that Jesus can meet the needs of their heart, especially since other religious beliefs can leave them feeling empty and without hope.

Remember the Three Ds of Asking Questions

Third, we must always keep in mind the three Ds of Conversational Evangelism¹³ if we are going to maximize the possibility of our questions being effective. This is important because I’ve discovered over the years that keeping these three Ds in mind is one good way to determine if you are practicing the right approach in coupling a deconstructive approach with positive heart bridges. We want to ask questions in a way that surfaces their doubt (uncertainty), in a way that minimizes their defensiveness, and most importantly, in a way that creates a desire (curiosity) to want to hear more.¹⁴

The fact is that in today’s world, many times it is unhelpful just to deconstruct people’s beliefs, tell them the bad news, and leave them stewing on what you said without offering any possible good news to help alleviate the stress they may feel from your thought provoking and probing questions! Jesus himself understood the value of this kind of approach. You may remember when he was speaking to the Samaritan woman in chapter 4 of John’s gospel. Certainly he asked her probing and thought provoking questions about her life, but he did more than that! He really got her attention when he said to her, If you drink of the water I give you, you will never be thirsty again (John 4:13). This is exactly what we need to do with our non-Christian friends today. We need to talk about Jesus in such a way that they are actually thirsty for that living water, Jesus Christ! So in talking to the Samaritan woman and asking her questions about her husband, Jesus was deconstructing what was wrong (her bad moral decisions), and yet by offering her living water, he was building important heart bridges to the cross. Jesus was creating desire on her part to want to continue the conversation.

Having a barometer like the three Ds to measure whether we are using the right question in the right way has created many open doors for us to have spiritual dialogue with people who at first may not have shown any spiritual interest. Sometimes, I myself have been surprised by their positive response. For example, I remember one day before I got out of a taxi, not only did my driver hear the gospel message from me (maybe for the first time in a clear way), but he even thanked me for sharing the gospel with him.

Now I realize that juggling these three things (doubt, defensiveness, and desire) is not an easy art to master in our witness to others, just like learning to juggle three balls (like circus entertainers do) is not easy to do. It is relatively easy to deconstruct someone’s beliefs if we have the proper apologetic training, but to deconstruct their beliefs in a way that also minimizes their defensiveness is not an easy art to practice in today’s world. Too many times, I’ve listened to Christian students on college campuses over the years talk to their non-Christian friends in a way that made them so defensive that what was produced was more heat than light.

I remember on one occasion talking to a non-believer on a college campus and making some spiritual progress in the conversation with him. My sensitivity to using the right words and slowly building bridges with him seemed to be very effective in building important bridges with him. But then a few other Christians came up to us and joined in on the conversation and said some things to him that immediately made him defensive. They essentially removed all the planks I had helped to build! I could tell that the non-Christian really wasn’t convinced that what he was saying to the other Christians was true, but I could also tell that he didn’t like to be targeted. So his approach changed from one of a reluctant seeker to someone who was willfully trying to resist the truth. Instead of being a seeker of truth, he focused all his efforts in trying to win the conversation . . . or at least not to appear like he was actually losing!

Now minimizing someone’s defensiveness is not always so easy, especially because, as the Bible teaches, the cross of Christ is offensive (1 Cor 1:23). But the Bible also teaches us that we should walk in wisdom in how we relate to non-believers and make the most of each opportunity (Col 4:5). Now I believe that this suggests that to be more effective in our witness today, we should share the gospel in the least directly offensive way as possible! Yet no matter how wise we are in our approach, at times, people will respond to what we have to say in negative ways, just as they did to the apostle Paul. The apostle Paul went out of his way to build positive bridges with those to whom he was witnessing (Acts 17:22–23) by using carefully chosen words with a specific strategy in mind. Yet at times, no matter what he said and how he said it, there were those who still responded poorly (Acts 17:32). We should remember, however, that while the gospel is offensive, we should go out of our way not to make the manner of how we share the gospel offensive and become ourselves the stumbling block for non-Christians!

Not only is it helpful to ask questions in a way that surfaces doubt while at the same time minimizing (as much as possible) their defensiveness; it is also important to do so in a way that they want to continue the conversation and hear more about our Jesus. In today’s world people may not be motivated to get out of a leaky boat until we provide them with a better boat to get into.

One day I was talking to a Chinese lady in Singapore. I listened to her talk about the great aspects to Buddhism. Knowing that in Buddhist teaching a person is supposed to try to stop desiring the temporal things of this world, after about fifteen minutes, I asked her one simple question: Don’t you desire as a mother good things for your children? This one statement seemed to catch her by surprise because she didn’t know what to say after that. On some kind of level she must have realized that a true Buddhist is not supposed to desire anything.¹⁵ Now that I got her attention, I asked one other simple question: Do you know what Jesus taught about the issue of desire that Buddha was so concerned about? I told her that Jesus taught that the answer to man’s problem is not to give up on desire, but to have the right desire. Furthermore, I explained that Christians believe that when we invite Christ to come into our lives, he changes us from the inside out, so that we no longer desire to do the bad things but instead desire to do the good things that he wants us to do (Phil 2:13). Now, part of the reason why she was open to hear my question about Jesus’ teaching was that I listened to her patiently, and so I earned the right to be heard. This helped also to minimize any potential defensiveness she might have had.

But I didn’t just stop there. I also tried to create interest on her part to go deeper into the conversation. By pointing out a discrepancy in her belief system and coupling that with a question that attempted to build a desire to hear more what Jesus taught, I was essentially saying to her, I know you have difficulty with living without any desire, but the good news is that Jesus does have an answer for desire gone amuck. Would you like to hear what it is? In doing this I was keeping in mind the three Ds of Conversational Evangelism.

Personally, I think that if as Christians we kept in mind the three Ds in our conversations with non-believers, we might be able to go so much further in our interactions with them. I think we could add more planks to the bridges we are building—even with those who are highly antagonistic towards our beliefs—if we just keep these three Ds in the back of our mind. For example, Phil Robertson from the popular American TV show Duck Dynasty was praised by many Christians for standing up for what he believed. Certainly one may argue, however, that he could have been more careful in how he communicated his message promoting biblical values, and specifically the biblical mandate for marriage to be between a man and a woman. Keeping the three Ds in mind, I might have used this approach: "I know it’s common today to exclude any religious beliefs that seem restrictive in some sense. I think this is especially true as it relates to what should constitute marriage in our culture. I also realize that there are some prescriptions stated in the Bible as to how we should live our lives that I don’t fully understand, but here is what I do understand: When we follow God’s prescription for marriage to be between a man and a woman, we live longer lives.¹⁶ I also know that there are some things that all of us agree can only be one way. For example, how many ways are there for us to reconcile to a spouse or significant other for something we said or did that hurt that person deeply? Isn’t there really only one way? Don’t we have to communicate to them, either by actions and or words that we are sorry? Isn’t this really the only way? So if there are rules we live by that govern our relationships with others, we certainly shouldn’t be surprised that God set up boundaries to help us in our marriages."

I have found that using probing questions, and doing so with the three Ds in mind, can play a significant part in creating greater willingness not only to hear more about Jesus, but also possibly to make a decision to put their trust in Christ (like the apostle Paul in Acts 17:34).

As a result, we must do more than just use apologetics to deconstruct someone’s false beliefs. Certainly like good doctors, we must do more than just diagnose their illness correctly; we must provide the right treatment as well! Living in today’s culture, I find many times that means I must keep the three Ds in mind when building bridges with non-believers.

Find Agreement Even in Our Disagreements

Fourth, find common agreement even in your disagreements with those you are trying to reach (Acts 17:22). In today’s world, if we come across as someone who is not open to seeing the truth from another’s perspective, we can be seen as intolerant or close-minded and right away lose our credibility as witnesses. The fact is we can find some truth (though it may be very small) in every religious belief.

For example, when a pluralist says to us something like All religions are the same, we can say, "Certainly I would agree that there are some things that most religions have in common, such as caring for others and being kind to others." Yet we should also point out that even with the ideas that most religions have in common, there are still some key differences that make us distinct. We should also remember that we are able to find these points of agreements because God has given mankind a great understanding of Himself through nature and from the moral law that he has written on the human heart (Rom 1:20; 2:14–15).

Now it may take some effort to find these points of agreement, but if we dig deep enough, we will find them, because even religious beliefs that are almost totally opposed to Christianity and those that are atheistic still must borrow from the Christian worldview the idea of objective truth with which to affirm their beliefs. For example, we can even find agreement with a radical atheistic scientist like Richard Dawkins when he says, When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal force, the truth does not necessarily lie midway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong.¹⁷ We can also find agreement with our Muslim friends as to some of their beliefs about Jesus. Although they do not believe that Jesus has a divine nature (they think the passages where Jesus affirmed he was God are corrupted), we can help to lift Jesus out of the merely human prophet status in their eyes, because it is taught rather clearly in Surah 3:42–48.¹⁸

So even with those with whom we seem to have nothing in common, there is always somewhere we can find common ground, which could be helpful in building bridges to the Gospel. The fact is that many times our pre-believing friends may have difficulty maintaining their beliefs without seeing some kind of higher cause for their existence. In the end, all religions must affirm in some way the very concept of objective truth. This will always work to our advantage.

Begin with Going Apologetic Lite

Fifth, we should begin by going apologetic lite. The fact is if we are going to be effective in using apologetics today we must also understand that the current cultural climate we live in makes it more necessary that we go apologetic lite (as opposed to heavy) in our initial dialogue with others as a starting point. Now please understand what I am saying here. I am a trained classical apologist¹⁹ and believe very strongly that proofs for the existence of God can be very helpful in our witness to others! I also believe providing objective evidence for our faith can actually help a person in becoming a Christian. For example, I remember one day answering a question from a Chinese student in response to something I had said. He asked Why is it more reasonable to believe that something (God) produced something (us) out of nothing rather than that nothing produced something out of nothing? As a result, we had an interesting dialogue and I helped to answer this important question he had. The good news is that I learned about a month later that this young man became a Christian, and I believe that by removing this barrier, I played a small part.

But in applying my apologetics in my witness to others, I have always tried to keep in mind the central principle my father cautioned me about not going to target practice with a bazooka. In daily conversations with others, I have discovered that this means I’ll usually get much further in a conversation with a non-believer if I first go apologetic lite. For example, if someone says I am an atheist, I don’t immediately launch into the argument from cause and effect, the moral argument, or even the argument from design. We must first remember that people primarily disbelieve in God for reasons other than emotional and intellectual ones. The Bible teaches us very clearly that they know the truth about God’s eternal nature (Rom 1:20), yet they suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18). Furthermore the Bible teaches us that they are ignorant because of their hardness of heart (Eph 4:18).

Furthermore, I’ve discovered that it is not always wise to give someone intellectual answers first to questions they raise and/or to intellectual barriers that surface in our conversation. It may cause me to miss a great opportunity to minister to that person, especially if their bigger barriers are emotional and not intellectual.²⁰ Jesus understood that people didn’t believe in Him at times for reasons other than intellectual ones. In his parable about the dead man warning his brothers of the torments of Hell, Jesus said, If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. (Luke 16:31 ESV). I’ve noticed over the years that the intellectual barriers usually become more serious obstacles only after someone desires to live his life in a certain way contrary to the commands of Scripture. It also becomes a problem when some people reject certain key doctrines of the Christian faith, such as the doctrine of an eternal Hell or other key doctrines that others find repugnant.

Now when the barrier someone has does involve intellectual questions or concerns, I find that in practical terms, I make more progress spiritually with people when I start with sharing some lite apologetic content, sometimes in the form of a question. Doing so has the additional advantage that if there are any deeper intellectual obstacles that are really legitimate concerns, you can begin to surface them pretty quickly. If there are not intellectual objections, you don’t have to spend so much time giving proofs for issues that are not really the major hurdles you must clear with that person. We don’t want to pepper them with so much evidence that they are put on the defensive or overwhelmed because of our approach. We certainly don’t want to make them feel obligated to respond with an attack on our beliefs. We need to remember that since most people today don’t believe in absolute truth and see the world in shades of gray, we have to be careful not to paint the world totally in terms of black and white right from the start of our conversation.

That is one good reason why sometimes, even when building intellectual bridges with others to the cross, it can be helpful to make our conversations apologetic lite until they feel more comfortable with us or until we have some idea of what their real barriers are to considering Christ. Otherwise, we too could end up getting into a heated discussion with our friends, lose them seeing us as a co-journeyer with them, and argue about things that really have nothing to do with what is preventing them from taking a step of faith.

One way I try to help others to be more honest with themselves, with God, and with me about their primary barrier to faith in Christ is by asking simple but heart-penetrating questions like, If it were possible for you to know the truth about religious issues, would you want to know it? Sometimes this simple diagnostic question helps to get to the heart of their problem.

Another approach I use that is helpful is giving them just enough information about Jesus Christ that they can more easily notice the differences between Jesus and other religious teachers. Sometimes that even makes them interested to learn more. I can say something as simple as, Did you know that Buddha claimed to point to the way, Muhammad claimed to be a prophet of God, but Jesus Christ is the only religious leader who ever claimed to be God, who lived a sinless life, who fulfilled prophecy written hundreds of years before He was born, and then died on the cross and rose from the dead? This helps them to begin to see just how unique Jesus really is.

I also ask even more simple questions like, What conclusions have you come to about Jesus Christ? Certainly they can be convinced that there is no evidence for the existence of an intelligent Creator and believe that morality is merely a personal preference, but many times I find that the average college student has no clue what to do with the uniqueness of Christ. The fact is we can know so much about Jesus from history from both Christian and non-Christian sources! Sometimes if we just focus our discussion on the question of Jesus, who he is, and what he has done, we can make some real progress, even without bringing much apologetic content into the conversation until we know it’s needed. For example, one day I was talking to a Chinese lady and found out that her mother was a Buddhist but her sister was a Christian. She was trying to figure out which one is the right one in which to believe. I asked her this apologetic lite question to help her surface this truth for herself: If you were coming to the end of your life and you met Jesus and other great religious leaders, and each suggested a different path to take, whose advice would you take? Wouldn’t you take the advice of the person who has been to the other side of life and come back to tell us about it? At which point she said, Good point.

Obviously she could see more clearly that Jesus was not just another religious leader. As a result, I could remove the intellectual hurdle that Jesus was no better than any other strictly human religious leader. She apparently did understand that Jesus really did rise from the dead, so I didn’t have to offer her any evidence to demonstrate that point. At least I had removed one more barrier that was in her way of taking steps to embracing Christ.

Now it is possible that as we talk to people and present our apologetic lite ideas, they may not buy into what we are saying. Then and only then is it more helpful to pull out of our apologetic arsenal things that may make them think more deeply and provide them with greater evidence for what we are saying about a belief in a theistic God and the evidence for Jesus being the Messiah. However, we must be careful not to engage them on a deeper level intellectually if we have already determined that they are more interested in arguing with us and proving us wrong. That is why the earlier diagnostic question, If it were possible for you to know the truth about religious issues, would you want to know it? can be helpful. Certainly we have better things to do with our time than to argue with people who are not open to a frank discussion exploring the claims of Christ and the evidence to substantiate those claims. Again, sometimes the intellectual questions and concerns that people raise are not the real questions. They are only surface issues.

Yet there are some good reasons for us to take the time to answer their questions. Sometimes it can help them to be more honest with themselves about what is really holding them back. Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is wicked and deceitful, who can know it? It is not always the mind, but sometimes it is the heart that keeps us from accepting the truth. It is important therefore to uncover these hidden barriers to the cross.²¹ I remember one day asking a college student who had stated that good people get to heaven—and considered himself to be in that category—Why do you need Jesus to save you if you can measure up? To which he replied, I guess I don’t measure up! Sometimes we can use apologetics not only to inform people of just how wrong they are, but to help them to see that their primary barrier to faith in Christ is not a matter of seeing enough evidence.

Use the Boomerang Principle

Sixth, we should use the boomerang principle in our witness to others today. This is actually another great principle that my father taught me, one that’s helped me greatly in using apologetics in my witness to others. I like to call it the boomerang principle because what we are doing is similar to the imagery conveyed in physically throwing a boomerang. A correctly thrown boomerang will come right back to the person who threw it. In a similar way, when someone throws a tough question or accusation at you, instead of answering the question right away, turn that question around on the person. In doing this, we place the onus on them.

By using the boomerang principle, we are removing the burden of proof from us and placing it on them. This approach is especially helpful in surfacing what people understand when they use certain words. For example, when someone says to you, I think that Christianity is just a crutch, you can turn the question around and ask, What do you mean by crutch? If someone says, I don’t think the New Testament documents are a reliable record of what Jesus said and did, you can ask, What do you mean by reliable? You could further ask, Why are the New Testament documents not as reliable as some of the documents written around the same general time period, such as Josephus or Tacitus or even Homer, who wrote the Iliad? If we believe Homer wrote accurately about a Trojan horse and not a Trojan cow, why can’t we know that the things written in the New Testament concerning Jesus’ life are also true? We are not trying to prove here that everything in the New Testament that is taught as true is true. We are specifically asking why we can’t know that some of the basic events of Jesus’ life (what he said and what he did and the miracles he performed) actually happened. When someone says, It’s not very reasonable to believe in God, we can ask, What do you mean by reasonable? or we can ask, Why do you think it is more reasonable not to believe in God? So when people raise questions and try to put us on the defensive, we can avoid falling into their trap by using the boomerang principle, which is merely asking them questions about the terms they are using in their emotionally charged questions or statements.

This boomerang principle is not a novel idea. Jesus frequently used a similar approach, as in this exchange with the religious leaders: When a certain ruler asked Jesus, ‘Good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus replied, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone (Luke 18:18–19). When the chief priest and scribes asked Jesus by what authority he did his works, Jesus asked them, Was the Baptism of John from heaven or men? (Luke 20:2–4). They replied by saying We don’t know where it was from (Luke 20:7). So Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things" (Luke 20:8).

Many times in my discussions with college students over the years, I’ve used this principle, and many times it’s helped to keep the discussion more on target and made it more difficult for someone to use their questions to try to end the argument before we even started really talking in more depth! The boomerang principle is sometimes necessary in the world in which we live, where there is so much hostility to the Gospel and an unwillingness to admit that anything is actually, really true.

Seeing Apologetics in a More

Helpful Way in Our Witness Today

Now for us to see the value of using apologetics more and more in our witness on a daily basis we will need to extend the uprights of our evangelistic goal post and make it wider. This means that we need to keep the focus on spiritual dialogue with others in a way that creates an interest in others wanting to hear more about our Jesus or at least to continue the spiritual conversation the next time around. Unfortunately, many of us don’t make this our focus in our conversations with others and miss important bridge-building moments because we have been taught a narrow view of what constitutes evangelism. Consequently our goal posts are much narrower, and thus it is harder to hit the target on a regular basis.

For example, many of us have been wrongly taught that the most important thing to focus on in evangelism is sharing as much of the content of the Gospel with as many people as we can in the shortest period possible. Not only is this not a biblical approach, since not all of us can reap all the time,²² but if we aren’t careful in how we share with people, we may end up closing previously open doors. It may even make it harder for other Christians that God brings along later in their lives to even get a foothold in the door! Because of the kind of world we live in today, we should broaden our goal posts in our witness to others. Our broader goal today should be to talk to people in such a way that the next time they see us they are eager to continue the spiritual conversation, not run in the other direction! Our ultimate goal could more easily be realized if we plant a seed today, so that we can water it tomorrow, and either us or someone else can bear the fruit after a season (1 Cor 3:6).

Furthermore, it is important to remember that it is not always best to say everything we want to say to our friends about Jesus in a short period of time. Jesus himself shared this same convictions when he told his disciples towards the end of his earthly life in John 16:12: I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Certainly prudence dictates that we should be careful not only in what we say to our non-believing friends, but also in what we don’t say. This is especially true because they may not be ready to hear it yet. Personally I find that when I take a longer approach in sharing the gospel with other friends, relatives, and acquaintances, spreading it out over a period of time, in the end more people have a better understanding about the gospel and are either closer to making decisions for Christ or at least understand a little better what is really holding them back.

Another way we can help to widen the goal posts to include more apologetics in our witness today is by better understanding the biblical mandate for tilling the soil. "If evangelism is planting seeds of the gospel, then pre-evangelism is tilling the soil of people’s minds and hearts, to help them be more willing to listen to the truth"²³ (1 Cor 3:6). Now in reality, we must do more than soften the soil; we must change the condition of the soil so that the soil becomes good soil (Mark 4:8). There are many things that can contribute to us developing good soil in the lives of our non-Christian friends. One of the ways we can help create good soil, which people normally don’t associate with evangelism, is found in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. In this chapter, Jesus points out that When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart (Matt 13:19 ESV).

One of the reasons they might not understand the Word is because they have a distorted perspective. So if someone has a distorted worldview perspective, this may prevent him/her from having good soil cultivated in their lives, so that we can more easily plant seeds of the gospel. As a result, they may not understand the gospel message so easily. They may not know or understand that there is an all-powerful Creator who made all of us and holds us accountable to measure up to his standards, not our own. They may not even appreciate what God did for us in the person of Jesus Christ!

Unfortunately, there are some (primarily in the East, but growing in the West) who may even believe that Man’s problem is that he has forgotten that he is himself God. Some may have even deluded themselves to believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution makes belief in God unnecessary, and maybe even irrational. Others see no difference between Christianity and any other religion and so conclude there is nothing special about Jesus that demands their undivided loyalty.

When I lived in Asia, I found that many people weren’t really motivated to hear what I had to say about Jesus because in their mind, they didn’t see any real difference between what they believed and what I believed! In both the East and the West where Christian beliefs are more acceptable, I’ve discovered that some were even under the impression that if they went to church, then they must be Christians. They may even believe that Jesus is the Messiah but don’t see the need for radical change. As a result, they may have never really believed in him (see Matt 7:22–23; James 2:19). Certainly in the United States we need to cultivate better soil in the lives of our non-Christian friends, since so many today see no need of a savior because they believe they have no sins to forgive!

So if we can help people to better understand the misconceptions they have about themselves, God the Father, and Jesus Christ, this contributes to cultivating good soil. By cultivating this good soil, we can plant the seeds of the Gospel in their hearts, and see those seeds bear fruit (Matt 13:23)! After all, wasn’t this part of John the Baptist’s ministry in the New Testament—to prepare people for the Messiah by getting them to acknowledge that they are sinners and fall short of the standards of the holy and righteous God who created them (Matt 3:1–11; John 1:6–7)? Certainly then, in the kind of world we live in today, can we really afford not to be involved in similar pre-evangelistic activity?

So if we understand the biblical mandate to help cultivate good soil in the lives of our non-Christian friends, we will see our skillful use of apologetics in our witness to others as an essential tool in our battle for the souls of