Christian Apologetics (5/2/11)

Shalom,

 

     Sorry this is late.  It came back as unable to deliver.  Please begin by reading Isa 43:8-13.

 

     Let's begin by saying that the burden of proof is on those who don't believe in the God of the Bible.  The phrase "let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right" is the key here.  Yahweh's challenging those outside the faith to prove their point, to justify their position.  The people who don't know their Creator often try to stump the Christians who share their faith by asking unusual questions or by insisting that they prove the reality of God to them.  We don't have to prove anything.  We just have to share the truth we know.

     As Christians we have the responsibility of being "witnesses."  It specifically means a recorder who testifies, coming from a root word meaning to testify by repeating.  Do you see our role and function here?  We're to speak forth what we've heard and seen, to repeat the story of Yahweh and his activity in our lives.  Our role isn't as salesmen trying to get someone to buy our product.  Our role is that of reporting what we know.

 

     Have you ever noticed that people usually only pay attention to the "heavy" questions of life when things go wrong?  Most of us don't do any really serious soul searching when things are going well.  When things in life are going well, we tend to assume that we must be doing something right or be lucky or some other silly notion.  Despite what many people tend to believe, karma isn't what rules our lives.  We don't just get bad results when we do bad things, and we don't necessarily get good in return for the good we've done.  It's just not an automatic thing.

     Yet, when things go wrong we do begin to wonder.  That wouldn't be such a bad thing, but very often we try to shut out the questions that really bother us.  This doesn't work either.  No one can run away from these tough questions forever.  All of us believe in something.  Whether we've thought about it or not, we have a philosophy of life.  It's made up of what we believe about right and wrong, life and death, truth, God and man.

     Prov 19:3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at Yahweh."  Doesn't that sound like some people you've dealt with?  Doesn't that sound like something you've likely done yourself?  Why is it that so many people are upset with God over their own bad decisions and choices?  Why is it that many don't want him involved in their lives, yet blame him for not intervening and deflecting bad things away?  Not a lot of people truly like the word responsibility, but it's something we're all "responsible" for.  Blaming Yahweh for our troubles isn't going to draw us closer to him.  It's only going to push him away at a time we really need him.

     Many people are shallow and refuse to discuss religion or politics in public.  They refuse to consider the most important things in their lives and how they affect every decision and action they take.  That often makes it difficult for us to talk of faith in Jesus or other things that are extremely important to us.  If your religion doesn't affect your politics, you don't have a religion you can rely on.

     The bottom line is truth, real truth.  There is real truth.  It can be known and understood.  The current popularity of tolerance and political correctness doesn't change the fact that there is discernible and absolute truth.  Popular opinion can't change the reality of our Creator and his very real expectations for all of mankind.  Despite what many try to do with it, truth can't be twisted and distorted to make it fit any scenario.  We need to accept that we live in a world that's filled with absolute truth.

     It's important for all of us to discover what we believe to be true.  Asking questions of our Creator in our search is OK, in fact, Yahweh expects it of us.  You don't have to go through life with a blindfold on your mind to believe in the God of the Bible.  It's not that we're merely clinging to wishes and feelings.  The God of the Bible is real and accessible to all who truly seek him.  Because of our inborn selfishness, we prefer to live by our own rules.  But a simple evaluation of facts should lead us to the source of all truth.  Rom 1:20 spells out the facts very strongly.  "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

     If something is true you can look at it hard and think about it deeply and compare it to other belief systems - and it will stand.  It will prove to be reliable.  Christianity can stand the test, if we honestly do the searching.

 

     Take a look at yourself.  What are your roots?  What is it that you hold onto to keep yourself going day by day?  Do you believe the things your family taught you?  TV?  Your schooling?  Your friends?  Your political party?  Do you know what's really true and where the answers are found?  Have you seriously considered truth, or do you just go with the flow of popular opinion?

     What do you hear from the general public?  Surely you don't think that any one belief system is right?  Everybody knows that all sincere roads lead to God in the end.  Yes, these lies permeate society and lots of people feel these things are true.  But then again lots of people avoid the real answers to the real questions by using this type of evasive logic.  If you're deceived, how do you know it?  You know it by knowing the truth.  The only way to properly detect a lie is to know the truth and Yahweh has made that truth knowable.

     Consider how you can prove these lies to be lies.  If something is right, then some other things have to be wrong.  If something is true, doesn't that make other things automatically false?  Many people tend to think that facts about religion are different than facts about the "real world."  Facts about grocery stores, pets, road maps, and other such real things just aren't the same as religious stuff.  Somehow 2 plus 2 always equals 4, but God is whatever I decide he is and no one is allowed to deny me my truth.

     If you sincerely believe you're a cow and begin to live outdoors eating grass, aren't some people going to come and take you to a place of padded rooms and psychotropic drugs?  How is it that it's OK in religion to hold any belief "as long as you are sincere?"  In fact, you're not supposed to say someone else's view is either right or wrong, true or false.  We're all supposed to allow free thinking about religion, because there's no absolute truth to refute or support any of it.  Christians need to stand against this nonsense.  We know truth, he's the person of Jesus Christ.  He says we need to let others know his truth.  He says we need to witness to the facts we know.

     Every idea has consequences, just like the plant that grows from a seed.  The seed you plant determines what will grow.  The idea you accept as truth then affects everything else you do.  The logical result of thinking that anything goes in religion is to think that any sincere religious action is OK.  The trouble is that this includes even suicide, murder, and many other forms of abuse.

 

     What we believe about truth, and right and wrong, and God aren't "ho-hum," mundane matters.  Although many people say that anything goes in religion, in actual situations they find themselves drawing a line and calling some religious beliefs wrong, hurtful, or stupid.  If we should fight against evil shouldn't be a debatable point.  How we should do it is what matters.  Child or spouse abuse doesn't become right because of our religious belief system.  Yahweh gave us universal truth which we need to use to determine good and evil, right and wrong.  And when we determine something to be evil or wrong, we're supposed to defend the ones being hurt.

     What we believe affects everything about our living every day.  What we think and feel and do springs out of our beliefs.  Our task as Christians is to know what we believe and be able to explain it to others.  1 Pet 3:15 says, "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give and answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."  An answer means a logical defense of your belief system.  You don't have to give an answer that's acceptable to everyone.  You need to give an answer that explains what you know.  Remember, be a witness who gives testimony of what you've seen and know.

     Think of keys.  Only the right key will open the door, start the car, or give you access to whatever it is you're trying to open.  The keyhole has a certain shape.  The inner workings have a certain shape.  The designer made it in a particular way, and only the matched pair of key and keyhole will work.  Other keys may slide into the lock, but they won't actually open the door for you.  I believe that there's only one explanation for truth and life, and thereby only one valid religion and philosophy.  Only one fits the facts.  The other opinions and philosophies won't and can't work.

 

     You have a choice when you ask questions about religion and life views.  You can assume that what you see around you and what you feel inside you are real and investigate on that basis.  Or you can assume that you need some special mystical knowledge and be led around by that philosophy.  People who hold the first viewpoint can look for truth by observing.  Rom 1:19 says "God has made it plain to them."  The it is truth, the Yahweh-ordained truth.  People who hold the second one have to resort to mystical techniques.  Things like chanting mantras, or taking drugs, or meditating on wome weird thing outside yourself.  It's all based on insider information instead of plainly seen in creation.

     I believe real truth is practical and sensible.  It fits with and explains the world we see and feel inside.  I can't accept that we each have our own truth, because too much of the world works differently than that.  I can't change truth to fit my desires or whims without eventually hurting myself or someone else.  Christianity is realistic, even harshly so.  God's Word speaks to us of reality, how people really think and act.  If we're going to explain our faith to others, we must have confidence in the God of the Bible.  The Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us and direct us as we ask for his help.

     Remember, Yahweh says we're to be his witnesses, reporting what we've seen and what we've experienced.  Give a logical defense of what you know, even if the person you're talking to doesn't consider it to be a logical position.  We're not required to prove anything to anybody.  We're instructed to show them the way to Jesus, the one who is the absolute Truth.

 

     Blessings & Peace,  Mike