Being Prepared

Every culture since the creation of the world has possessed values and philosophical beliefs that have grated against the message of redemption found in Scripture.  Our culture is not unique to this either.  In fact, Ravi Zacharias has made a profound statement about our culture in his book, Jesus Among Other Gods.  “Philosophically you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true.  Morally you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim it is a ‘better’ way.  Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it…Such is the mood a the end of the twentieth century.”

 

How do we connect the message of Jesus Christ with a culture that holds these values?  At first it can be easy to feel frustrated, like our hands are tied.  But are they?  No doubt the values of our culture make it difficult to share God’s story of redemption.  However, Ravi, in his book, reminds us that there are many ways to engage our culture, and one way is using simple logic and reason.  For instance, a statement like, “there is no absolute truth” is logically a self-defeating statement.  You cannot state that there is no absolute truth through an absolute statement!  Using simple logic and reason can help reveal the inconsistencies of some positions.

 

At the end of the day, however, people are generally not going to surrender to Christ because they lost a debate regarding spirituality (this is not stated to devalue the importance of sharpening our minds in order to skillfully share the Gospel).  People are going to be drawn to Christ when they see Him in us – through our attitudes, authenticity, convictions, and genuine love for God and others.  May we remember the charge given in 1 Peter 3:15-16 to always be prepared to vocally share and physically show our love for God and others. ^“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”