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Unapologetic Christianity

Apologetics and preaching

During October we have the privilege of William Lane Craig visiting the UK to take part in a series of debates and lectures on the reasonableness of Christianity.

Craig is a significant apologist who has authored numerous books and taken part in many debates. His presentation skills are highly effective and engaging. In the publicity for the tour there is a quote from an ‘irregular churchgoer’ who heard Craig during his 2007 visit: ‘Why isn't there more of this kind of thing being preached from church pulpits? If there were, I'd go more often and I'd stay awake during the sermon!’ It’s a good question. What is it that Craig is doing that is relevant to our pulpits?

The ‘A’ word

I teach apologetics at a local college and I regularly preach at the local church where I am pastor. However, I rarely, if ever, use the word ‘apologetics’ in my local church ministry. Why not? It’s a technical word meaning ‘to give a word back’ or to defend the faith from objections. However, in contemporary use it seems to imply saying sorry. When it comes to our faith, Christians might rightly complain that they have nothing to apologise for!

But the fact that I do not use the word ‘apologetics’ does not mean that I do not use apologetics. The evidence for the Christian faith and the weakness of objections to our faith must be relevant to all Bible based preaching. I am convinced that one of the weaknesses of the evangelical church is our general drift into devotional preaching.

Too many assumptions

What I mean by devotional preaching is the kind of sermon that (a) assumes the hearers are all believers and (b) assumes the hearers are all convinced of the point being made. Therefore, all the preaching needs to do is to encourage fresh devotion to God on the part of those present. Devotional preaching can be warm, heartening and gentle. It can leave a congregation feeling satisfied and uplifted. But are those feelings based on fact? Or have underlying doubts and objections been temporarily swept aside? If so, might they not creep back into the light on Monday morning?

Preaching should convict the mind and move the heart. A devotional sermon can move the heart, but unless the mind is convicted what change can it really bring about?

When we stop to think about it, the Bible itself is apologetics. It is God’s word to a rebellious world. God speaks with clarity, gives reasons for faith, demolishes the alternatives and presents the case for his own authority. The Bible is not given as timeless poetry or heart-warming chicken soup for the soul. The Bible is a sustained word from God undermining all the rebellious attempts of the human race to sidestep his authority. The Bible is described as a double-edged sword — a weapon to cut through all the pretensions that set themselves up against God.

How can apologists help?

So how can we use the work of great apologists like Craig, or C.S Lewis, Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox (the list gets rather long!) to benefit preaching? Not only can we do so, but we must do so. We must preach with the aim of clarifying truth, demolishing error and persuading hearts and minds. Let me suggest four ways of engaging apologetics in preaching.

1. Raise the questions our world is raising. Ask questions like, ‘Now you may be thinking, how on earth can we be sure of this?’ Identify unsettling rumours: ‘You may have heard that the four Gospels are not the only gospels written in the ancient world’. You will help a congregation see that your sermon is providing an answer to the questions that the world is asking. 2. Assume little. 3. Do not belittle, caricature or dismiss alternatives. 4. Give a cogent defence.

Chris lectures at Moorlands College, as well as being pastor of Alderholt Evangelical Church, New Forest.

Chris Sinkinson

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