Dave’s Monday Blast – March 18, 2019

A few weeks ago we began a discussion about Apologetics and Evangelism. We started out by simply saying that we should not expect a non-believer to actually listen to a gospel message if our actions do not show kindness. As Christ-followers, you and I can not “escape” our obligation to the Kingdom Mandate found in Matthew 28. The last thing Jesus commanded His disciples to do was to “make more disciples”. Throughout His earthly ministry He used acts of kindness to share Kingdom Truth leading to repentance. But is kindness enough? There is another simple ingredient that motivates us to be kind which I want to explore with you down the road; that motivation is Love. Those two character qualities are the “secret sauce” of evangelism.

Today, however, I want to follow up on my concluding comment from last week where I referenced a growing trend in evangelical circles that essentially says caring for the body is all we are called to do; caring for the soul is not our responsibility. Our conversations last week concerning how Jesus “evangelized” the woman with the “issue of blood” in Mark 5 contradict this trend. We must do both. We must meet physical needs with kindness so that we are positioned to be able to share God’s love. God desires to have a personal relationship with us. It is that face-to-face, personal experience with Him that leads us to salvation. Remember the physical is temporal but the soul and spirit is eternal.

Our friends at Christian Ministries International comment: “While apologetics has always been an essential tool for Christian evangelism, sadly, many in our postmodern world today are beginning to question the relevance of contending for the faith with rational argumentation. Some common ideas on evangelism these days are things like this:

“People aren’t looking for rational arguments, they want to hear your story.”
“People don’t need evidence for the faith, they just need us to be authentic.”
“Conversion is about the heart, not the intellect.'”

Translation… many Christians today seem to prefer “experiencing” Christianity to thinking about or explaining it. This postmodern vision of Christian evangelism and apologetics, however, falls far short of the Bible’s admonitions on this subject, as well as its counsel and examples on how the faith is appropriately transmitted. (There is the rub for many who question the importance of Biblical Authority).

Scriptures such as Matthew 13:23; Acts 8:30-31; Acts 18:4; Acts 19:8-10; Romans 10:17; and 2 Corinthians 5:11 are all evidence that reason and rational argumentation are at the heart of the New Testament model for evangelism and apologetics.

So it begs the question, my INTENTIONAL friends:
Can there be saving faith without understanding? Can there be understanding without reasoning? The Bible would appear to say “NO” and the modeling of Jesus would affirm ‘NO”. Men of Intention KNOW that they MUST be students of the Word and KIND!

Stay tuned next week for “The Secret Sauce”