Series Preview – The Why Behind the What
By Matt Dawson
Is abortion murder? Is being a homosexual a sin? What about a transgender? Does God love terrorists? If the Las Vegas shooter was a Christian, is he in heaven? Did God really destroy the whole world in a flood? Is Jesus the only way to Heaven? Is the “best” representation of the Holy Spirit the ability to speak in tongues? Is sin a behavior or a motive? What does the Bible say?
Let’s be honest, these are just a few questions that when posted online (Facebook, Twitter, Personal blogs) people would have comment after comment on their opinion of WHAT the answers are. Everyone would start spouting their opinion, stuff they read online, memes created, and maybe even a new article or two. All to try to convince us that WHAT they are saying is right.
Many Christians do the same thing. We spout our opinions on issues and try to convince others that WHAT we believe is right in order to convince everyone else that they are wrong!
However, that’s not what the Bible has called us to do. We’ve been called not only to engage in the WHAT, but help people understand the WHY behind that WHAT.
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect
Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV) Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer
We’re called by God to have a biblical defense for what we believe. Not only about salvation, but about every issue that we face in our lives. In the church, a biblical defense is defined as Apologetics. If we’re called followers of Christ, we are not allowed to be satisfied by simply stating our opinion based on human intellect. We’ve been given Absolute Truth (His Word) as a way to defend Absolute Hope.
Over this next series, we will be discussing how we engage apologetics towards specific issues (like the sanctity of life), how we use a biblical defense to redefine our personal convictions, andhow we can disgree with others while maintaining our apologetic beliefs.
It will be a great series to invite someone from your TOP 5 that you’ve been praying for and looking for ways to invite them to a church service. As always, we will approach these topics with compassion for those who do not believe, but will make a defense for the WHY we believe WHAT we believe.