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  Why Your Church Needs Apologetics

  Feb 12, 2020

  Many Christians shy away from sharing their faith because the person they talk to may reject them. It's a possibility, even for those experienced in evangelism. Just ask Todd White. The waitress he talked to reprimanded him and walked away. It is her God given privilege to make that choice.

   

  It is a choice we may be seeing more of here in the US. In the last post, we talked about the rising numbers of atheists, but in this one I want to talk about another growing demographic called the Nones. This group comes from the youngest generation of adults, Gen Z, and have no religious affiliation, thus "nones."

   

  A 2018 Barna study revealed the top reason they gave for rejecting Christianity is that a good God would not allow so much evil and suffering in the world. That problem was the second reason Millennials gave for rejecting God. Perhaps then, we can understand why some unbelievers may bristle when we approach with a "Jesus loves you" opener.

   

  That doesn't mean Gen Z won't respond to a love message. According to Josh Miller, a Z-er himself, they prefer face to face communication. Miller says they "crave human interaction." 

   

  Another hindrance to belief in God is the idea that science proves there is no God. Barna cites two related questions in their study, "I don't believe in fairy tales" and "I believe science refutes too much of the Bible."   But a Pew study states only 21% believe there is no God. So who is the God they believe exists and how does He work? That needs to be part of our conversation.

   

  Apologetics is scorned by some Christians because they say a person doesn't come to Jesus with his brain; he comes with his heart. No kidding, but no one believes what they have declared in their heart to be impossible fairy tales. The deceiver has done his job in perverting truth and marketing it in their thought life. These studies show how important it is to know what we believe and why if we want to communicate Christianity to the next generation. 

   

  Hebrews 11:6 says "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The top argument against God questions His goodness and His existence, the two things you need to believe to come to Him. Our role is to push back against this foundation built by education and even the Church. If a crack can form in that foundation, Light can get in and faith happens.

   

  Is there hope? Of course! In view of the research, here are two of the top clues on how to talk to the younger people in your circle. The first is being able to answer their questions with biblically correct answers about the sovereignty of God. The second is to develop appropriate relationships with them.

   

  This isn't hard, but it does take time. It takes an Acts model church approach, otherwise known as RELAX, and authentic, real deal Christianity, no pretenders. It also requires the genuine message of the Bible, no religious tradition allowed.

   

  Be watching for our ebook on the sovereignty of God.

   

  Image by Eliott Reyna courtesy of Unsplash

  Tags: Jesus, God, Christian, Evangelism, Apologetics, Todd White, If God is good why is there evil, Gen Z

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