Evangelism and Apologetics

It's easy to think that evangelism and apologetics are separate, even opposite. After all, evangelism is telling people about Jesus, and apologetics is arguing with them, right? I'm going to make the case that evangelism requires two hands: the gospel is the right hand and apologetics the left.

I think we can boil the message of the NT down to this:

• Jesus said the world will be judged.
• Jesus said the proof of his authority would be rising from the dead.
• Jesus rose from the dead.
• Therefore, the world will be judged, so you need to believe on Jesus and repent of your sins.

We can quibble over whether that is a good statement of the gospel message another time; it'll serve to make my point, which is that someone out there will object to just about every one of those statements.

Jesus said the world will be judged: How do we know he said that? Why should we believe that the gospels accurately convey what he said? How do we know the gospels we have are the same as the ones that were written. Why should the world be judged; wouldn't a loving God forgive people their sin? Wait, what is this sin thing — morality is relative and there are no "sins." The world is not going to be judged, and neither are you, because there is no God.

Jesus said the proof of his authority would be rising from the dead: Jesus didn't say that; his followers made it up years after his death. It's not possible to know the future, so Jesus could not have known that he was going to be crucified.

Jesus rose from the dead: That's impossible; dead people don't do that. Why should we believe Jesus rose from the dead? That's just a legend that grew up generations after Jesus and his first followers died. The disciples stole the body, or hallucinated, or lied. Or copied earlier pagan myths about dying and rising gods.

So you need to believe on Jesus and repent of your sins: "Believe" means to accept something you know isn't true. "Repent" suggests I've done something wrong, and I haven't. I don't want to be a Christian because Christians are hypocrites. Jesus works for you, but my religion works for me, so I'll be fine. It's cruel to say that you have to follow Jesus one way to be saved. 

We can, we should, prepare to answer those questions because we know they're likely to come. Besides our concern for the other's immortal soul, a stumped Christian sends the message that we have not thought this through, that there is no intellectual basis for our faith, or that Christianity is a religion for a bygone era. An objection gently answered, even if it's not as convincing an answer as they would like, sends the opposite message — we have thought this through, and you don't have to check your brain at the door to be a Christian.

There may be times when you'll share the gospel with someone who is ready to receive it, and they'll accept every word you say, but I'll bet you're going to get more resistance than that from the average postmodern American or European. Having the gospel in one hand and apologetics in the other will allow you to answer questions and address objections. Maybe you won't always get people to the "accept Jesus" stage, but you'll leave them with something to think about, and that may in time grow in their hearts so that the next person who shares the gospel with them will reap the benefit of your hard work.


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