The better you understand where a person is coming from the better you will be able to communicate your faith to them. Because I am trying to give tips on defending the Christian faith my assumption is that you will be in a position where a person from another faith/worldview is in a give and take discussion with you. That isn't always the case, but it is a lot.
Part of defending your faith is knowing why the Christian faith is superior to any other worldview. If you truly believe that Christ reigns supreme over all other treasures you should be able to find where his gospel is better (yes it's ok to say something is truly better) than any belief you encounter.
Obviously I don't have nearly enough knowledge to talk about every worldview out there in detail but I can give some biblical help:
According to the Bible all mankind irrationally gives their worship to idols. Whether it's Animism, Hinduism, or plain old Atheism, worship that is not directed to the one true God of the universe is idolatry. Romans 1:18-32 gives us an overview of how this looks.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:22-23)In our day and age this is seen in an inconsistency in morality (how does an Atheist know what is truly right?) only accepting religions that make you feel good about yourself (ask Hollywood for the best options), or simply find the religion that turns you into a deity (learn to ride a bike first). In Isaiah's day the criticism was that the same wood that was thrown into the fire to warm the house was also used to make an idol to which a person could bow down (Isa 44:15).
Am I suggesting you find the best way to tease a person about their personal beliefs, no. However, you should learn about other worldviews and understand where they fall short in comparison to the beautiful salvation that comes from Jesus Christ.
More to come...
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
Galatians 6:14
Posts
This is the first time I've read your blog. I agree we need to be better informed about competing world views and false religions. It's also imperative that those who claim the name of Christ have a good understanding of the core doctrines of our own faith. In most Southern Baptist churches, like the one I attend, doctrine is shallow or non existent. Instead of Biblical terminology, catch phrases are the norm: faith journey, missional, unchurched, ask Jesus in your heart, personal relationship... and so on. I realize a catch phrase may represent a biblical concept, but why the verbal subterfuge? We understand the need to defend our faith with those outside of the church, but increasingly, we have to stand firm for our faith within the visible church.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog, I'll be checking back with you regularly.
Cathy, (My future relative?)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I agree with everything you said and I understand what you're talking about when it comes to catch phrase Christianity. One thing I love about my friends who write with me on this blog is that, like me, they want to go deeper and understand what God reveals in Scripture. I'm encouraged to see that you share that desire and see how important it is.
I need to do better at linking my posts together. My last post was on knowing your own faith. To find the other posts on the subject just click on the topic "apologetics" and they are all there.
Thanks again!
Stephen
Stephen, Yes, I am soon to be your relative. (second cousin... in-law?) I am so happy for the two of you. I hope I'll get to meet you soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too clever with the blogosphere yet. I still mainly just read the ones with whom I'm like-minded. I venture into enemy only territory occasionally.
~Looking forward to reading more. I'll check out the post you referenced.