7 Aug 2008
When I was younger the word ‘apologetics’ used to confuse me – I always connected it to the word apology, which I related to the word sorry. I wasn’t aware that ‘apology’ could also mean, “a defence or justification of one’s beliefs”.
Therefore, when I heard Christians talk about ‘apologetics’ I thought they were saying I should be sorry for the fact that I’m a Christian! And that really didn’t help me, because at school I was continually being made to feel that I should show regret for being a Christian.
My experience has shown me that very little has changed in the past ten or so years. Many young people feel the same today as I felt when I was at school. The word ‘God’, ‘Jesus’, ‘Bible’ or ‘church’ comes up in discussion and they are automatically on guard, but instead of being ‘apologetic’, instead of defending their beliefs, they almost feel guilty for what they believe. They feel ‘apologetic’, as in wanting to say sorry for believing the things they do.
There are undoubtedly many reasons why so many young people feel this way, and I certainly have no desire to over-simplify the extremely difficult situation that so many young people find themselves in day-by-day. However, I do want to focus on one reason, and I choose this reason because it’s one that we can help to address.
Many young people feel ‘sorry’ for their Christian beliefs because they feel ill-equipped to defend the Christian faith. We have a responsibility to equip young people in apologetics. It’s important that we don’t simply teach young people what we believe; it’s important that we help them understand why we believe the things we do. At the heart of doctrine is the ‘what’ question; at the heart of apologetics is the ‘why’ question.
It’s essential that we help young people get to grasp with this ‘why’ question. Doing so will help them remain secure in their own faith and will help them defend their faith to those who think the claims of Christianity are false or irrelevant. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” We need to help young people become prepared.
There are those who say that an ‘apologetic’ approach to evangelism is not as relevant today as it was 20 plus years ago, due to the fact that the idea of ‘ultimate truth’ is being eroded and people are more interested in experience over reason. However, in my experience of schools work that is not the case.
Yes, young people want something that works,; but the majority still seem to be looking for something that makes sense, is true, and is supported by evidence. Therefore it is still important that we prepare people to defend the Christian faith.
The how question is a question to be addressed in a future article. However, in the meantime spend some time thinking about the young people that you work with, and also talk to them about their experiences of being a Christian at school. Do they know why we believe what we do? Are they ready to defend their beliefs or do they feel ‘sorry’ for believing the things they believe?
Phil Green, *essential project director
Article originally published on the Evangelical Alliance's *essential website.
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