Brad Alles

This is the first of five things that we can do in this culture in which we live.  As it turns away from God, we turn to Him, and let none of His words fall to the ground.

First, apologetically defend the faith, explaining why Christianity matches reality best.  In order to do that, we need to understand people’s worldview and starting assumptions.  How do we gauge people’s worldview thinking?  By asking questions to know how to address them.

Here are three great questions to ask: What do you mean?  How do you know?  What if you’re wrong?  When you ask for definitions of terms used, the authority of the information cited, and the consequences of people’s errors, you can assess how to talk to people better.

Besides those three basic questions, we can ask people about their belief in God’s existence, humanity’s nature, the origin of life, the purpose of life, the origin of evil, and the destiny of humans.  In this day and age, when approximately 30% of Americans believe in the inspiration of Scripture, ask these questions first before quoting Scripture.  If you begin by quoting the Bible, only about 1 in 3 people agree that it is God’s Word.  A smarter tactic would be to determine where the person stands regarding God’s existence, the problem of evil, or heaven and hell before quoting the Bible.

Don’t misunderstand me–you will quote the Bible–but not at the beginning of the conversation.  For instance, if you find that they don’t believe in creationism, the conversation could sound like this:

“I have a question for you.  What do you think about our origins?  From where did we come?”

“I don’t believe in God.  I believe everything evolved.”

“Well I believe that God exists.  And I think He created everything.  But I have another question for you.  If evolution was true, how could lifeless matter become alive?”

Now you can share Scripture to explain your point and let God the Holy Spirit work on the person’s heart.  As you speak, you must have an attitude of love for the person and respect for them.  1 Peter 3 :15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”