IF YOU WANT TO BE A GOOD CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST

Start with a Strong Biblical Foundation

Long before I ever considered going back to school for a theological education, the Lord planted the seed of his Word in the soil of my heart. (Matthew 13 - The Parable of the Sower). He grew a hunger in me to learn, study, and apply biblical truths in my daily life. That looked like early mornings, often before the sun would rise, spent digging through Scripture. Slowly and surely studying verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, until I had read the entire Bible cover-to-cover. Then I would start again back at the beginning.

Did I understand everything I read? Not at all. But with time and later the aide of solid biblical commentaries and resources, I began to develop a greater, deeper understanding of the Word.  It was only later (7-years to be exact) that the path I was on reached the place where I knew God was calling me back to school, as a seminary student.

My decision to apply to seminary wasn't made lightly. It's a big commitment of time and resources. And it isn't the path for everyone. But the Lord was faithful to make margin in my life for this very purpose, at this very time. And he was faithful to have given me a strong biblical foundation before I embarked on this next part of my calling to teach and equip found Christian women to engage the lost in fruitful conversations about God.

If you were to ask me what the most important thing was that I learned in those seven quiet years of study, I would say this: the Bible is not about me, the Bible is about God. Somewhere along the road of our very self-focused, me-myself-and-I culture we have lost the very basic truth that Scripture is God's self-revelation. Scripture is about God. That's what makes it Scripture. It is NOT about us.

As New Testament believers, the Bible wasn't written to us, or about us. It was written for us. 

It's a mistake often made by new believers and in what I have come to call the "TikTok/TedTalk church." Instead of the truth being taught, instead of the Gospel being preached (you are a sinner in need of a Savior — Jesus Christ), pastors and preachers have found safety in saying only what people want to hear. (See 2 Timothy 4:1-5)

And when the truth isn't taught, the people aren't prepared. They cannot tell the truth the Bible freely gives from the lies the world tries to sell.

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

(2 Tim. 4:1-5 [ESV])

That is why a strong biblical foundation is critical if you want to be able to defend the Christian faith and worldview, which is what it means to be an apologist.

Put simply, you can't defend what you don't know. 

Whether or not you are a "professional" apologist, as a Christian you will have your faith questioned. Are you prepared to defend it? Do you know what you actually believe about God? About Jesus? About the Holy Spirit? About the Bible? 

Have you spent time thinking through these questions? Have you spent time preparing yourself to be ready to answer them? 

No one runs a marathon without training. It would be a foolish endeavor to try. The same goes for being prepared to give a defense of your faith. In order to prepare, you must first know what you are defending. To know what you are defending, you need to know what the Bible says.

If you want to be a good Christian apologist, start with a strong biblical foundation.

YOU CAN'T DEFEND WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.

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