There is something wonderful about John Lennox. As an apologist for the Christian faith he is equal parts brilliant, winsome, and humble. His Irish accent and the glint in his eye as he tells a joke make him very easy to listen to (by the way - what do they put in the water of Northern Ireland? John Lennox, Alistair McGrath & CS Lewis all came from there to Oxford.)
At Oxygen, he has been speaking from Acts on ‘The Church in the 21st Century World’. The task of apologetics is an urgent and timely one. We are heavily under attack in the public square. Christianity is dismissed by many as irrational, anti-scientific, and therefore irrelevent and untrue. Our children are growing up in a very different generation and the pressures on them are enormous. Our congregations have had their confidence undermined by the ferocious output of the New Atheists.
Lennox’s most important reminder is that this hostility of the world is not something new. The early church faced exactly this issue - many would scoff at talk of resurrection. Their culture hated the exclusivity and particularity of the Christian message. The book of Acts is replete with examples of the apostles making the case for the plausibility of the gospel. It has therefore been Lennox’s constant companion and inspiration. It should be ours too. I plan to re-read Acts with an eye to the apologetic moves the apostles make, and the kinds of opposition they encounter.
I’ve been pleasantly suprised. I expected to hear Lennox and be intimidated - maybe apologetics is only for Oxbridge Professors with brains the size of planets? But instead, I’ve been encouraged to go back to the Scriptures and to speak more clearly about the reasons for the hope we have. This is radically liberating - apologetics is not just for the experts but for every Christian giving honest reasons for the faith they hold.
How else can we encourage apologetics in our parishes? Here are some very quick thoughts I scribbled during the conference today:
- We need to have a real burden for those who do not know Jesus. If we don’t believe they are lost then we won’t be praying for them or speaking with them
- We need to connect with people and answer their real questions. One of John Lennox’s throwaway lines in the Q&A is that ‘we have to answer the questioner and not just the question.’ Often there is a question behind the question. So we need to listen as well as we speak.
- Training has to happen in the local church - the saints need to be equipped. There is no shortage of resources to do the work but it will cost you time and money
- We need to do what we can to reclaim a voice in the public square. This can be done by individuals writing to the paper or calling talkback. it can also be done by backing organisations like the Centre for Public Christianity or the City Bible Forum. Andrew Cameron’s book Joined Up Life is helpful for those interested in pursuing this further.
- We need to train our children and youth. John Lennox pointed to the 2 speed brains that result when the Christian faith is not taught at the same levels as other education. Why starve the next generation of the great riches of the Christian faith?
- We need to keep coming back to scripture. Its not good enough to do the ‘apologetic-invite-a-friend-once-a-year-special-sermon’. Instead giving reasons for the plausibility of the faith has to infect all the teaching we do.
Failing all that, we could research what they are putting in the water of Northern Ireland! Any other thoughts?
