The Importance of Pre-Evangelism: Andy at Culduthel

by Editor

Andy renewed our friendship and fellowship in the gospel with Culduthel Christian Centre in Inverness recently. It’s a church we have a close relationship with at Solas, and Andy Bannister went back there recently for a weekend of ministry. This took place when the meeting and travel restrictions prevented him making the long trip up the A9 and so zoomed in from his study in Dundee.

Andy’s first talk was on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of religions. The aim of that talk was to show folks both the unique message, and the unique person of Jesus; that both He and his gospel are quite apart from other truth claims.

The other meeting Andy took part in up there was an open online Q&A, on which he was joined by Culduthel’s pastor Alistair Macleod, and Angus Jamieson another of their leaders. The three of them interviewed each other, asking questions about how they each came to faith initially – but then also why they are still followers of Jesus today, weaving in a little bit of apologetics as they went. Then the floor was opened for a good time of Q&A.

Andy said, “These were a really lovely pair of evenings which I really enjoyed doing with the Culduthel folks. The key thing was that they used these sessions to launch their Christianity Explored course the following week. They wanted to do a bit of pre-evangelism, and then offer the course to people who wanted to explore the issues further. I was really glad to hear that twenty or so people are now doing the course too.”

One of our observations at Solas is that there are many people who are interested in spirituality, many who are interested in Jesus – and are asking serious questions. Many of them are just unsure about where to start looking. Take the Bible for instance, which can be fairly intimidating for the uninitiated. If someone opens it at random and stumbles in Leviticus, with no frame of reference, that’s going to be difficult for them. It’s important to help people see that if Jesus really is “the way, the truth and the life” then the whole thing centres on Him, and that’s where to start.

The other side of the story that Andy, Angus and Alistair tried to convey is the difference that Jesus makes to life today. They each sought to keep the focus on Jesus as they explained why as a writer, businessman and pastor respectively – they find that Jesus makes sense of life today.

There is sometimes a gap in our churches in this area of pre-evangelism. There are people who are gently interested, but are perhaps completely unfamiliar with the Christian faith, and interpret the world through a whole series of different lenses. Learning to begin by intriguing these folks with Jesus can lead onto more searching conversations.

Andy Bannister commented, “A church’s evangelism strategy should look a bit like a funnel. It needs to be as wide-as-possible at one end to draw in as many people as possible through all manner of events in which they form relationships with people in their community. They can be low-key things such as parent and toddler groups, community BBQ’s, charity quiz-nights or carol services. Secondly you need some pre-evangelism events. The funnel narrows a bit as people who are interested in going further with Jesus are identified, there maybe questions to be asked here about the purpose of life. Then thirdly the funnel narrows a bit more as people who really want to know can do Alpha or Christianity Explored. Finally of course, those who are persuaded, and who come to faith in Christ don’t stop there- but move through into discipleship.”

What is sometimes missing is that middle section, the pre-evangelism between the social event and the evangelistic course. It was great to be able to deliberately work on that with our friends at Culduthel in Inverness.

The Knowledge Gap 2 : fearing that ‘Killer Question’

by Editor

The fear of being asked the unanswerable question has killed thousands of gospel-conversations before they have even got going! Worrying that we might be asked the killer-question we dread, we have shut down conversations with spiritual potential as if they were moments of threat rather than opportunity. Many of us want to speak about purpose, hope, meaning, truth and Jesus, but fearing getting embroiled in science, suffering and sexuality we have chosen to say nothing, in case we say anything ineptly.

PROCESSING MY FEARS AND FAILURES

Thinking through times when I have not grasped opportunities to speak out for Jesus and his gospel, I am struck by two things: The first is gratitude that God’s love is not contingent upon my performance, but flows to me through Christ from His gracious character. So when I look back on some shocker of a conversation; analysing my failures is then an opportunity to grow, not to sit miserably under a cloud of condemnation. The second thing is thinking through why I have failed to speak up. In many instances, especially when in the company of people far smarter than me, my witness has been stifled by fear of being asked the ‘killer question’.

The questions I have dreaded being asked have varied with time and company; but have included things such as Old Testament violence, the Bible’s sexual ethics, science and faith, and the reliability of the Bible itself. Being asked a question about science by a scientist – when you are not one – is intimidating; as it is in any situation where the questioner brings more knowledge to the conversation than you. It is perhaps even more-scary when their impressive mind is coupled to deep emotional or identity commitments which are in conflict with scripture. If like me, you instinctively avoid even the mildest disagreements about trivial matters with friends and neighbours and are more wired for ‘flight’ than ‘fight’, then the thought of the killer-question is enough to make the pulse quicken and coherent-thought made impossible as the cheeks redden and unhelpful quantities of adrenaline flood the blood-stream.

SAVOURING OUR LIMITATIONS

In The Knowledge Gap Part 1. David Nixon encouraged us to identify the questions we wrestle with and provided us with a host of resources to help us start to construct helpful answers to killer questions. He’s right – we need to be thinking, and learning and grappling with issues so that we can speak well for The Lord in the current moment.

But we are never going to have exhaustive knowledge of every good apologetic argument across every field. We can never go into the world with impregnable intellectual defences. If you spent years learning all the arguments relating to science and faith, you could still be floored by a question about language or philosophy you’d never considered. Or you could invest all your time in developing an apologetic for biblical ethics, and be pressed to answer a question about the origins of the universe!

RESPONDING TO KILLER QUESTIONS

So does this mean that we all have to shut-up and leave evangelism to Christians like “Dr Dr Dr” Alister McGrath with his multiple PhD’s across three disciplines? The answer I have found is ‘no’ – I can still have a part to play in proclaiming the gospel – even to people smarter than me; without being terrified of the ‘killer-question’. I have found four things liberating here.

  1. THE POWER OF “I DON’T KNOW”

The last time I had seen Richard was when he and I were students, several decades ago. He had gone on to a successful career in law, then had become a pastor and was now active in sharing the gospel.  When I met him again he told me, “When I was a lawyer, one of my main jobs was in preparing a witness for giving evidence in court – which is for most people a difficult and terrifying experience.” Richard went on to explain that he sometimes got witnesses to practice saying, “I don’t know” under high-pressure questioning. The reason was simple, Richard explained: “Our tendency under pressure is to appear smart, or to guess the right answer (because we want to please the questioner or the judge) or to embellish and add details that were not required or in the worst case – not actually true.  If we do that, and are caught doing so, the judge is allowed to throw out all of our evidence and disregard everything we say because we are not reliable witnesses”.

Admitting what you don’t know – protects the reliability of your witness about things that you do! I find that thought totally liberating in my gospel conversations. I suppose I had thought that in sharing the gospel I was like a barrister, preparing and presenting the case, assembling all the arguments and evidence and pressing for conviction. That is simply too hard for me to manage and I am intimidated by the thought. In Richard’s example I am not the lead prosecutor however, I am a witnesses charged simply with passing on what I do know, what I have seen, and what I have learned and experienced. The Holy Spirit is leading the case, and calling all kinds of people to the stand!

Richard concluded: “Saying I do not know the answer, may provide a weakness in that particular part of the case but all is not lost, in fact quite the opposite – it can mean that the witness is seen as reliable and authentic in other areas.“ I had thought that “I don’t know” was perhaps a permissible admission of failure. Richard showed me that it can also be a powerful commitment to honesty.

The complete case for the Christian faith is not owned by any one individual but by the whole church, and so we can follow up our “I don’t know” answer with– “but I can find out more and get back to you if you are interested”. One of the purposes of Solas is to provide somewhere you can go to find answers to share with people. That’s why we have material on science, sexuality, purpose, meaning, language, maths, beauty and so forth. Please do get in touch if you’d like a steer around a particular question. If we don’t know the answer, we will know people who do!

  1. HEARTS AND MINDS

The second thing I have to remember is that we are not just in the business of winning arguments, but in seeing people’s hearts changed. Very often the arguments people are willing to listen to are selected by their hearts, and prior commitments, not by some process of detached rationality. Asking people to believe that God is good (in the face of suffering and evil) or that his word promotes our flourishing (if it confronts our idols) is a matter of “taste and see that the Lord is good[i]” as much as it is “come let us reason together”[ii].

That is not to downplay the mind, or to suggest that bringing the very best thinking to bear on a topic is not critical – it is! However, it is not in itself enough. I recently interviewed Dr Peter J. Williams, the noted biblical scholar, for a Solas article. He said to me, “remember that knowledge is morally structured” – because two people can see the same evidence and reach opposite conclusions. He pointed to the cross of Christ as the prime example because at the same moment that God most clearly reveals his love and glory – another person sees that same cross as a curse or a failure. God is both hidden and revealed in the same scene.

This means that the person asking the “killer question” needs more from me than a smart answer. They also need to know that I have listened to them, understood the logical force of their objection, and felt its emotional pull and sensed that they matter to me because they matter to God. I have discovered that running away from hard questions does more damage to people’s hearts than to their minds. Prayerful, thoughtful engagement with the person asking the question is a vital (and achievable) addition to the power of “I don’t know”.

  1. THE UNIQUENESS OF TESTIMONY

In comparison to what we don’t know – there are things that every Christian does know. That obviously applies to our thinking, there are areas where have thought deeply about the answers to questions and can share those. I spoke recently to a Christian GP who told me he’s thought long and hard about the suffering question and loves discussing it.

Sharing what we do know also applies to our knowledge of scripture. In an early edition of the Solas PEPtalk Podcast, the guest Sarah Yardley said that because she is soaked in scripture, when she chats to friends and neighbours she can naturally refer to what she has read, in connection with what they are talking about.

Another hugely significant thing we all know is our own story – our testimony. We know how we came to faith and why we believe. As witnesses we are not required to know every answer to every mystery; but we are able to know and own our own story and tell people what we have understood and experienced. Many people think that a ‘good testimony’ is a dramatic one (or at very least involve repentance from some form of criminality) and that most of our less surprising testimonies are by default less helpful.  Yet the importance of our testimony is in its truthfulness not its shock-factor. Our story is important to our friends because it is what happened to us. It is our witness statement which we can faithfully report which will resonate profoundly with people most like us.

4. SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND

Jesus promised us that when we seek we will find, that is that ultimately that we will find Him. Apologetics and grappling with questions and objections is only ever pre-evangelism; clearing away the rubble to help people in their seeking. We can pass that promise on to people who ask us difficult and troubling questions, to which we don’t know the answers. Seek answers, seek truth, seek Jesus – and you will find Him. We don’t have perfect or exhaustive knowledge, but we do know Jesus, and can help people to find Him. The Christian faith contains the most compelling arguments for the origins, purpose, meaning, value and future of us all – but yet the central feature of our faith is not being right about stuff – but being “in Christ”[iii].

We can confidently, prayerfully and joyfully share with the world what we have seen, and experienced; even as we are still learning. Fear of the unanswerable question should not be allowed to control us. We don’t know it all; but we do know the one who knows it all – and he gives evermore reasons to trust him throughout our lives.

[i] Psalm 34:8

[ii] Isaiah 1:18

[iii] Galatians 3:26-8

Hereford Confident Christianity conference report

by Editor

John and Steve, warm and enthusiastic hosts

In a first for Solas, we were invited to lead a full Confident Christianity conference entirely online, in partnership with Hereford Baptist Church, Putson Baptist and Ross Baptist churches. We do understand why other churches have opted to postpone their conferences until after the pandemic; but it was great to see what we could manage together via the internet. John & Steve from Hereford Baptist hosted the day with great warmth and enthusiasm, while Solas’ Tim Allyn handled production duties which was no small task with hosts and a band in Hereford, and speakers in Dundee, London and Belfast!

Andy Bannister’s crash-course in conversational evangelism

Confident Christianity conferences exist to help Christians to speak more naturally, faithfully and winsomely about Jesus with their friends, colleagues and neighbours – and are always partnerships between local churches and Solas. These conferences always contain a devotional element, because genuine mission always flows out of worship. They also contain some helpful training in conversation and communication. Andy Bannister’s talk “How to talk about Jesus without looking like an idiot” is a crash-course in conversational evangelism, and he presented a new updated version of this talk at the Hereford conference.

Communicating truth in a ‘post-truth world’

Solas associate Kristi Mair took the second session of the day, and opened up the whole area of post-truth. She examined the contemporary cynicism about truth, and explored ways in which Christians can confidently, yet wisely, handle God’s truth in our context today.

Of course, we know that when we don’t hide our faith – but talk openly about it people raise objections. So in Confident Christianity conferences we like to look at common objections to our faith and think about how we might address them.  Solas speaker Gareth Black did exactly that around the question of suffering. While not trivialising the experience of suffering, Gareth looked at the total inadequacy of Atheist responses to it, and the hope that can be found in Jesus in the middle of a broken world. Hope in Christ is not a delusion, unlike the false hopes offered by the world.

Andy Bannister led the final session of the morning, looking at the whole question of human value and dignity. His talk entitled “Are we matter or do we matter?” explored the unique way in which the Christian faith explains the value of humanity, from creation in God’s image to salvation in Jesus.

Taking your place in God’s mission

After the lunch break Gareth pulled all the various strands of the conference together with an inspiring message about the parable of the talents, and God’s calling and equipping for mission. Then John from Hereford chaired a lively time of Q&A, in which the Solas team fielded questions on things such as sharing the gospel with Muslim friends, communicating truth to people who are relativists, the Holocaust and human evil, processing the failures of the church, developing an inviting culture in the Christian community, the hiddenness of God, Genesis, science and evolution. Contextualising the gospel, and how to make the first steps in representing Jesus at school, work and home.

The Solas team loved working with the guys from Hereford! Kristi Mair said, “It was a delight to be involved in the Confident Christianity conference in Hereford. The host church did an excellent job of facilitating the day, and we were thrilled to be able to engage with such thoughtful questions. I came away from the day giving great thanks to the Lord. At a time when in person events are not possible, this conference reminded me of the distinct privilege it is to be able to encourage each other through online training days such as these.”

Andy Bannister commented, “The Confident Christianity Conference Hereford Baptist with Putson and Ross Baptist Churches too) was the first time Solas had tried an online version of our popular apologetics conference and we were thrilled how well it went. We had a lively, engaged audience (who submitted some brilliant questions in the Q&A). Video conference meant we could bring together a fantastic team from across the country, which let us tackle a range of crucial topics — from practical stuff on how to share your faith more naturally to key topics like suffering, truth, and atheism. The key organising church were incredibly positive and have already invited Solas back for an in person event next year!

Gareth Black seemed to have enjoyed the experience too – his first online Solas conference! We had hundreds of views online, on Facebook and YouTube, and really good engagement via Pigeonhole in the final hour long session of Q&A. The questions were insightful, profound and pastorally significant too. Obviously people were wrestling with doubts and with reconciling their faith with some of the arguments they have heard from friends. Others were looking for practical advice on how to actually get going in everyday evangelism. The Hereford churches were lovely to work with and really ought to be commended for their vision, and courage in doing the conference this way. All in all it was a great day, the church seemed to be encouraged and we were able to show that Jesus and his gospel is credible and reliable; and that personal confidence in Him can spill-over into effective communication of that faith in really persuasive, meaningful and respectful ways among non-Christian friends. I was really grateful to be part of it.

However, we’ll leave the final word to pastor Steve Ansell of Hereford Baptist. “Working with Solas has been an absolute delight and I am so glad we decided to continue with hosting the Confident Chritianity Conference virtually. Though technically challenging, with wonderful support from Solas’ Tim Allyn, the conference ran seamlessly. Andy, Kristi and Gareth were inspiring speakers and we hope this is the beginning of a fruitful ongoing relationship. A massive thank you to everyone at Solas”

If you would like to find out more about bringing a Confident Christianity conference to your church or town, either in-person or online. Click here. We’d love to help!

Frontlines / Christians at Work: The Council Planning Manager

by Editor

in this edition of Frontlines, Gavin Matthews spoke to Steve Matthews (no relation!) who works for Sefton Council in the North of England. Local government might appear to be a place which is hostile to Christian witness, but the workplace Christian group there has many opportunities, as Steve explains.

Solas: Tell us a little about your job? What are your roles and responsibilities?

SM: I am Planning Manager within the Planning Department at Sefton Council. I manage a number of teams providing different aspects of the planning service. I co-ordinate reporting the more contentious planning applications to the monthly meetings of Planning Committee.

Solas: What’s the best part of your job?

SM: I love trying to get the best out of people, helping them to do their jobs to the best of their ability. I often have to deal with complains about our service – when things go wrong or people feel aggrieved by planning decisions. It is a privilege to try to respond positively to these issues and to improve our service where we need to. I really enjoy the working relationship with Councillors.

Solas: What are some of the challenges that you face at work – and how does your faith in Christ help you to navigate those?

SM: Managing people is not straightforward and it can be difficult to be even-handed in my dealings with the team. I have been challenged that my work is actually part of my worship so I know that God is intensely interested in all I do and that it matters to him. So I bring each day to him and ask him to guide me through it.

Solas: Does being a Christian make a difference to the way you approach work?

SM: Yes – no problem is insurmountable with God’s help. And if things go well it is good to remember that it is God who gives success. I trust God to help me order my priorities, to know how to handle problems most effectively, and strategies for relating to individual people. I have found it’s important to praise colleagues when they do well, and to admit it quickly when I get things wrong.

Solas: Do people you work with know that you are a Christian? How do they react to that?

SM: My colleagues know I am a Christian. We have a white board on which we write when we are out of the office. When I was working in the office, I would jot down on the board when I was at the Christian group meeting on Thursday lunchtimes. Colleagues with whom I have never had an opportunity to talk about my faith would say ‘I know you’ve got your group meeting coming up now – I’ll speak to you when you get back’.  I have put up a poster about our Christian group on the office notice board and publicity about Alpha.

Solas: Have you ever had opportunities to share your faith with people you know through work? What things have helped you to have good conversations about faith? Did you deliberately set about to have these conversations, or did they occur naturally?

SM: Yes, in small ways, offering to pray for people in times of crisis. This has been natural as people know I am a Christian. Our Christian workplace group was invited to put up a display about Easter in the foyer of our Council offices. I had the opportunity to invite some of my colleagues passing through the foyer to write a thought or prayer related to an Easter theme (e.g. suffering, injustice) and to attach it to the display. I am praying that as I try to model the Christian faith at work I will get more opportunities to speak to people about it personally.

Solas: How do people react when you talk about your faith in Jesus? Interested? Angry? Apathetic? Do they ever raise objections…. What were they and how did you respond?

SM: Colleagues are often apathetic … most have said ‘No’ to Alpha when we ran it a few years ago, though one or two have come along. I am disappointed that I haven’t had that many in-depth conversations with people about faith, though hugely encouraged when one colleague decided to come to Alpha a few years back when I was sure he wouldn’t be interested! When we offered to pray for our senior management team, one of them replied with specific prayer requests and wrote about how delighted he was to have this support from the workplace Christian group in the staff bulletin that goes to everyone we work with.

Solas: Why do you want to talk to colleagues and friends about Jesus?

SM: Jesus offers forgiveness from the past, purpose in the present and a hope for the future. This is such good news for everyone – why wouldn’t we want others to know? This is especially so during Covid-19 when people may be anxious and fearful, and are more likely to be open to thinking about all that is going on around them and why. The challenge is finding ways to open up conversations with colleagues. We are planning to run an online Alpha in Spring 2021 to give people an opportunity to find out about the Christian faith.

Solas: What advice would you give a young Christian entering your field of work who wants to be faithful to Christ there?

SM: Take it step by step – God will open doors for you. Be yourself, be natural. Look for ways to bless your colleagues – be genuinely interested in them and their families and how they are doing in their work. Making a coffee for someone when they’re under pressure or leaving chocolate at their desk if they’re having a bad day (in the days we worked in an office!) goes a long way. In these days when tolerance is such a prized virtue, people are very open to the idea of faith even if they might think it is just your thing.
I would encourage young Christians to look out for other Christians at work and to try to join a Christian group or start one. There are tremendous opportunities to influence an organisation when you meet and pray with other Christians. Transform Work UK will help to support you in this. Go for it, you have nothing to lose!

Solas: Thanks for chatting to us Steve!

“How to approach scripture” – Gareth Black at Ulster University CU

by Editor

I recently had the privilege of speaking to the Christian Union at Ulster University (Belfast Campus). I have spoken to the CU a couple of times previously, but this time they had asked me to come and teach them the entire Book of Ruth as part of a series they were doing on Inspiring Characters in the Bible. The Book of Ruth is one of my absolute favourite books of scripture. Yet more than simply my love for the subject matter, I wanted to take up this opportunity to help these students engage with the bible in a deeper way than they often do, allowing our interactive session to help them glean (no pun intended!) valuable tips and methods for how to get the most out of bible study for themselves. Central to this was teaching them to ask questions of the text. So often many of us find that we don’t get much out of scripture precisely because we don’t know what we should be looking for and, therefore, end up engaging with the text without looking for anything in particular. We need to remember that although the Bible is certainly more than a book, it is not less than a book and, therefore, we need to effectively employ all the normal approaches and skills of comprehension that we would to any other book if we are to discover its message.

Strangely, many of us all too often fail to do this when it comes to the bible because we have an often unconscious assumption that, because we are engaging with the holy and living word of God, it somehow should mysteriously speak to us without our employment of these basic approaches to understanding literature. I have found time and time again – especially when engaging with students and teenagers who feel the expectation that they should be getting lots out of scripture when they read it but, if they are honest, don’t when they read it – that if you can help people know how to engage with scripture by asking the right questions, such as “Does the author state why he is writing?”, “What does the text actually say (before we think about meaning or application)?”, and “Why might these things be said in this book and not in another book of the bible?”, scripture begins to come alive and speaks with authority into their lives as they begin to experience the wisdom, coherent thought-flow and power of the Word of God. Of course, starting with a short manageable book like the Book of Ruth can be very effective in helping people see these things quite easily.

It was no different for the students at Ulster University. As we walked our way through the story, asking these questions, giving voice to the things we didn’t understand or found bizarre in the text, I began to have to say less and less as the students visibly and audibly began to be inspired and, consequently, invest in owning the study for themselves because the message had begun to come alive with interest, relevance and power for them. It was a privilege to end the Zoom call, hearing their fresh hunger to dive further into the text and fresh confidence that scripture – if we take it seriously and allow it to do its work – can speak with authority and relevance to some of the most pressing questions and social issues of 2021.

As I continually see students respond to scripture in instances like the CU at Ulster, I am reminded of an important lesson, one that we who value the importance of apologetics can often unconsciously forget. It the lesson that , as immensely important as it is to have things to say and arguments to make about the reliability of scripture in terms of its historical accuracy and integrity to what the original authors said, ultimately we need get to the bible.

If, in our minds, the bible’s authority simply rests on what we say about it, it will never ultimately convince us that it is the word of God and is authoritative and powerful to speak at the deepest level of our hearts and minds. Ultimately, God has promised that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17); it does not come by the arguments we make about the Word of God. The difference is subtle but crucial. It is the difference between a technical or merely creedal acknowledgment of the inspiration of scripture, and one forged through profound and consistent hearing of the word of God through personal engagement with it. At the end of the day, Scripture does not become the Word of God because of the things I say about it. Therefore, the best thing we can do in serving students – or anyone else for that matter – when it comes to building their faith, is to learn to do the hard work of opening up the bible and allowing it to speak for itself. For, in the end, the bible is its own apologetic. Very often in the contemporary world of Christian apologetics, our relationship with the bible is often one in which we analyse culture, identify a problem, and then resolve the problem via a blend of philosophy and scripture before moving on to the next problem. The danger is that this makes our relationship with the bible merely a collection of problem-orientated solutions. I am very grateful to those who have helped me to see that the bible wasn’t written that way: it was written in books.

I have, therefore, discovered that it is possible start the other way round: to begin with scripture and allow it to both illuminate and address the human problem – problems that, at their core, have been consistent throughout the millennia of human history and only appear in different guises with the passage of time. The benefit of this approach to building Christian faith, is that it avoids the danger of people’s confidence resting on the authority of an individual Christian speaker’s analytical powers and argumentative prowess, however brilliant, and scripture only being employed referentially. Instead, once people – including students and teenagers – begin to truly see that scripture itself is alive and relevant and the best discerner of the thoughts and intentions of both individual hearts and cultural movements, it enables them to actively place their confidence in the word of God itself as authoritative, whether they have access to brilliant speakers/thinkers or not.

It was a delight to begin just a little of this journey with the students at Ulster University. The greatest compliment they paid me that evening as we departed had nothing to do with anything they said about what I personally had contributed. Instead, it was to allow me to observe – without them even realising it – their very evident and organic appetite and renewed confidence vis-à-vis scripture itself. Because, when students truly hear scripture speak, they inevitably want more. And if they are confident that it can’t speak to them with supernatural power and authority, they are far more likely to believe that it can do the same among their unbelieving student friends.

The Harm Gap

by Editor

So you finally convince your work colleague Ethan to come to an apologetics talk on Friday night. You’ve been friends for a while, and you’ve had the chance to chat about spiritual matters. He’s at a bit of a loose end, having been through a relationship break-up. Following a coffee after work one evening, you strike up the courage to ask him along. People are often open after difficult times, right? Besides you’d love for Ethan to hear about how Christianity is still plausible in this modern age. After all, he’s familiar with the visiting speaker, who is a well-known apologist, because you’ve shared some Youtube clips with him that were great conversation starters across the cubicle.

So on the night you introduce Ethan to some friends, grab a quick bite beforehand with them all (they clicked well with Ethan, from what you could see), then you head to the talk.

The lecture title is “Can you be happy without God?” It’s sharp, punchy, funny and emotionally on the money. You glance sideways from time to time and Ethan seems to be laughing at all the right spots.

The QandA after is a bit more intense and at one stage the speaker is quizzed about homosexuality, with a questioner pushing hard on why God is even bothered about who we sleep with. The speaker handles it well, giving a big picture answer, using Romans 1 as a launch pad. He gets a round of applause from some in the crowd, which seems a little strange, and one brave, lonesome cat-call. The moment passes, and afterwards you try to pick how Ethan might have felt about the talk, but he says he isn’t up for going out for coffee with the group, and heads home early. Oh well, you can speak on Monday at work.

On Monday at work, however, things seem strained. More than strained. Ethan brushes off your approaches to talk about the event. In fact he seems distracted and somewhat distant. It’s only on Tuesday that things heat up. Turns out he’s asked to shift desks, to the other side of the office. He avoids eye contact, and is too busy to hang out at lunch. You notice the HR representative chatting with him later that afternoon. You go home wondering what has happened.

It’s only on Wednesday, when you are called into the HR department, and your supervisor is sitting there that it clicks. After exchanging pleasantries the supervisor starts the real conversation:

“We just wanted to have a chat with you, to get your side of what might have happened.”

 “Happened? About what?”

 “Just some concerns we have about how you and Ethan might be able to continue working on the same project as we move forward.”

“Why wouldn’t we?  Is there something wrong with our work? Has Ethan got a problem with the way I work?”

 “Well not exactly about the way you work. He’s come to us requesting he move teams. He’s a bit upset about that Christian meeting you took him along to on Friday night. I know it’s in your own time, but we’re committed to making the work space a safe place for everyone, whatever their views and opinions. We want to discuss with you whether it was appropriate to ask a work colleague to an event like that.”

 “Really. Ethan hasn’t said to me. Besides that’s not a work issue, it was a private event.”

 “Well it’s become a work issue now, and we have to resolve it for the sake of good relationships in the office. Perhaps it would be helpful if you began by explaining why you invited Ethan to something that he found a little bit triggering.”

 You can see where this conversation is going. And if you think that could never happen, then you’re actually behind the eight ball already. Companies and civil service departments across the Western world are already taking measures to ensure that work colleagues cannot put other work colleagues in so called “harm’s way” when it comes to non-working hours functions. And in our current climate harm includes any event or public that could appear coercive around matters of sexuality, or that speaks of sexual diversity as something less than positive.

Harm is now the language being employed around the sexual ethics of the church. Gospel evangelism is being pitched as coercion. Psychological safety is now paramount for any who are sexual minorities, and the church is under the microscope for its beliefs in these areas. So called “conversion therapies” are now being banned across many jurisdictions, with fines and threats of imprisonment the penalties. It’s a discombobulating world, in which modern day work pitches itself as a place of identity production, a place of social change, and a means to promote lifestyles and values antithetical to the gospel.

To invite someone to a talk or event at which they hear a viewpoint on sexuality that challenges or disturbs their lifestyle will not simply lose you a friend, it could lose you your job! The result is that many Christians are self-censoring when it comes to evangelism. They’re not sure whether what they say – or more likely what a public speaker might say – will cause them to have an “Ethan” moment.

So what can we do in this context, in which harm and coercion is now the language surrounding both the Christian message and Christian method? How do we maintain a commitment to sharing the good news about Jesus when it is not simply seen as bad news, but as dangerous, harmful news? It’s early days in this whole “harm” movement, so without going into too much conjecture as to where it might end, perhaps it’s time to rebuild an evangelistic strategy that takes the gospel, and the times we live in, seriously. The days are long gone that we can saunter up to a colleague’s desk and drop a copy of Two Ways to Live on her desk.

So what might this strategy look like? First up we need to maintain integrity in our workplaces, and to their legal and HR requirements. There’s nothing noble about thumbing our noses at our corporation and inviting a colleague to an event that could possibly breach modern HR regulations around the safety of a colleague. It’s time to take stock of what conversations we can control and what ones we cannot. Outsourcing evangelism to a generic speaking engagement may no longer be appropriate in the workplace.

But secondly, and in light of that, perhaps this is the era of a much more personal evangelism strategy in which the objective is no longer to get someone to attend an event, but to get to know them well enough to know the right questions to ask of them. And not only to know the right questions, but to be truly interested in the answers, not merely using them as launch pads for our opinions. Such questions must be open questions that don’t require black and white “yes or no” answers. In an era when terms such as “coercion”, “hate speech”, “violent speech” are common, we have to practice the art of cultural negotiation, and pick our way through conversations carefully. Self-censoring is not the only option, but by thinking carefully about our strategies, and the words we employ, can be helpful.

Thirdly, we need to be better acquainted with why this cultural moment is occurring. I call this a “Sexular Age” – a time in which sexual expression unhindered by anything other than consent – reigns supreme. Our sexual identity and practice is being promoted as good news! It is another gospel. Hence it’s worth reading some material as to why the language of harm is being used of gospel proclamation. My own book “Being the Bad Guys: How to Live For Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t” deals with the underlying philosophy behind this push, while Carl Trueman’s “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution” explores this matter more academically.

Fourthly we need to realise that to be a follower of Jesus means that everyone – straight, gay, bi, or whatever – must sign a blank cheque that Jesus gets to fill in. That means the amount is different for everyone. Don’t look at your workplace, study location or your friendship group as simply a hotbed of sexual licence. For many people money, or experiences, or status and position are far more important than their sexuality, and these things will keep them from Jesus. Ironically many people vehemently opposed to your gospel message about King Jesus may be just as on board with you about the sexual disfunction of our world!

Fifthly don’t assume everyone is a culture warrior. Most people are somewhere in what is called “the exhausted middle”, watching the missiles fly overhead left and right. It’s possible to have good honest conversations about what you believe about Jesus to many people at work, without it sounding coercive at all. If Jesus language is your natural language from the get-go you can hardly be accused of angling for converts, or of being sneaky in your approach. After all, the workplace is supposed to be diverse!

And finally, don’t underestimate the drawing power of a well-lived life in the workplace or university setting, a life in which you don’t seek praise you don’t deserve, a life in which you don’t gossip, in which you don’t blame-shift if you get something wrong, and in which the care of others is a priority, whether you get to evangelise or not! We are called to godly lives in the workplace that adorn Jesus. Be ready to give an answer, as Peter says, and do it with the gentleness and respect that a culture with its antennae open to coercion or harm can hear. Like Daniel in Babylon, your biggest advocate may be the office boss, because she or he can tell the positive cultural difference you make in the workplace. Make it hard for them to sack or demote you!

Now many of these strategies seem pre-evangelistic or merely apologetic in their approach. But perhaps that is the times in which we live, times of rapid discontinuous change in which we have to constantly assess and reassess how we shape our gospel presentations, and times in which we can construct wise and persuasive ways to proclaim the gospel that challenge the harm assumption. That narrative still has some unfolding to do, but in the meantime we can prepare ourselves for its eventualities, first by deeply understanding the claims it is making, second by living blameless lives among our colleagues and friends, and third, by constantly showcasing Jesus as the one who did no harm to anyone.  And fourthly, and perhaps most confronting, by wearing the scorn and shame in the way he did, even though he did no harm. It could be that Jesus is calling us to a path of suffering for his name that will, ironically, draw people to him simply because we suffer injustice for the sake of his name. Who knows, we may have to give up our jobs one day for the sake of our witness to Jesus, no matter the precautions we take, but remember he gave up his life for us. He will keep us from harm.

Is Christianity Transphobic?

by Solas

The transgender issue is everywhere and Christians are sometimes accused of being “transphobic” because they believe that “male” and “female” are not mere labels, preferences, or feelings. In this Short Answers film, Dr. Andy Bannister dives into this hugely contested territory and tries to shed some light — discovering along the way that maybe the greatest disconnect is not between our sex and our gender, but between the brokenness in all our lives and who God created us to be.

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Frontlines / Christians at Work : “The Fire-safety Construction Consultant”

by Editor

In this edition of Frontlines we visit the building industry. Gavin Matthews spoke to John Aitken who runs a company which ensures that construction materials meet fire-safety standards.

Solas: Tell us a little about your job? What are your roles and responsibilities?

JA: Well my job title is “Senior Consultant”, and I’ve been working in structural and passive fire protection for twenty-five years. I’m the managing director of a small business working in the field. That means that alongside the work of structural and passive fire protection, I’m responsible for people management, the direction of the company and all major decisions. Our work involves enabling our clients to be compliant with fire safety standards. Most of them are builders, and we go out onto their construction sites (often huge projects), and make sure that they are building within fire-safety specifications. We enforce those specifications and write reports on what we find.

Solas: So how much of your time do you spend in the office, and how much on site? At least, I suppose in normal times.

JA: I’m usually in the office for about a quarter of the average week, I’d estimate. Unusually, construction has been largely unaffected by Covid, as most of it has been classified as “essential” and so has continued operating. Scottish sites were shut for 12 or so weeks, but the English were only paused for 2-3 weeks, and most of our work is there.

Solas: And do you have sign-off buildings as being fire safety compliant?

JA: Yes, though ‘sign-off’ isn’t a phrase I like. We are often not responsible for the regulation of the whole building. Most of the projects we consult on have £10m + budgets, some ten times that, which can take a couple of years to build. The architects and fire engineers have to sign off the original plans, our role is to work with them on some of the detail in practice. So if corners are being cut, or if the agreed standards are being compromised, we can deal with that.

Solas: So, management, business, travel, practical work, inspections, reports.. of all that variety what do like the most?

JA: It’s actually the variety! I really enjoy my work, and I feel blessed to be able to say that. I love meeting all kinds of people and working with them on projects, and before I had kids I used to love all the travelling too. I’ve seen some amazing places around the world through work. In fact, I was offered some very well-paying jobs in Dubai. My wife and I realised that the lifestyle out there would have made us incredibly wealthy, but it didn’t reflect our values. The ex-pat community we met there seemed to value money and parties – we wouldn’t have fitted in. It didn’t seem like a great place to raise kids either to be honest. What was awkward was that my boss told me that Dubai was going to be the world hub for our industry and that he wanted me there. When I said it wasn’t right for me or my family, this was a pivotal point in my career. The company eventually made my role in Scotland redundant, and when I chose not to move to England, that’s when the best challenge of all came, as I was forced into starting my own business out of survival.

Solas: So, how does your faith in Christ help you to face some of the challenges you encounter in the workplace?

JA: Well running a business in a fluctuating economy, managing the technical workload, keeping the company profitable, paperwork… all of these are challenges and there are staff who are dependent on me to provide work for them. The way I can manage the stresses of running a business is by being grounded in God and having faith in Him. The time I spend in the morning with Him is just so important; that’s where I find his peace, and commit the day ahead, with all its challenges, to Him. I sometimes say to the Lord in the morning, “I can’t do this without you, please give me wisdom and insight.” Yesterday I got called to a meeting with four key clients, who wanted to renegotiate our whole business arrangement. Not knowing what they wanted, I was able to pray before going into that meeting, “God, please help me to be calm, confident and insightful”. And God gives you what you ask for when you need it! When you walk with God, you can have amazing confidence that He will supply everything you need at the right time, but you do need to remember to ask Him! Confessing my sins to God, and receiving His cleansing is critical for me too, I need to be close to Him. When I’ve felt fear or worry creeping in, I’ve stopped and quietly prayed to God to find His peace. Sometimes I’ve prayed and fasted, when business has been especially challenging, and I’ve needed God’s help.

Another challenge has been times when I have been overworked. Running a company can be so overwhelming. There’s the whole question of balance in life to consider too. How much time do I give to God and my family? Work can consume all my time, up to 80 hours a week regularly – and that is a real pressure for me. One thing I am totally committed to though is my prayer-time before work. I read (or listen in the car) to the Bible and pray every morning before work, and I can’t give that up. That’s where God meets and sustains me through the busiest times. I am involved in church leadership, but I honestly wish I had more time to invest in serving God and His people, which running a business currently seems to limit me in doing.

Solas: Do you think you approach work differently because you are a Christian, than you would otherwise?

JA: As I’ve said, I consciously rely on God in business. Then there are ethical temptations too. I know of all kinds of tax-dodges and unethical practices that go on in business, which as I Christian I can’t follow. Then there are standards of ethics around how I relate to my employees, and my faith informs that too. I’m aware that as a Christian I need to have the highest standards of integrity.

Solas: So do the people you work with know you are a Christian? How do they react when they find out?

JA: Certainly all my employees do, as do many of the associates we work with. Not all my clients do, you don’t often get the opportunity to speak to them about anything other than work. But everyone who I work with and have any relationship with definitely knows that I am a Christian.

Solas: Have you ever had opportunities to share anything of your faith with people you’ve met through work? Did they come up randomly or was it something you set out to achieve intentionally?

JA: Yes and both! I was working on a bridge in East Linton, which was being blasted and re-painted and I got to know some of the people there. My job can sometimes involve time in the site-office, waiting for the work to be ready for inspection. One of the guys was a nominal Catholic by background but not really by conviction. He was really interested in my faith and asked me all kinds of questions about it. Another young painter came to me because he was interested in my line of work, but then asked about my life. I was able to tell him about my faith in Christ. He again had been brought up as a Catholic but wasn’t practicing and had no real faith. I was able to go much deeper with him in explaining the gospel. He was intrigued and surprisingly open and respectful.

I have a way in for sharing my testimony too, which has been useful. I don’t drink alcohol and when I’m out with colleagues and clients they sometimes ask why. The reason isn’t legalistic; but it’s because before I was a Christian I drank far too much, far too often. That was something that God delivered me from after I had come to faith. That gives me opportunities to talk about many of the ways in which Jesus has changed my life of which that is only one.

The best conversation I’ve been able to have recently was due to Covid. I met someone who was really frightened of the virus. I wasn’t frightened of it, and I offered to try and help him deal with his paralysing fear. I told him about the way in which my faith sustains me through the pandemic. I was able to explain that I wasn’t panicking because even if I died, I knew where I was going. Interestingly, this chap said that in lockdown his thoughts had been increasingly turning towards God, and he asked me to pray for him. The answer to not having fear in life or in death is to know Christ, and he wanted to know all about this. I have to say, I didn’t force this conversation, I asked his permission, saying, “would you like me to tell you about how my faith sustains me” and he really wanted to know. I’ve spoken to him again since, and I believe he’s attending an online church and has faith now. His fears massively subsided too. I didn’t really set out to have that conversation, but it was one of the best I’ve ever had!

 Solas: Have you had any negative responses to your faith?

JA: Not in any depth! A common response is that faith is OK for you, but it’s not for me. People usually want to change the subject if it’s not something they are happy to talk about. No-one has been aggressive at work; my friends are much ruder to me than people are at work! Usually the people I get to know at work are professionals and they want to retain professional relationships. You can tell by the body –language whether they are just being polite or whether they are actually interested or not!

Solas: You clearly love talking about Jesus. What is it that makes you want to share him with others?

JA: I’m a natural evangelist! If I was to give up my job, I would love to become an evangelist. I long to see people converted to Christ. When I stop and think, or when I pray – my heart is broken for this sad world. The fact that something like 98% of the population in the UK are missing out on a blessed relationship with God is so sad. I long to be able to help people see what I’ve got, to help people to have that loving relationship with God. The things the Holy Spirit does for me on a daily basis, the promise of where I will spend eternity, what The Lord Jesus has done for me, are all things that I long for others to have too! In fact my heart aches for colleagues, family and friends who don’t have this. Christ in me creates a burden for others – whoever they are.

Solas: So what advice would you give a young Christian starting out on a life of business in your field who wants to be faithful to Christ there?

JA: Give the first-fruits of your day to The Lord, begin the day with Him. Have daily devotion and commitment to Him. Without that, I wouldn’t get through the day – and I don’t think you will either! Then remain faithful to The Lord in your business and personal life, never stop following him. Also, be yourself as a Christian, don’t try and pretend to be anybody you are not, and don’t worry so much about what others think of you. Don’t deny the Lord, but look out for opportunities to speak for Him. If you share Christ – even with your boss – The Lord will look after you, even if there are consequences. Be confident in the Lord, that whatever happens in life or in business – He’s got your back! Seek first the Kingdom of God – and everything else will be given to you. You spend at least a third of your life in your career, so make sure you take The Lord to work with you! You can’t live as a Christian but leave Jesus at the office door. Instead represent him at work, and pray that he shines through you there. Be wise, be respectful of others, don’t be rude or stupid – but never miss an opportunity.

Solas: Thanks John  – that’s challenging!

PEP Talk Podcast With Mark Meynell

by Solas

One of the biggest reasons for people to reject Christianity is because of their experience of the Church or other Christians behaving badly. How can we deal with abuse of power, hypocrisy and loss of trust? In an age of scandal, misinformation and conspiracy theories how can we point people to the love, truth and safety of Jesus Himself? Andy and Kristi speak with author and pastor Mark Meynell about these incredibly important questions.

With Mark Meynell – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Mark Meynell is Director (Europe and Caribbean) for Langham Preaching (one of the 3 programmes of Langham Partnership). An ordained Anglican minister, he has served in churches in the UK (in Oxford, Sheffield and London) and taught (and for a year was Acting Principal) at a small seminary in Kampala, Uganda. He is married to Rachel and they have 2 grown-up children. He is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) at Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis, MO,

He is the author of Cross-Examined (IVP, 1998, 2010), Good Book Guide to Colossians (GBC, 2008), The Resurrection (10ofThose, 2013), What Makes Us Human? (GBC, 2015) He is passionately concerned to cross the bridge between the Bible’s world and the contemporary world, which led to A Wilderness of Mirrors. (Zondervan, 2015)

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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The Apathy Gap (2)

by Editor

In “The Apathy Gap – Part One”, Andy Bannister looked at the problem of reluctant evangelists. Now in “The Apathy Gap, Part Two”, we turn to the problem of apathetic listeners, people who are just not interested in the gospel at all.

THE APATHY EPIDEMIC

The author and evangelist Michael Ots recalls the peak of the New Atheist movement when doing university missions was like going into a ‘bear-pit’. Lunchtime talks and Q&A’s were often rowdy, with hecklers who both knew the claims of the Christian faith, had rejected them and were hostile towards them. Two decades later, Michael says, “things have changed”. Student missions are not dominated by confrontations with informed antagonists who want to convert you to atheism; but by relativists who think that your faith is “nice for you”, but is of no interest to them.

Michael’s observations do not apply only to the university context but represent wider patterns in our society. With almost 50% of Britons identifying as having “no-religion”, issues of faith are increasingly pushed to the margins, a process fuelled by the media’s constant secular narrative.[i] In this context, faith is not an urgent question of truth, or of eternal destiny – but more like a privatised consumer choice in which one size certainly does not fit all. This means that when Christians present compelling truth claims, they are met with blank disinterested stares by people who are not gripped by a search for truth. Our culture has been captivated by the idea that ultimate truths are inaccessible and unknowable and that claims to the contrary are controlling and harmful. In that framework, the only “good” is to pursue personal authenticity, and “evil” is defined as anything which inhibits this quest. It is hardly surprising then, that we inhabit an unusually uncommitted culture, where large numbers of people regard things such as lifelong marriage as restrictive to their open-ended choices. Andy Bannister writes, “I suspect there’s also reaction against advertising going on too; people don’t wish to be sold to, and this a good defence is to become cynical, to hold things lightly, to avoid committing.”[ii]

Solas’ associate Kristi Mair has kept records of the questions she is asked by non-Christian folk in response to her talks. She has noted a similar shift. Questions used to revolve around truth, and involve things such as evidence for the existence of God. The perceived clash of worldviews between Christianity and Science was a regular question; and something that would have to be addressed if people were to be moved on to consider Jesus. Now however Q&A’s are dominated by questions of utility. “This Christianity of yours: does it suit me, will it work for me, or will it inhibit my freedom?”

For those of us brought up in a culture which prized truth above all else, and believe that ultimate truths can be revealed by God to us; the idea that truth is uninteresting and irrelevant is incomprehensible. A friend of mine flew back to Scotland from Ireland a few years ago and I asked her what kind of plane she had flown on. When she said she had no idea I was mystified. I have never flown anywhere without looking at what I was flying in. Jokingly I asked, “So was it a jet or a propeller aircraft?” Incomprehensibly to me, she didn’t know that either! What to me was the most interesting thing about the journey wasn’t even on her radar. Assuming that people are like us, is a major obstacle to understanding them and communicating effectively with them…

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE?

Many people have been very faithful to their grasp of the gospel, but never managed to show their contemporaries why it matters. Others have so over-contextualised the gospel in search of ‘relevance’ that they have compromised core-elements of it. Given that the gospel is counter-cultural and even offensive, do we really have to choose between being relevant and faithful? Or is there a wiser way?

Steve McAlpine in his recent book, “Being the Bad Guys: how to live for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn’t” makes the following observation. The church hoped that relativism would open up a level-playing-field in which all ideas were given a fair hearing, whereas what has happened is that a new orthodoxy of self-fulfilment is now the imposed morality. Michael Ots concurs when he notes, that most people are not really relativists – they are only so about things they think don’t matter, like religious affiliation, or which sports club you join.

The point is, there are things which people care deeply about today – and the gospel has things to say about them all. In our Solas webinar with Michael Ots, he told us of an incident which occurred after a talk he had given. Michael recalled that he preached his heart out about the resurrection of Jesus and spent some time chatting to the guests at the end. He asked one lady what she thought , to which she replied, “It wasn’t interesting.” Somewhat taken aback, Michael stopped and instead of pushing back asked, “So what are you interested in?” and the answer he got back was, “I’m not interested in religion, I think we just need love, I’m very interested in that.” Gently Michael asked her what she thought love was – and was intrigued to learn that she had very little idea. He was able to talk about the Trinitarian Biblical idea of God as love, and us made in His image, being made to love and be loved. The conversation moved on to why love is so hard to find; and so the topic of the fall and sin was discussed, and then onto Christ’s love for us shown at the cross.

What Michael did in that example was to start with what mattered to the apparently apathetic person, and walk them over a bridge from that to the unchanging gospel. This is what it looks like to be in the world, but not of the world; relevant but distinct, contextual but not compromised.

In order to identify such bridges and connections, Michael identified the following steps:

  • Pray for wisdom and sensitivity, and a willingness and a readiness to speak for Jesus.
  • Intentionally develop ever-deepening friendships in which you exchange not just words, but ideas and emotions with people.
  • Listen deeply to your friends to understand them, and what they value, and what motivates them.
  • Look for gospel links between what matters to them, and what matters to God
  • Pray for, and take, opportunities to share something (however small) about this.

In his popular talk, “What if I don’t need God?”, Andy Bannister has developed several examples of bridges between what matters to people and the gospel of Jesus. Here are some examples:

  • Human Rights and Dignity

Many people today care passionately about human rights. However, while Westerners assume these “inalienable” rights are self-evident, tyrannical governments ignore them as merely Western, not universal notions. Scientific naturalism provides no basis for rights, and makes them arbitrary assertions, while the Christian story of a God who made us uniquely in His image; and who sent His son to die to redeem us; provides a compelling account for the value of humanity which so many people instinctively feel.

  • Moral Reality

Virtually everyone believes in right and wrong, and that helping the poor is right, and that murder, rape and genocide are objective moral evil. That is except for naturalistic Atheists for whom the only reality is physical. The Atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche saw this when he wrote, “If you abandon the Christian faith, at the same time you are pulling the right to Christian morality out from under your feet.”[iii] We all deeply know that the Holocaust was objective moral evil. The Christian faith has deep explanatory power for why this is the case – and the answer to the sins we find within our own hearts too.

  • Beauty

If someone is apathetic to our faith, but loves art, or photography of natural landscapes – the Christian worldview has much to say about why. Again, if we reduce our view of the world to the merely physical, then beauty is but a preference, it has no meaning outside of us. Andy Bannister wrote, “If, when I say ‘that landscape is beautiful’ it tells you nothing about it, just about my personal psychology – beauty and art have collapsed into narcissism”. On the other hand, if we have been made with an appreciation for beauty, by a God who is beautiful, and wants to correct the ugliness of sin – then beauty is a bridge to the gospel.

  • Meaning and Purpose

Some atheists claim that we can create our own meaning in life. Others relaise that even this is a bit optimistic. Lawrence Krauss for example said, “We are a 1% bit of pollution within the universe. We are completely insignificant.”[iv] Yet – humanity continually asks “why?” questions. From moments of ecstatic joy to crushing bereavements, we hunger to know why we are here, what it means and how we should spend our lives. If someone has no interest in a Bible study course, perhaps asking them “What is the purpose of your life” is a better starting point than ‘would you like to come to church?’

  • Environmental Concern

One of the fixed-points in the new moral order is that pollution is bad, and that environmental concern is good. Again, if someone is not ready to engage in a direct exploration of the gospel but is environmentally conscious, then it is legitimate for Christians to ask them why? Why does it matter if the earth heats and dies? Surely it is but one a million universes, which will evolve and die? Why not consume as much as I can in my lifetime, why care about molecules that will outlast me? Atheism provides no real solutions here – let alone agnosticism. But the Biblical worldview gives us ample motivation for creation stewardship. The gospel tells us that this earth has a future too…

These are of course just examples. As you build deeper friendships and prayerfully and intentionally go into more significant conversations about what matters to others you will find that all sorts of things deeply matter both to them, and to God. Things such as family, children, loneliness, work, ageing, death, courage, failure, image, media all concern people very profoundly. All of these can equally be bridges into gospel territory.

Finally, as we consciously do all of this here are two concluding thoughts, one ethical and one practical.

The ethical consideration is that we must always pursue genuine friendship and develop a real interest in our friends’ lives, interests, values hopes and fears. We must never listen to them simply to learn how to smuggle relevant gospel truths into our conversation as if evangelism was all about us.

The practical thing, is that as we seek to build bridges between what matters to our friends and the gospel, we should continually bait our conversation with gospel hooks! That is to say that we should be deliberately throw into conversation, observations or questions which might invite our friends to ask more, or inquire more deeply.

Many of the things which our non-Christian friends care most deeply about are not inherently sinful; but are rooted in their creation in God’s image. Sin is never “original” (in that the powers of darkness have no creative power); they are only able to distort and damage what God made and called good. In building bridges from these things to the gospel we do not allow the gospel to be captured by culture; but show that behind our friends’ longing for love, peace, security, family, love, meaning, truth, beauty or conservation lies a deeper, bigger and more wonderful story at the centre of which is Jesus himself.

—

The material for this article was drawn extensively from Andy Bannister’s talk, “What if I don’t need God?” and the Solas webinar with Michael Ots entitled, “Evangelism to the Apathetic” which you can watch here:  both used with permission.

[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/13/uk-losing-faith-religion-young-reject-parents-beliefs

[ii]  From a talk entitled, “What if I don’t need God?” by Andy Bannister.

[iii] Friedrich Neitzche. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ (Oxford: OUP, 1998) p45.

[iv] Cited in Amanda Lohrey, “The Big Nothing

Discussing the Resurrection of Jesus with Students…

by Editor

Back at Eastertime I went back to speak at the Christian Union at Stranmillis University College which is the teacher training college here in Belfast. About 30-40 of us gathered on Zoom, as restrictions were still in place then. I have lots of good contacts and friends at Stranmillis CU, as I spoke at their annual mission week this year, alongside my old friend and former colleague Lara Buchanan – (you can hear more about that here). So it was great to reconnect with the great folks at Stranmillis!

I was asked to speak on the topic, “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” So we kicked the night off with a twenty minute presentation which I did on evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. We also looked at the way in which the resurrection is really the foundation of the Christian faith, the cornerstone on which the whole of Christianity is built. If we don’t have the resurrection of Jesus – then we really don’t have any Christianity at all!

We looked at four great facts about the death and resurrection of Jesus which are securely established. First, that Jesus actually died on the cross. Second, that his tomb was found to be empty. Third, that Jesus’ first disciples really believed that he has been resurrected from death, claiming to have seen him (along with multiple other people at different times and locations). And Fourth, the explosive growth of the early church occurred so that many of Jesus’ former enemies came to believe in him and his resurrection. That includes Saul of Tarsus, and also Jesus’ sceptical younger brother James.

The question I then asked the students to consider was what account best fits this evidence and makes most sense of these established facts. I argued that the naturalist explanations fall short and that the best and most natural explanation of these known facts is that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

There was a good Q&A session after my talk in which students sent in questions on everything from the significance of other resurrection stories, to questions around science and miracles to that of other religions and cults. One question honed in on whether pagan resurrection myths had shaped the gospels. These were all fairly well-known and well-studied areas of questioning, so it was good to be able to proclaim and defend the gospel.

It was great to catch up with the guys at Stranmillis, and share this really positive event with them. They were really positive and encouraging about the event too and I look forward to working with them in the future.