March 13, 2014
A young pastor was giving his first sermon to the congregation of his new church. He decided he would preach his first sermon on the truth in the message of Christ, and how Christ was the only way. As he spoke the words, he noticed the shaking of heads and constant ‘sighs’ coming from the congregation. As the service finished, a couple in the church approached him. They warned him about the message he had just preached. “We just do not do that here”, the wife said. “A message like that might offend many in the community who believe other religions.”
So the next Sunday, the pastor decided he would preach on marriage. During the sermon he mentioned that God saw marriage as the bringing together of one woman to one man. Again he saw the looks and heard the ‘sighs’. After the final song was sang, a member of the church board came over to him. “Do you see Mary Sue over there?”, he asked the pastor. “Her daughter is a lesbian so we never discuss such issues in this church. I think the board needs to meet with you for a few minutes before you go home today.”
The pastor, not knowing what to think, entered the room as the board was gathering. “Pastor, we do not come here each Sunday for you to upset people, so I think there are a couple of issues we need to straighten out.” The head of the board continued, “I think the first thing you need to do is apologize to the church for the messages you have given these last two Sundays. I guess we need to also discuss with you what we expect from you in a sermon. There are parts of the Bible we are just not comfortable talking about, so it is best if you just avoid those.”
Way too often today, we see church leaders that feel the need to apologize for what the Word of God has to say. To upset or offend someone has become a far greater transgression than to live our life outside of what God’s Word tells us. We watch as they try to redefine sin, and confuse the purpose of a true apology. If they could just understand what the term ‘apology’ originally meant, they might begin to understand what true transgression is.
The word ‘apology’ was created from two words, confess and repent. When we take a close look at these two terms, we see exactly why they combine to make the word apology. Confess comes from the Greek word ‘homologeo’, homo meaning ‘same’, logeo meaning ‘word’. Together they mean that when we confess we must find ourselves with the same word as God. In other words, we are in agreement with God. Repent comes from the Greek word ‘metanoeo’, meta meaning ‘change’, noeo means ‘think’. So when we repent, we change the way we think.
So when we apologize, we change the way we think to find ourselves in agreement with God. We see this in the root of the word ‘apology’. It comes from the Greek word ‘apologia’, meaning ‘to speak in one’s defense’. An apology, as its’ original term, is not saying you are sorry, rather it means to make a ready defense using God’s Word. If an apology is a defense of what you know to be true, then an apologist is one who makes that defense. It is from this that we get our term Apologetics. a defense of our faith.
When we look at the word, and the origins of its’ meaning, we see that we cannot offer a true apology outside of God’s Word. Through the years, man has changed the word by taking God out of its’ intent, and replacing Him with a humanistic purpose of the word. We see the same within the Church today. We see many who find it easier to apologize, say they are sorry, instead of forming an apology, defending our faith.
We need a return to the heart of the word apology, Holy Spirit filled defenders of our faith. This is why Peter warned us that we should always be able to defend our faith(1 Peter 3:15). Apologetics carries an important role in our everyday walk with Christ for several reasons, one being why Peter stated the above. Simply put, God commands it! Paul also confirmed this in Philippians 1:7, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.” Paul tells us he was a defender of the gospel, and that we are to be defenders with him. We are commanded by God to show those around us, that truth starts and ends in God’s Word, and cannot be found outside of it.
Apologetics also requires us to grow and have a greater understanding of our faith. In today’s world, most who profess Christ have very little knowledge of Christ and Word of God. The most basic of terms our faith is built on are often foreign to many we find in church on Sunday. Salvation, redemption, sanctification, and even the Trinity, are words most have heard, but could never explain. If we are to defend God’s Word, we must know God’s Word. Apologetics calls us to study and understand God’s Word so that we can make it known to others.
Apologetics keeps apostasy in check. We often watch today as many pastors come on our television screen and proclaim things we cannot find in the verses of the Bible. We also watch as church denominations and church leaders attempt to redefine sin, drawing their own conclusions as what determines right and wrong. Placing their own rationalizations and judgments above God’s Word. The Bible tells us a completely different story. God calls us to obedience(1 John 2:3-6, Philippians 2:8, John 14:15). If we love God, then we have a desire to obey God. In this desire to obey, the world sees in us a reflection of the very evidence of the Lord Himself. Apologetics brings obedience to the forefront, so that God’s love can show through.
Apologetics is a counter to a humanistic society. We look around us today, and we watch as our nation embraces sin and pushes God further and further away from the everyday life of this nation. In a recent poll, almost 65% of adults and over 80% of teenagers stated that morals and truth are situational. In the same poll, over half of all Americans believed that doing good would get you into Heaven. History is filled with example after example that shows us an immoral society is doomed for failure. Apologetics stands as a guard against this humanistic decay of a society. The Bible shows us example after example of God sending prophets to the nations, using this form of apologetics to show the people the urgent need to turn back to God. Apologetics shows us why the ways of God will always succeed, and why the ways of man will always fail.
Apologetics plays a very important role in the everyday walk of our faith. When we look at the original definition of the word apology, we see that this was exactly what God intended! We must never forget, that by today’s definition of the word, we NEVER have anything to apologize for with Christ! And when we go back to God’s original meaning of the word, we need to always have our apology in hand, ready to defend the Truth that can only be found in God’s Word!
Praying each of you are a ready defender, always prepared to take a stand for God!
