Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (5 page)

There is no reason to threaten our unity by frivolous debate. However, many debates are worthy of our best efforts. Paul told Timothy, "Retain the standard of sound words," and "Guard . . . the treasure which has been entrusted to you" (2 Timothy 1:13 - 14). He told Titus to choose elders who could exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict, false teachers, he said, who must be silenced (Titus 1:9, 11). This kind of protection of truth is not a passive enterprise. It's active and energetic.

Arguments are good, and dispute is healthy. They clarify the truth and protect us from error and religious despotism. When the church discourages principled debates and a free flow of ideas, the result is shallow Christianity and a false sense of unity.

No one gets any practice learning how to field contrary views in a gracious and productive way. The oneness they share is contrived, not genuine. Worse, they lose the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Simply put, when arguments are few, error abounds.

DO ARGUMENTS WORK?

Now I want to address another question: Do arguments work? The simple answer is, "Yes, they do," but this needs explanation.

Some suspect that using reason isn't spiritual. "After all, you can't argue anyone into the kingdom," they say. "Only the Spirit can change a rebel's heart. Jesus was clear on this. No one can come to him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). No intellectual argument could ever substitute for the act of sovereign grace necessary for sinners to come to their senses."

Of course, this last statement is entirely true as far as it goes. The problem is
,
it does not go far enough. There is more to the story. It doesn't follow that if God's Spirit plays a vital role, then reason and persuasion play none. In the apostle Paul's mind there was no conflict.

And
according to Paul's custom,
he went to them, and for three Sabbaths
reasoned
with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
giving evidence
that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead. . . . And
some of them were persuaded.
(Acts 17:2 - 4, italics added)

There are many more verses like this.
²
You might also be able to think of examples from your own life where taking a thoughtful approach with someone made a big difference in his response, maybe even a decisive difference.

Simply put, you
can
argue someone into the kingdom. It happens all the time. But when arguments are effective, they are not working in a vacuum.

When people say you can't argue anyone into the kingdom, they usually have an alternative approach in mind. They might be thinking that a genuine expression of love, kindness, and acceptance, coupled with a simple presentation of the gospel, is a more biblical approach.

If you are tempted to think this way, let me say something that may shock you:
You cannot love someone into the kingdom.
It can't be done. In fact, the simple gospel itself is not even adequate to do that job.

How do I know? Because many people who were treated with sacrificial love and kindness by Christians never surrendered to the Savior. Many who have heard a clear explanation of God's gift in Christ never put their trust in him.

In each case something was missing that, when present, always results in conversion. What's missing is that special work of the Father that Jesus referred to, drawing a lost soul into his arms. Of this work Jesus also said, "Of all that He has given
Me
I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day" (John 6:39).

According to Jesus, then, two things are true. First, there is a particular work of God that is necessary to bring someone into the kingdom. Second, when present, this work cannot fail to accomplish its goal. Without the work of the Spirit, no argument — no matter how persuasive—will be effective. But neither will any act of love nor any simple presentation of the gospel. Add the Spirit, though, and the equation changes dramatically.

Here's the key principle:
Without God's work, nothing else works; but with God's work, many things work.
Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods.

Why do you think God is just as pleased to use a good argument as a warm expression of love? Because both love and reason are consistent with God's own character. The same God who is the essence of love
³
also gave the invitation, "Come now, and let us reason together."
⁴
Therefore, both approaches honor him.

Understanding this truth makes our job as ambassadors much easier. We can be confident that every time we engage, we have an ally. Our job is to communicate the gospel as clearly, graciously, and persuasively as possible. God's job is to take it from there. We may plant the seeds or water the saplings, but God causes whatever increase comes from our efforts.
⁵

We are not in this alone. Yes, each of us has an important role to play, but all the pressure is on the Lord. Sharing the gospel is our task, but it’s God’s problem.

I like to call this principle "100% God and 100% man." I am wholly responsible for my side of the ledger, and God is entirely responsible for his. I focus on being faithful, but I trust God to be effective. Some will respond, and some will not. The results are his concern, not mine. This lifts a tremendous burden from my shoulders.

When I was a young Christian, the wife of my mentor gave me some solid advice from John 10. In this chapter Jesus uses a "figure of speech" (v. 6) to describe the work of the Holy Spirit drawing someone to Christ. "My sheep hear
My
voice," Jesus said. "I know them, and they follow
Me
; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish" (John 10:27 - 28).

This has very practical application for evangelism because it helps explain something you might have encountered in conversations with others. Have you ever noticed that sometimes your comments seem to fall on deaf ears, yet at other times they seem profitable?

"When I share my faith," Kathy told me, "I pay attention to how the 'sheep' respond. Most will keep on eating grass. But once in a while you'll notice that some lift their heads. There is a moment of recognition as they 'hear' the Shepherd's 'voice.' "

Kathy understood that it was Jesus' job to change the heart. Since she was confident the Holy Spirit was going before her, she was simply looking for the people who were looking for her, so to speak. She was looking for those already hungry for the gospel,
those whose
hearts were already being softened by the Spirit. Those were the people she spent her time on. She left the rest alone.
⁶

A MODEST GOAL

My confidence that God is responsible for the results helps me in another way. Since I know I play only one part in a larger process of bringing anyone to the Lord, I'm comfortable taking smaller steps toward that end.

It may surprise you to hear this, but I never set out to convert anyone. My aim is never to win someone to Christ. I have a more modest goal, one you might consider adopting as your own.
All I want to do is put a stone in someone's shoe.
I want to give him something worth thinking about, something he can't ignore because it continues to poke at him in a good way.

When a batter gets up to the plate, his goal isn't to win the ball game. That's an extended process that takes a team effort. He just wants a chance to get a hit. If he connects, he might get on base and into scoring position. Or he may drive another batter home, even if he never makes it to first. In the same way, I never try to hit the winning run. I just want to get up to bat. That's all.

In some circles there's pressure for Christian ambassadors to "close the sale," so to speak. Get right to the meat of the message. Give the simple gospel. If the person doesn't respond, you have still done your part. Shake the dust off your feet and move on. In my view, though, you don't have to get to the foot of the cross in every encounter. You don't have to try to close every deal. I have two reasons for this view.

First, not all Christians are good closers. Yes, some are effective at getting the decision. For those with that gift, harvesting takes little effort. Nothing
fancy
is required; the simple gospel does the trick. Yet I am convinced that most Christians — including me — are not harvesters. Instead, we are ordinary gardeners, tending the field so others can bring in the crop in due season. Some Christians, aware of their difficulty in harvesting, get discouraged and never get into the field at all. If this describes you, then you need to know
it's
okay to sow, even if you don't reap. In fact, there'd be no harvest at all without you. Ironically, I think harvesting comes easily for some because many ordinary gardeners preceded them — planting, watering, and weeding, cultivating healthy growth until the fruit was ripe.

Here's the second reason that I do not think it wise to make a beeline for the cross in every conversation: In most situations, the fruit is not ripe. The nonbeliever is simply not ready. She may have just begun to consider Christianity. Dropping a message on her that is, from her point of view, meaningless or simply unbelievable doesn't accomplish anything. In fact, it may be the worst thing you can do. She rejects a message she doesn't understand, and then she's harder to reach next time.

Think of your own journey to Christ. Chances are you didn't go from a standstill to total commitment. Instead, God dealt with you over a period of time. There was a period of reflection as you sorted out the details.

A few years back, I spoke to a Jewish attorney who didn't understand why he needed to believe in Jesus. In his case, I didn't try to build to a point of decision where I asked, "Do you want to receive Christ?" Instead, I put a stone in his shoe. I gave him two questions to think about. He needed to digest vital information before he'd be ready for a genuine commitment. If he ever made a decision to trust Jesus, I wanted it to be informed and thoughtful, a choice that lasted, not an emotional reaction made in the heat of the moment that he'd later abandon.

One spring I spoke in San Diego to an audience of four hundred students in a ballroom in the middle of the University of California campus there. Most were not Christians. I'd heard that the general attitude on campus was that Christians were stupid. That sounded like a good opener for my talk.

"I understand many of you think Christians are stupid," I said to the audience. "Well, many of them are," I admitted. "But many non-Christians are stupid, too, so I don't know how that helps you. What I want to do this evening is show you that
Christianity
is not stupid."

Then I shared with them my modest goal. "I'm not here to convert you tonight," I said. "Instead, I want to put a stone in your shoe." After that, I lectured on the failure of relativism. I wasn't there to close the sale. I just wanted to give them something to think about.

As it turned out, while taking questions from the audience afterward I was able to give more detail about the gospel, but only after I had laid the groundwork by making the message not only sensible to them, but reasonable. I took one step at a time.

I encourage you to consider the strategy I use when God opens a door of opportunity for me. I pray quickly for wisdom, then ask myself this: What one thing can I say in this circumstance, what one question can I ask,
what
seed can I plant that will get the other person thinking? Then I simply try to put a stone in the person’s shoe.

WHAT WE LEARNED IN THIS CHAPTER

I opened this chapter by addressing a handful of reservations you might have about developing your tactical skill as an ambassador. There is a difference between an argument and a fight. Unfriendly quarrels are not productive. If
anyone
in the conversation gets mad, then
you
lose. Arguments, on the other hand, are good things. Indeed, arguing is a virtue, because it advances clear thinking. If done well, it helps refine our understanding of truth.

When Christians avoid principled conflict on things that matter because of fear of disunity and division, they cripple the church in three ways. First, Scripture commands that we guard the truth within our ranks; where arguments are few, error abounds. Second, believers are denied the opportunity to learn how to argue among
themselves
in a fair, reasonable, and gracious way. Third, the outcome for fight-phobic churches is not genuine oneness, but a contrived unanimity, a shallow and artificial peace.

For those who are tempted to think that presenting arguments and evidence is not spiritual because only God can change a rebellious heart, I made two observations. First, without the work of God, nothing else will work — not arguments, not love, not even the simple gospel. Second, with the help of the Holy Spirit, God is pleased to use many things. Love and reason are especially appealing to him because both are consistent with his nature. The fact is, with God's help, arguments work all the time. Jesus used them, Peter used them, and Paul used them — all
to
great effect.