I Make No Apology

            An apology is an act of contrition; to say “I’m sorry,” for a misspoken word or hurtful deed.  This essay is not an apology; it is an apologetic.

            Apologetics, in a formal sense, is a defense or argument by the accused – almost the opposite of an apology.  The word is derived from the Greek of the New Testament, apologia, as in Acts 26:2, when Paul makes his “defense” before Festus and Agrippa.  Over the course of time apologetics has come to mean a reasoned argument for the faith.

            When Paul makes the case for God in Athens, in Acts 17:22-31, he is perhaps making the first apologetic discourse, attempting to sway the Greek philosophers with reason.  Such defenses of Christian faith have continued throughout history by people such as Friedrich Schleiermacher in the 18^th-19^th century, or Lee Strobel more recently.

            There is a place for rational discourse in communicating about Christian faith.  But apologetics in its strict modern sense has certain obvious limitations.  Apologetics as the attempt to make faith reasonable is faced with what I think are insurmountable obstacles.

            For instance, what is reasonable about the death of Jesus on a cross as a means to salvation from sin?  What rational argument can anyone make for the resurrection?  The belief that there is a Creator who not only set the cosmos in motion but is also intimately engaged in the life of its creatures defies logical argument.  If apologetics is the attempt to remove all doubt and leave in its place rational certainty, then it will ultimately fail.  We cannot be certain, or else there is no need for faith.  Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 

            At some point, we who wish to make a defense of the gospel (the good news of Jesus Christ), must give up on reasoned argument and make the case for faith.  

• Though it is not rational to believe that there is a God in heaven who is powerful enough to have created the universe, and yet who is concerned when the least sparrow falls, we nevertheless have faith that this is so. 
• Though it is not rational to believe that the hope of the world is a 1^st Century itinerant Jewish rabbi who met a cruel death and was consequently resurrected, we nevertheless have faith that this is so.
• Though it is not rational to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek to those who strike us, and to forgive those who persecute us, we nevertheless believe that this is the way to live.

            In our defense of the gospel, we who are Christian must eventually become unreasonable and make our appeal to faith.  “By grace you have been saved, through faith . . .” (Ephesians 2:8).

            Back in Athens, Paul had limited success in convincing his listeners with reason.  Just a few seem to have responded.  The Bible never mentions Paul using such a rational discourse again.  “We are justified by faith . . .” (Romans 5:1), Paul writes. 

            The truth is that there is very little about Christian faith and practice that makes sense.  It is the weakness of the cross which is the power of God.  It is the revelation of Christ to the least of these in order to shame the wise.  It is the proclamation of good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty to the oppressed.  It is the assertion that the meek will inherit the earth.  None of this is rational.  But I believe it to be true.  Without apology.

Go Easy

Jude is a letter in the New Testament of the Bible.  It is one chapter.  A brief word.  The twenty-second verse says, “Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith,” (The Message).  The New Revised Standard Version puts it this way, “have mercy on those who are wavering.”

So, dear reader, who doubts.  Who is not sure what to believe.  Who wonders about God.  Or who doesn’t care.  Your hesitation in faith is a mystery to me, even as my own belief is a mystery.  I cannot NOT believe, and I cannot understand why anyone doesn’t believe.  For me the evidence of God is as clear as a gorgeous sunset, or a ruby-throated hummingbird.  How could this be without a Creator?

For me the evidence of God is as tangible as Jesus, who lived among us, as scripture says, “full of grace and truth.”  His life is undeniably unique, and dare I say it – Godly!  How could this be unless he was God in the flesh?

For me the evidence of God is as amazing as the addict who finds sobriety, as mysterious as the compassion of a Mother Theresa, as tender as kindness offered to a stranger.  How could this be unless there is a Spirit hallowing human life?

Still, some of you don’t believe.  Now, that’s the real mystery.  Some will point to the tragic, cruel, even wicked events and persons in the world as a denial of a loving God, but how do you explain goodness, truth, beauty . . . and mercy? 

So, I am dumbfounded by unbelief.  But Jude counsels me to go easy.  God went easy on me for several years.  Indeed, God has been easy on me my whole life.  I suppose I can go easy, too.  Isaiah the prophet said about the Messiah, “a bruised reed he will not break.”  Easy does it.  

What You Gonna Do About Jesus?

            I am amazed, really, by the take-it-or-leave-it attitude that so many people have toward Jesus.  Okay, so maybe not everyone is ready to believe in him as Son of God.  I won’t push or insist.  But there is something radically unique about Jesus and I am amazed how anyone can brush him off and what he represents.

Most people admire him.  Thomas Jefferson appreciated his moral teaching though he was not, himself, a Christian.  He couldn’t accept the miraculous.  Interesting, for all of Jefferson’s admiration for Jesus’ morality, he was not particularly moral when it came to his opinions about slavery.  You might excuse Jefferson as simply being a product of his times, reflecting the values of his age. Meanwhile, people like John Wesley and John Wilberforce of the same generation were arguing for the abolition of slavery.  And both Wesley and Wilberforce considered Jesus as Son of God and accepted the miraculous as inevitably a part of his nature.  Perhaps Jefferson would have been a more moral man if he had considered Jesus MORE than a great teacher.

An old argument goes like this:  Jesus was either a great imposter, was crazy, or was what he claimed to be.  If he was an imposter it seems unlikely he would have kept up the charade to the point of dying.  If he was crazy why is there no evidence of erratic behavior.  As Gary Collins, a psychologist quoted * in Lee Strobel’s, The Case for Christ, says,

He was loving but didn't let his compassion immobilize him; he didn't have a bloated ego, even though he was often surrounded by adoring crowds; he maintained balance despite an often demanding lifestyle; he always knew what he was doing and where he was going; he cared deeply about people, including women and children, who weren't seen as being important back then; he was able to accept people while not merely winking at their sin; he responded to individuals based on where they were . . . and what they uniquely needed. All in all I just don't see signs that Jesus was suffering from any known mental illness.

          So, if he was not an imposter or crazy, then he must have been what he claimed to be.  However, what he claimed for himself was always veiled in symbolic language.  He spoke of himself as the “Son of Man,” and rarely made any self-promoting claims to be God.  Yet, those who followed him saw God in him.  They saw in him what countless generations have seen – an authentic life lived in perfect integrity for the sake of others – such integrity of life that he has been the inspiration for imitators throughout history.

          You could do worse than follow a man like that.  So, maybe you’re not ready to call him Son of God.  But don’t make Jefferson’s mistake and simply say he was a great teacher with nice ideas.  For all his brilliance Jefferson’s lack of integrity is no example to follow. 

          So, maybe you’re not ready to embrace the miracles.  What about the very miracle of his incredible life?  Who else has ever lived with such integrity?

What you gonna do about Jesus?  In this take-him-or-leave him world I just can’t imagine anyone leaving him, ignoring him, dismissing him.  Yet they do.  Now tell me who’s crazy.  

         

*Lee Strobel, 1998, The Case for Christ, Grand Rapids Michigan/Zondervan Publishing House, p. 147