Your Thoughts About Outreach (Witnessing/Evangelism/Apologetics)

Of the three, apologetics is the only one where we Christians are the ones who are being approached (by skeptics/unbelievers), rather than the other way around (which is always the case with witnessing and evangelism). As such, we are commanded to be ready to make a defense of the things that we believe are true, from both the Bible, and from historic/orthodox Christianity/church doctrines/creeds/etc., to anyone who asks us to.

For instance, I think that one of the more common questions that skeptics ask concerns the exclusive claims that are made by us/by the Bible about Christianity, that our God is the only God, and that our way is the only way to reach Him .. e.g. John 14:6; Acts 4:12.

Perhaps it would be helpful to discuss (what I believe to be) the central "apologetics" verse in the Bible, as it is very instructive/has a LOT of different things to say about this topic (including the way that we are to go about the business of apologetics, in a 'rubber meeting the road' kind of sense).

1 Peter 3
15 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.​

--Papa Smurf
Oh right. I see.

Yes, I’m with you now.

If I was trying to defend myself from someone who was accusing me of being, say, hostile, I could just as well just ask them what makes you think that?

That would be a start, and then shuffle it down through truth love and understanding between us. No need for any harsh words or actions.

Blessings.
 
I do whatever I am led to do.
Sometimes there is a bit of push back from those who won't accept or open to Jesus and I've come to expect that, or not be surprised when that happens.

I think to be better equipped it is good to study the Bible and you can go on training courses. I did a world missions course and that was helpful. I didn't end up being a missionary though (in the traditional sense of the word) as where I live just walking down the street is a mission.

I did Bibles In Schools and that is a great thing to do to reach children. If they have opted in, they are the ones that want to be there and want to learn. I only felt sorry for those who wanted to learn but their parents wouldn't allow them. However that does depend a lot on the Principal of the school and the Board of Trustees whether this can actually happen in schools.

Otherwise I think churches and christian camps need to step up in reaching children, and not just children of christian parents.
 
As such, we are commanded to be ready to make a defense of the things that we believe are true, from both the Bible, and from historic/orthodox Christianity/church doctrines/creeds/etc., to anyone who asks us to.
1 Peter 3 15 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
I realize that verse is often used by those who present 'apologetics', but a closer look at the context is suffering, e.g....

1 Peter 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
1 Peter 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
 
I realize that verse is often used by those who present 'apologetics', but a closer look at the context is suffering, e.g....1 Peter 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 1 Peter 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Hello crossnote;

Exactly! One of the major points Peter makes about witnessing, evangelizing and apologetics is suffering. How do we respond to suffering, and what does sanctification unto God have to do with it?

God is there with us to guide us in what to do and say at that moment. This is the reason of hope through suffering because we have
"sanctified" God, meaning setting ourselves apart unto Him.

Without God suffering remains with no resolve, and there goes our story to the non-believer.

God bless
you, crossnote.
 
Hello crossnote;

Exactly! One of the major points Peter makes about witnessing, evangelizing and apologetics is suffering. How do we respond to suffering, and what does sanctification unto God have to do with it?

God is there with us to guide us in what to do and say at that moment. This is the reason of hope through suffering because we have
"sanctified" God, meaning setting ourselves apart unto Him.

Without God suffering remains with no resolve, and there goes our story to the non-believer.

God bless
you, crossnote.
Thanks Bob for that insight, especially the last sentence.
 
I would like to further comment on 1 Peter 3:15.

I am not an expert in translating ancient Greek, but for several reasons I 'like' the rendering in the New American Standard translation:

1 Peter 3:15 (NASB)
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and  reverence;

First, note that in this rendering by saying "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" rather than the King James rendering of "sanctify the Lord God in our hearts" explicitly requires us to acknowledge Christ's place as Lord in order to be sanctified.

I would also point out that we should not feel compelled to answer every question someone may ask, but to give an account of the "hope that is in you". If someone poses a question you had not considered, or that you have not come to a confident understanding AND if the spirit is not supplying the answer, do not feel required to answer his doubts. -- We are to witness how God has worked in our lives, not provide encyclopedic theology.

So it is good to take note as you live and maybe struggle how the Lord helps you so you can draw from your own life experience to show how Christ enables you to BE a Christian.

You can start with a description of how you came to be a Christian, whether you grew up in a believing home an cannot identify a particular event of salvation, or whether you came to a saving conviction later.

But, in a case like mine where I came to belief and submission over 50 years ago, is is good to be able to tell how God has been working in ones life recently.

Finally, notice that Peter explicitly describes it as with gentleness and reverence.

It is not our place to convince anyone of anything. That is the work of the Spirit. We are to demonstrate our reverence for the Lord by our manner in speaking forthright, but without rancor to any who do not agree.
 
Sometimes our faults/weaknesses/slip-ups can be used as an unexpected opportunity…
When I was working, I had a co-worker who seemed somewhat interested in discussing biblical matters. One day he ‘caught’ me in one of those ‘slips’ (a picadillo type) and immediately said ‘aha, I thought you were a Christian. Without hesitation (and I believe it was from the Lord), I replied, “That’s why I need a Savior”. He looked stunned and I believe that short reply brought way more conviction than all my previous weeks sharing with him.
 
Christians aren't perfect (we just have supernatural help) I think many people have the wrong impressions of us, because we seem to be so 'goody-goody'.
 
Christians aren't perfect (we just have supernatural help) I think many people have the wrong impressions of us, because we seem to be so 'goody-goody'.
There are some who do good before men so that they may be personally aggrandized.

There are others who 'just happen' to be there when one looks behind the outer gloss and sees who has a real heart for a given need.

We need to keep our minds on the tasks the Lord has chosen for us, not those that make us look good.

We are not to pursue accolades from those around us, but we are also not to hide our light under a bushel.
 
I realize that verse (1 Peter 3:15) is often used by those who present 'apologetics', but a closer look at the context is suffering, e.g....
Hello Crossnote, while I agree that neither the passage, the chapter, nor the Epistle of 1 Peter as a whole are principally focused on apologetics (the majority of this Epistle is focused on how we, as believers, are to live as the aliens and strangers that we now are in this world .. 1 Peter 2:11), the Apostle, nevertheless, points us to it directly in v15 because witnessing/apologetics should be our natural response (whenever possible) to the persecutions that we all suffer because of our faith .. e.g. 2 Timothy 3:12.

Just FYI, the word ἀπολογία in v15 (transliterated as "apologia" and translated as "make a defense"/NASB) is where we get our English word "apologetics" from. As such, 1 Peter 3:15 (to use a fancy literary/theological term) is considered to be the locus classicus, the classical place that our theologians (both Catholic and Protestant) have typically pointed us to first whenever the topic of concern is "apologetics".

It seems clear that 1 Peter 3:15 is a favorite verse of many (most?) of our theologians, because they spend so much ink talking about it in their commentaries. Here's an excerpt from one of them, a well-known, living theologian that you may find useful (this excerpt concerns the 2nd half of v15, just FYI).

The stance of Christians toward unbelievers must never be merely passive or neutral, and Peter does not stop with an admonition not to fear. He goes on to encourage preparation for active witness which will win the unbeliever to Christ.
Peter envisages the need to respond to allegations of wrongdoing which Christians face from their opponents, so he says: Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you. The word defence (apologia) almost always has a sense of ‘reply to an accusation’ (cf. Acts 22:1, 25:16; 1 Corinthians 9:3; Philippians 1:7, 16). Although some maintain that formal legal charges are in view here (so Beare, p. 164), Kelly’s point that always and any one are extremely general is well taken: whether to formal charges or informal accusations, Christians should be prepared to give an answer (Kelly notes the non-technical uses of apologia in 1 Corinthians 9:3; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Plato, Politicus 285e).
However, since the questioning is concerning "the hope that is in you", Peter must be assuming that the inward hope of Christians results in lives so noticeably different that unbelievers are prompted to ask why they are so distinctive (cf. 1 Peter 4:4). Christians therefore should always be ready (prepared) to give an answer. Paul provides a good example of seizing the offensive and bearing testimony to Christ even when on trial himself (Acts 22:1–21, 24:10–24, 26:1–23, 25b–29).
In hostile situations the opportunity for witness to Christ often comes unexpectedly; the Christian who is not always ready to answer will miss it. Yet such witness must be given with gentleness and reverence, not attempting to overpower the unbeliever with the force of human personality or aggressiveness, but trusting the Holy Spirit himself quietly to persuade the listener. ~Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, pp. 160–161). InterVarsity Press.

God bless you!!

--Papa Smurf

1 Peter 3
15 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
 
As I have done some meditation regarding personal outreach to the unsaved, it occurs to me that there is another consideration, and a related but distinct kind of discussion with our neighbors.

Witnessing is telling what the Lord has done in one's own life. Separate from this and potentially much more wide in scope is preaching.

Here I am not primarily talking about the message of a professional at a formal worship service, but applying Biblical messages to your neighbor's concerns and spiritual being.

While a new believer can express how God has worked in his life, preaching will go beyond what a 'witness' says and employ upon a more seasoned believer who has spent time in God's Word.

This is yet another reason for anyone committed to the Great Commission to spend considerable time immersed in reading and studying the Bible.
 
Hello everyone, thank you for everything that you've said so far :) I still have a couple of replies to make and would love to hear more from you, but I also think that I'd like to move the thread in the direction of application now, you know, "rubber meeting the road" witnessing, evangelism, and/or apologetics, perhaps with a bit of emphasis on what has worked for you and why.

To start things off quickly, I have two similar quotes (which I alluded to, and we talked about earlier) for you to consider about outreach methodology. What do you think about what one or both of them have to say in regard to this topic 🤔

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167837652.1fVHiQ2n.Duncan_Lig_365179.jpg

Thanks everybody :)

--Papa Smurf
 
The famous first quote above has been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but I thought that I should mention that it was, in all likelihood, written by someone else (at least that seems to be the consensus of the Roman Catholic Church). Here's an article about it (from a publication called, The National Catholic Register) if anyone is interested (this article is from 2015, but I found what it seemed to admonish, the need for Roman Catholics to begin to become more evangelical, quite interesting, because I have never known them to be).

What St. Francis of Assisi Didn’t Actually Say


20200827160852_5f47c8f6c2bf74d8ccde5242jpeg.jpeg

Albert Chevallier Tayler, "St Francis" (1898) (photo: Public Domain)
Glenn Stanton Blogs October 30, 2015

Last Sunday, our faithful deacon in the midst of his excellent homily used a quote that most of us have heard, perhaps many times.

“Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”

It is always attributed to St. Francis of Assisi—founder of the Franciscan Order—and is intended to say that proclaiming the Gospel by example is more virtuous than actually proclaiming it with voice. It is a quote that has often rankled me because it seems to create a useless dichotomy between speech and action. Besides, the spirit behind it can be a little arrogant—which I’m sure our deacon didn’t intend—intimating that those who "practice the Gospel" are in reality more faithful to the faith than those who preach it.

But here's the fact: Our good Francis never said it or anything close.

None of his disciples or biographers have these very quotable words coming from his mouth. It doesn't show up in any of his writings. Not even close, really. The closest comes from his Rule of 1221 on how the Franciscans should practice their preaching:

No brother should preach contrary to the form and regulations of the holy Church nor unless he has been permitted by his minister . . . All the Friars . . . should preach by their deeds.

Essentially, make sure your deeds match your words. While there's a nice and good sentiment in the statement—be sure you live out the grace and truth of the Gospel—the notion as it is typically presented is neither practical, nor faithful to the Gospel of Christ. It does not align with St. Francis' own practice.

His first biographer, Thomas of Celano, writing just three years after Francis' death, quotes him instructing his co-workers in the Gospel thusly:

The preacher must first draw from secret prayers what he will later pour out in holy sermons; he must first grow hot within before he speaks words that are in themselves cold.

Our man clearly spent a great deal of time using his words when he preached, “sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to . . . any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi.” He was sometimes so animated and passionate in his delivery that “his feet moved as if he were dancing.”

We must know that it's simply impossible to proclaim the Gospel without words and of course our good Francis knew this as well as any. The Gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior.

St. Paul was quite clear in this, asking the Church at Rome (Romans 10:14):

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

The New Evangelization is not a silent evangelization. So next time you hear one of your brothers or sisters in Christ use this quote to encourage or challenge you in the labors for our faith, gently guide them from the land of misinformation and into truth.

~https://www.ncregister.com/blog/what-st-francis-of-assisi-didn-t-actually-say

God bless you!!
--Papa Smurf

Romans 10
17 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
 
Let me tell you about some of my experiences:

In my last employment (retired now), I was commonly sent to various places around the country to observe and report on software testing.

Most of the engineers from the various project organizations became well known to each other and we often had dinner together after hours (which were sometimes in the small after midnight hours). After dinner many of them would go bar-hopping, while I would go back to my hotel, often write a synopsis of the days progress to send back to the program office. My _not_ going bar-to-bar was taken as an indication of my putting my beliefs into (non) action. This led in turn to conversations with my co-workers reguarding living as a Christian (and why it is important).

There were people with various backgrounds, some professed believers, some of other religions (I worked with a couple of Sikhs, Muslems, and a Wiccan) as well as agnostics.

I do know that several of these aquaintenances thought about my witness because they would ask me questions.
 
Let me tell you about some of my experiences:

In my last employment (retired now), I was commonly sent to various places around the country to observe and report on software testing.

Most of the engineers from the various project organizations became well known to each other and we often had dinner together after hours (which were sometimes in the small after midnight hours). After dinner many of them would go bar-hopping, while I would go back to my hotel, often write a synopsis of the days progress to send back to the program office. My _not_ going bar-to-bar was taken as an indication of my putting my beliefs into (non) action. This led in turn to conversations with my co-workers reguarding living as a Christian (and why it is important).

There were people with various backgrounds, some professed believers, some of other religions (I worked with a couple of Sikhs, Muslems, and a Wiccan) as well as agnostics.

I do know that several of these aquaintenances thought about my witness because they would ask me questions.
Hello Siloam, so you would agree with some sort of mix of both of the quotes in Post #35 above, yes? IOW, that our Christian witness typically (and necessarily?) includes both living before unbelievers as a Christian AND speaking to them as one too?

Thanks :)

--Papa Smurf
 
Hello Siloam, so you would agree with some sort of mix of both of the quotes in Post #35 above, yes? IOW, that our Christian witness typically (and necessarily?) includes both living before unbelievers as a Christian AND speaking to them as one too?

Thanks :)

--Papa Smurf
Success in witnessing to others is the result of well balanced and committed Christian life.

Of course, you cannot give what you do not possess. The witness will have personal assurance of being Christ's man.


The more you understand God's word the better you can apply it to life's situations including those around you.

It is important to deal with one's personal sin as the Holy Spirit leads, but do not let one's sin prevent one from witnessing (remember that every person that God uses is a sinner) -- ensure that personal sins are all confessed.

Identify yourself humbly as a Christian, and generaly conduct yourself in a way that reflects the one you serve.

Pray for oportunities. Look for the answers to that prayer.

Pray for those who you talk to (before, during, and after)

Listen for whatever may be keeping whomever one talks with and note what is important to them.

Encourage them to attend worship services.

Stay humble, do not try to compell anyone.

Pray for all you have talked to. When possible continue showing concern and continue talking with them.

All must be done by the leading of The Spirit.
 
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