Welcome everyone to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth. We’re looking lately at Christian Sound Bites. Last night, we saw that you do in fact need theology if you’re going to be a Christian. Tonight, we are going to look at the saying that you can’t argue someone into the kingdom.
Now in a sense, this one is true. As an apologist, I know that there is no magic bullet argument that will cause someone to convert. I sure wish there were, but there isn’t. Different people have different objections and some are volitional doubters and because of this, they will not bend a knee to any argument.
I also give a warning to young people starting out in apologetics. Don’t go out there thinking that you’re going to convert the world with your new knowledge. In fact, you’re going to get your tail kicked for awhile. All of us have before. It’s normal. Just keep studying.
What concerns me is the implication that I’m supposed to draw from this statement. If it is simply that there is no magic bullet, all is good and well. However, too often, it’s given in a way that says that you should avoid argumentation because you cannot argue someone into the kingdom. Better to just love them.
For the first part, argumentation is not something to be avoided. The apostles and the early church fathers regularly engaged in it. Once again, when training young apologists, I often encourage them to find a place where they can argue. That’s where you can put to test the ideas you have and the more you argue, the better you will be at understanding your ideas and how they need to be improved.
A good Christian wanting to evangelize should know how to converse with people and with people who disagree. That means interaction. That means dealing with people who are absolute jerks and with people who have real questions and really want answers and it will take experience to know which one is which.
But what about love? After all, you can’t argue someone into the kingdom. Well you can’t just love someone into the kingdom. How many people left Christ without coming into the kingdom despite the love that he showed them? In fact, we are told specifically for the rich young man that Jesus loved him, and yet that rich young man did not choose to follow Jesus.
If the idea is that we shouldn’t use argumentation because you can’t just argue someone into the kingdom, therefore use love, then the same reality applies. “But the Holy Spirit can use your love!” Yes. Of course he can. The Holy Spirit can also use a good argument. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and.
In fact, that’s the way it should be. We have to be people of truth and we have to be people of love. That’s biblical love however and not sentimentality. We are out to win the whole person. You don’t get their heart and you don’t just get their mind. We have to claim all of them for Christ. He does not want anything less.
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