I have written a fair amount over the years on the importance not only of teaching theology but also of teaching (and living) theologically in relation to youth ministry. I want to encourage youth pastors (and all pastors) always to have a mind toward the theological truth behind what they are teaching. How does one teach in a form that effectively respects and represents the important content they are communicating? It is this question, in part, that I hope to answer in this article.
To develop this idea rightly, we will begin with a framework or, more specifically, a guide. As you look throughout history, many have chosen foregone predecessors as guides for their intellectual journeys. Where Dante chose Virgil, C. S. Lewis chose George MacDonald. I have personally found Francis Schaeffer as a guide, especially in relation to apologetics. Thus, as we walk through the importance of teaching apologetically, Schaeffer will accompany us, pointing out important landmarks and pitfalls and, ultimately, the right destination. By looking at his works and observing his example, we can start to understand how to teach and live apologetically.
Schaeffer was often prophetic in his tone, not hesitant to point out the problems both inside and outside of the evangelical camp. He wrote about the limited approach that many evangelicals had toward apologetics in the early twentieth century:
The floodwaters of secular thought and liberal theology overwhelmed the Church because the leaders did not understand the importance of combating a false set of presuppositions. They largely fought the battle on the wrong ground and so, instead of being ahead in both defense and communication, they lagged woefully behind. This was a real weakness which it is hard, even today, to rectify among evangelicals.[1]
As Schaeffer notes, evangelicals largely had the wrong approach. They did not consider the issue of presuppositions. Further, I would add, we have continued to fail in thinking comprehensively about apologetics and the Christian faith. We will consider two major steps to that end, hopefully rightly ordering our paths to do apologetics better.[2]
First Step: Anticipate Honest Questions with Honest Answers
Many are aware that Francis and his wife Edith founded a ministry called L’Abri. This ministry offered hospitality, compassion, and, moreover, truth-filled answers. Schaeffer himself noted that one of its key tenets was “honest answers to honest questions.” In his book Two Contents, Two Realities, he lays out a fuller vision of what this more robust apologetic approach looks like. He points to four things that are necessary to meet the needs of our age: (1) sound doctrine, (2) honest answers to honest questions, (3) true spirituality, and (4) the beauty of human relationships.[3]
Believers and unbelievers alike should ask questions. People everywhere are being confronted with absolute reality. In doing so, they are bound to question life, God, eternity, morality, and much more. So, as we teach, we should seek to anticipate the kinds of questions people might have. At Welch College I teach courses in a variety of subjects. Whether it is a class on theology and culture, or a New Testament survey course, I try to anticipate (or even solicit) questions concerning the topic at hand. How can I lead those I am teaching, no matter the subject, into deeper faith rather than deeper doubt? It begins, at least, with seeking to answer questions with, as Schaeffer calls it, “true Truth.” The informed teacher does not encourage doubt but rather satisfies it with compelling answers.
Moreover, as Christians we firmly believe that God speaks through the Scriptures with absolute truth. Schaeffer notes that this model of seeking to answer the questions people have is based in our Lord Himself.[4] Christ and His disciples were constantly answering the questions laid before them. We would do well to imitate them. This approach is more than simply memorizing the questions of Scripture. It “demands we have enough compassion to learn the questions of our generation.”[5] This task is hard work, requiring the teacher to be aware of the psychological, spiritual, and even ecological struggles a student may be experiencing. Learning and answering the right questions requires the teacher to listen with patience and compassion.
Second Step: Love Unbelievers
This next step may sound trite but teaching apologetically requires real and compassionate love for unbelievers; this step is as true in ministry as it is in the classroom. Too often people dispense apologetics in a formulaic manner with no real concern for the actual situations of those who are interested in or skeptical of the faith. Thus real, compelling apologetic teaching is done with an eye toward what the world and its people are like. This kind of teaching recognizes the complexity and ugliness of the world in which we live. As Schaeffer expresses this sentiment about stiff apologetic approaches, “There is no set formula that meets everyone’s need, and if only applied as a mechanical formula, I doubt if it really meets anyone’s needs—short of God’s mercy.”[6] Instead, he points to love as the dominant consideration for apologetic method.[7]
Schaeffer argues that genuine love for unbelievers keeps apologists from objectifying people and seeing them as things to be evangelized. People are not arguments to be won. Scripture teaches us to relate to others in ways that sees individuals as image-bearers who deserve “all the love and consideration we can give them.”[8] Our apologetically-oriented Christian teaching should “be shaped on the basis of love for the person as a person.”[9] Therefore, as we seek to teach in ways that answer the tough, skeptical questions aimed at Christianity, we should do so with a heart full of compassion for each and every one of our students.
This kind of compassion for unbelievers requires teachers to engage with the real world and not be housed off in a Christian enclave. The apologetically-informed teacher confronts the world and the false promises therein. He or she is willing to pull down intellectual strongholds and help people to “take every thought captive” (2 Cor. 10:5). Again, listen to the words of Schaeffer: “I am not an apologete if that means building a safe house to live in, so that we Christians can sit inside with safety and quiescence. Christians should be out in the midst of the world as both witnesses and salt, not sitting in a fortress surrounded by a moat.”[10] As Christian teachers, we engage with the world with equal parts truth and love.
Conclusion
As teachers, either within church ministry or without, we must walk the path of sharing the absolute truth of Scripture with a compassionate love for our listeners. Men like Francis Schaeffer are a helpful guide. Schaeffer not only postulated these steps mentioned above but also exemplified them. Those who knew Schaeffer often touted the unique and consistent way in which he interreacted with all people.
Of course, we should imitate Schaeffer only as he imitated Christ. The person of Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth dwell (Jn. 1:14). Truth and love are not opposed to one another or in uneasy tension. If tension existed between truth and love, Christ Himself would be divided. Instead, real love requires speaking truth to unbelief. Real truth is always accompanied by deep, abiding love for individuals. If we want to know how to combine truth and love in the way we teach, we look to Jesus. He is our example.
Let us not hold back on our teaching. Let us speak boldly the truth of God, as it plays out in all disciplines, with excellence. In doing so, let us seek to anticipate the kinds of questions that believers and unbelievers alike may honestly ask about the biblical worldview. As we carefully speak the truth in love, let us see people as individuals made in their Creator’s image, and, in so doing, we can begin truly to teach apologetically.
[1] Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, in The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1990), 7.
[2] For those interested in Schaeffer’s comprehensive apologetic approach, see Bryan A. Follis, Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006).
[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, Two Contents, Two Realities, in The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, vol. 3 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1982), 407.
[4] Schaeffer, Two Contents, Two Realities, 412.
[5] Ibid., 414.
[6] Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, 176.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., 177.
[10] Ibid.,175.
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