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PEP Talk Podcast With Mark Meynell

by Solas

One of the biggest reasons for people to reject Christianity is because of their experience of the Church or other Christians behaving badly. How can we deal with abuse of power, hypocrisy and loss of trust? In an age of scandal, misinformation and conspiracy theories how can we point people to the love, truth and safety of Jesus Himself? Andy and Kristi speak with author and pastor Mark Meynell about these incredibly important questions.

With Mark Meynell – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Mark Meynell is Director (Europe and Caribbean) for Langham Preaching (one of the 3 programmes of Langham Partnership). An ordained Anglican minister, he has served in churches in the UK (in Oxford, Sheffield and London) and taught (and for a year was Acting Principal) at a small seminary in Kampala, Uganda. He is married to Rachel and they have 2 grown-up children. He is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) at Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis, MO,

He is the author of Cross-Examined (IVP, 1998, 2010), Good Book Guide to Colossians (GBC, 2008), The Resurrection (10ofThose, 2013), What Makes Us Human? (GBC, 2015) He is passionately concerned to cross the bridge between the Bible’s world and the contemporary world, which led to A Wilderness of Mirrors. (Zondervan, 2015)

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

Support the Podcast

Refuel Lite 2021

by Andy Bannister

Andy really enjoyed teaching at Refuel Lite on 22-23 June 2021. Below, you can find links to Andy’s slides and some other resources related to the two talks that he gave.

How to Talk About Jesus Without Getting Fired or Cancelled

Download the handout for the talk

Download a copy of the slides that Andy would normally have shown

Read Randy Newman’s book Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did

Read Michael Ots’ book Making Sense of Life

Read inspirational stories of Christians sharing their faith at work in our Frontlines series

Explore our Mind the Gap series, digging into some of the “gaps” that prevent us sharing our faith

Explore previous Solas webinars, many of which help equip you for evangelism

God and the Natural World (or: Why Greta Thunberg Really Needs Jesus)

Download the handout for the talk

Download a copy of the slides that Andy would normally have shown

Read J. Matthew Sleeth’s book Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action

Watch Andy’s Solas webinar “Is Christianity Bad for the Environment?” for a refresher on today’s material

Have a read (or a listen) to a free sample chapter of Andy’s brand new book, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

For more information about the Solas Centre for Public Christianity that Andy leads, visit www.solas-cpc.org. In particular, do check out our SHORT/ANSWERS video series. Over a million people have now watched, downloaded, or shared one of these videos with friends. They’re a great, free evangelistic resource. 

If you’d like to help support Solas’s work of evangelism and evangelism training across the UK, you can do for as little as £3 a month and we’ll send you a choice of one of several great books as a gift.

The Apathy Gap (2)

by Editor

In “The Apathy Gap – Part One”, Andy Bannister looked at the problem of reluctant evangelists. Now in “The Apathy Gap, Part Two”, we turn to the problem of apathetic listeners, people who are just not interested in the gospel at all.

THE APATHY EPIDEMIC

The author and evangelist Michael Ots recalls the peak of the New Atheist movement when doing university missions was like going into a ‘bear-pit’. Lunchtime talks and Q&A’s were often rowdy, with hecklers who both knew the claims of the Christian faith, had rejected them and were hostile towards them. Two decades later, Michael says, “things have changed”. Student missions are not dominated by confrontations with informed antagonists who want to convert you to atheism; but by relativists who think that your faith is “nice for you”, but is of no interest to them.

Michael’s observations do not apply only to the university context but represent wider patterns in our society. With almost 50% of Britons identifying as having “no-religion”, issues of faith are increasingly pushed to the margins, a process fuelled by the media’s constant secular narrative.[i] In this context, faith is not an urgent question of truth, or of eternal destiny – but more like a privatised consumer choice in which one size certainly does not fit all. This means that when Christians present compelling truth claims, they are met with blank disinterested stares by people who are not gripped by a search for truth. Our culture has been captivated by the idea that ultimate truths are inaccessible and unknowable and that claims to the contrary are controlling and harmful. In that framework, the only “good” is to pursue personal authenticity, and “evil” is defined as anything which inhibits this quest. It is hardly surprising then, that we inhabit an unusually uncommitted culture, where large numbers of people regard things such as lifelong marriage as restrictive to their open-ended choices. Andy Bannister writes, “I suspect there’s also reaction against advertising going on too; people don’t wish to be sold to, and this a good defence is to become cynical, to hold things lightly, to avoid committing.”[ii]

Solas’ associate Kristi Mair has kept records of the questions she is asked by non-Christian folk in response to her talks. She has noted a similar shift. Questions used to revolve around truth, and involve things such as evidence for the existence of God. The perceived clash of worldviews between Christianity and Science was a regular question; and something that would have to be addressed if people were to be moved on to consider Jesus. Now however Q&A’s are dominated by questions of utility. “This Christianity of yours: does it suit me, will it work for me, or will it inhibit my freedom?”

For those of us brought up in a culture which prized truth above all else, and believe that ultimate truths can be revealed by God to us; the idea that truth is uninteresting and irrelevant is incomprehensible. A friend of mine flew back to Scotland from Ireland a few years ago and I asked her what kind of plane she had flown on. When she said she had no idea I was mystified. I have never flown anywhere without looking at what I was flying in. Jokingly I asked, “So was it a jet or a propeller aircraft?” Incomprehensibly to me, she didn’t know that either! What to me was the most interesting thing about the journey wasn’t even on her radar. Assuming that people are like us, is a major obstacle to understanding them and communicating effectively with them…

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE?

Many people have been very faithful to their grasp of the gospel, but never managed to show their contemporaries why it matters. Others have so over-contextualised the gospel in search of ‘relevance’ that they have compromised core-elements of it. Given that the gospel is counter-cultural and even offensive, do we really have to choose between being relevant and faithful? Or is there a wiser way?

Steve McAlpine in his recent book, “Being the Bad Guys: how to live for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn’t” makes the following observation. The church hoped that relativism would open up a level-playing-field in which all ideas were given a fair hearing, whereas what has happened is that a new orthodoxy of self-fulfilment is now the imposed morality. Michael Ots concurs when he notes, that most people are not really relativists – they are only so about things they think don’t matter, like religious affiliation, or which sports club you join.

The point is, there are things which people care deeply about today – and the gospel has things to say about them all. In our Solas webinar with Michael Ots, he told us of an incident which occurred after a talk he had given. Michael recalled that he preached his heart out about the resurrection of Jesus and spent some time chatting to the guests at the end. He asked one lady what she thought , to which she replied, “It wasn’t interesting.” Somewhat taken aback, Michael stopped and instead of pushing back asked, “So what are you interested in?” and the answer he got back was, “I’m not interested in religion, I think we just need love, I’m very interested in that.” Gently Michael asked her what she thought love was – and was intrigued to learn that she had very little idea. He was able to talk about the Trinitarian Biblical idea of God as love, and us made in His image, being made to love and be loved. The conversation moved on to why love is so hard to find; and so the topic of the fall and sin was discussed, and then onto Christ’s love for us shown at the cross.

What Michael did in that example was to start with what mattered to the apparently apathetic person, and walk them over a bridge from that to the unchanging gospel. This is what it looks like to be in the world, but not of the world; relevant but distinct, contextual but not compromised.

In order to identify such bridges and connections, Michael identified the following steps:

  • Pray for wisdom and sensitivity, and a willingness and a readiness to speak for Jesus.
  • Intentionally develop ever-deepening friendships in which you exchange not just words, but ideas and emotions with people.
  • Listen deeply to your friends to understand them, and what they value, and what motivates them.
  • Look for gospel links between what matters to them, and what matters to God
  • Pray for, and take, opportunities to share something (however small) about this.

In his popular talk, “What if I don’t need God?”, Andy Bannister has developed several examples of bridges between what matters to people and the gospel of Jesus. Here are some examples:

  • Human Rights and Dignity

Many people today care passionately about human rights. However, while Westerners assume these “inalienable” rights are self-evident, tyrannical governments ignore them as merely Western, not universal notions. Scientific naturalism provides no basis for rights, and makes them arbitrary assertions, while the Christian story of a God who made us uniquely in His image; and who sent His son to die to redeem us; provides a compelling account for the value of humanity which so many people instinctively feel.

  • Moral Reality

Virtually everyone believes in right and wrong, and that helping the poor is right, and that murder, rape and genocide are objective moral evil. That is except for naturalistic Atheists for whom the only reality is physical. The Atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche saw this when he wrote, “If you abandon the Christian faith, at the same time you are pulling the right to Christian morality out from under your feet.”[iii] We all deeply know that the Holocaust was objective moral evil. The Christian faith has deep explanatory power for why this is the case – and the answer to the sins we find within our own hearts too.

  • Beauty

If someone is apathetic to our faith, but loves art, or photography of natural landscapes – the Christian worldview has much to say about why. Again, if we reduce our view of the world to the merely physical, then beauty is but a preference, it has no meaning outside of us. Andy Bannister wrote, “If, when I say ‘that landscape is beautiful’ it tells you nothing about it, just about my personal psychology – beauty and art have collapsed into narcissism”. On the other hand, if we have been made with an appreciation for beauty, by a God who is beautiful, and wants to correct the ugliness of sin – then beauty is a bridge to the gospel.

  • Meaning and Purpose

Some atheists claim that we can create our own meaning in life. Others relaise that even this is a bit optimistic. Lawrence Krauss for example said, “We are a 1% bit of pollution within the universe. We are completely insignificant.”[iv] Yet – humanity continually asks “why?” questions. From moments of ecstatic joy to crushing bereavements, we hunger to know why we are here, what it means and how we should spend our lives. If someone has no interest in a Bible study course, perhaps asking them “What is the purpose of your life” is a better starting point than ‘would you like to come to church?’

  • Environmental Concern

One of the fixed-points in the new moral order is that pollution is bad, and that environmental concern is good. Again, if someone is not ready to engage in a direct exploration of the gospel but is environmentally conscious, then it is legitimate for Christians to ask them why? Why does it matter if the earth heats and dies? Surely it is but one a million universes, which will evolve and die? Why not consume as much as I can in my lifetime, why care about molecules that will outlast me? Atheism provides no real solutions here – let alone agnosticism. But the Biblical worldview gives us ample motivation for creation stewardship. The gospel tells us that this earth has a future too…

These are of course just examples. As you build deeper friendships and prayerfully and intentionally go into more significant conversations about what matters to others you will find that all sorts of things deeply matter both to them, and to God. Things such as family, children, loneliness, work, ageing, death, courage, failure, image, media all concern people very profoundly. All of these can equally be bridges into gospel territory.

Finally, as we consciously do all of this here are two concluding thoughts, one ethical and one practical.

The ethical consideration is that we must always pursue genuine friendship and develop a real interest in our friends’ lives, interests, values hopes and fears. We must never listen to them simply to learn how to smuggle relevant gospel truths into our conversation as if evangelism was all about us.

The practical thing, is that as we seek to build bridges between what matters to our friends and the gospel, we should continually bait our conversation with gospel hooks! That is to say that we should be deliberately throw into conversation, observations or questions which might invite our friends to ask more, or inquire more deeply.

Many of the things which our non-Christian friends care most deeply about are not inherently sinful; but are rooted in their creation in God’s image. Sin is never “original” (in that the powers of darkness have no creative power); they are only able to distort and damage what God made and called good. In building bridges from these things to the gospel we do not allow the gospel to be captured by culture; but show that behind our friends’ longing for love, peace, security, family, love, meaning, truth, beauty or conservation lies a deeper, bigger and more wonderful story at the centre of which is Jesus himself.

—

The material for this article was drawn extensively from Andy Bannister’s talk, “What if I don’t need God?” and the Solas webinar with Michael Ots entitled, “Evangelism to the Apathetic” which you can watch here:  both used with permission.

[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/13/uk-losing-faith-religion-young-reject-parents-beliefs

[ii]  From a talk entitled, “What if I don’t need God?” by Andy Bannister.

[iii] Friedrich Neitzche. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ (Oxford: OUP, 1998) p45.

[iv] Cited in Amanda Lohrey, “The Big Nothing

Discussing the Resurrection of Jesus with Students…

by Editor

Back at Eastertime I went back to speak at the Christian Union at Stranmillis University College which is the teacher training college here in Belfast. About 30-40 of us gathered on Zoom, as restrictions were still in place then. I have lots of good contacts and friends at Stranmillis CU, as I spoke at their annual mission week this year, alongside my old friend and former colleague Lara Buchanan – (you can hear more about that here). So it was great to reconnect with the great folks at Stranmillis!

I was asked to speak on the topic, “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” So we kicked the night off with a twenty minute presentation which I did on evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. We also looked at the way in which the resurrection is really the foundation of the Christian faith, the cornerstone on which the whole of Christianity is built. If we don’t have the resurrection of Jesus – then we really don’t have any Christianity at all!

We looked at four great facts about the death and resurrection of Jesus which are securely established. First, that Jesus actually died on the cross. Second, that his tomb was found to be empty. Third, that Jesus’ first disciples really believed that he has been resurrected from death, claiming to have seen him (along with multiple other people at different times and locations). And Fourth, the explosive growth of the early church occurred so that many of Jesus’ former enemies came to believe in him and his resurrection. That includes Saul of Tarsus, and also Jesus’ sceptical younger brother James.

The question I then asked the students to consider was what account best fits this evidence and makes most sense of these established facts. I argued that the naturalist explanations fall short and that the best and most natural explanation of these known facts is that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

There was a good Q&A session after my talk in which students sent in questions on everything from the significance of other resurrection stories, to questions around science and miracles to that of other religions and cults. One question honed in on whether pagan resurrection myths had shaped the gospels. These were all fairly well-known and well-studied areas of questioning, so it was good to be able to proclaim and defend the gospel.

It was great to catch up with the guys at Stranmillis, and share this really positive event with them. They were really positive and encouraging about the event too and I look forward to working with them in the future.

Reaching the Next Generation: Engaging Young People With the Gospel

by Solas

Clare Williams joins Gavin Matthews to discuss how to engage young people today with the gospel.

Recommended resources:

GET REAL – realquestions.co.uk – Clare’s own ministry where you can find her new youth apologetics course materials

jude3project.org – US-based apologetics ministry with an emphasis in equipping those of African descent.

bethinking.org – Database of questions and answers aimed at youth and students created by UCCF.

Books:
10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) About Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
Urban Apologetics: Restoring Black Dignity With the Gospel by Eric Mason
Where is God in All the Suffering? by Amy Orr-Ewing

What About Christian Leaders Who Behave Badly?

by Solas

With several recent stories in the news of Christian leaders who have failed badly — abusing their position and abusing others — what does this say about the Church? Does bad Christian leadership discredit the message of Jesus? In this Short Answers video, Solas Director Andy Bannister helps us think about what to think when leaders fail — and what the leadership style of Jesus should really look like in practice.

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Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

Support

Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose “Digital Media Fund” under the Campaign/Appeal button.

The Apathy Gap 1.

by Editor

A pastor friend and I were chatting on one occasion and he sadly remarked about how hard he had been finding it to get members of his church involved in evangelism. “It’s frustrating,” he said, “it’s probably easier to get people to sign up to clean the church loos with a toothbrush than it is to get them involved in evangelism.” I’ve heard similar things before and another pastor once said to me that he reckoned only about 10% of his church were passionate about evangelism. “We’ve got an apathy problem in the modern church”, he said.

The reluctance that we Christians sometimes have to talk about our faith has also been noticed by atheists. Penn Jillette is a world-famous comedian and magician, one half of the double-act Penn and Teller, whose live shows and TV series have been watched by millions. He’s also an outspoken atheist, well-known for his withering and blistering attacks on Christianity. But a few years ago, he surprised his fans by releasing a video blog called ‘A Gift of a Bible’.[1] In the video, Jillette tells the story of a man who came up to him after a show and after complimenting him on his performance, nervously presented him with the gift of a Bible saying: “I wanted you to have this”. Jillette remarked what courage this must have taken, given his reputation as a fiery atheist—but then rather than criticise the man for his religious faith, Jillette continued:

I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward! How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean if I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it, but that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.

Penn Jillette is absolutely right. If we truly believe the message of the gospel, that a person’s eternal destiny depends on them hearing and responding to the incredible news about Jesus, how can we even conceive of keeping this to ourselves? What precisely is going on here? What explains the apathy gap that holds so many of us back from evangelism?

FOUR CAUSES OF EVANGELISTIC APATHY

I think there are a number of reasons why when it comes to evangelism, our fear of looking foolish (or of social awkwardness as Jillette put it) often trumps our desire to share the gospel with our friends, colleagues, and neighbours. In fact I can think of four reasons that can sap our evangelistic fervour and turn us into missional couch potatoes.

First, some of us have lost our sense of urgency. When we’re faced with a real emergency, we don’t tend to worry about looking stupid. Imagine the scenario: it’s 11pm and you’re lying on the sofa, watching Strictly Come Morris Dancing, whilst wearing the lovely fluffy orange pyjamas your grandma bought you for Christmas along with your favourite slippers (made in the shape of rabbits). In short, you look like a twit, but it’s your own home, so who cares. But then you happen to glance out of the window and notice that your neighbour’s roof is on fire. You reach for your phone to call them but the line is out of order. So, do you: (a) think, “Ah well, let them burn”; (b) wait for somebody else to run across the street and warn them; or (c) charge out of your front door—orange pyjamas, rabbit slippers and all—to ring on their front door and alert them to the danger?

In that situation, I imagine, our compassion and desire not to see our neighbours toasted to a crisp trumps our worry about our bedtime attire looking silly. The situation was urgent and life threatening, so we didn’t worry about maintaining our reputation for sensible fashion choices.

So why, when it comes to evangelism, does our worry about looking awkward (or even foolish) overcome our desire to tell our friends about Jesus and about the rescue he offers from an eternity separated from God? Could it just be that we’ve forgotten how urgent the gospel message is—and maybe we need to recapture a sense of that urgency?

Second, I wonder if some of us have privatised the gospel. We live in an age that encourages us to see treat our faith as a private thing—consumerism and secularism, those toxic twins, have combined and caused many of us to retreat behind the walls of our churches and houses. And if your faith in Jesus is nothing more than a private thing—little better than a hobby (your neighbour goes to Flower Arranging and Chainsawing Classes on a Sunday, you go to church)—then that’s going to totally sap our evangelistic energy. Why the desperate need to persuade others to believe the same as you do, if Jesus is just another option on the smorgasbord of possibilities. In some ways, the coronavirus pandemic has made this temptation even worse—when churches moved online, suddenly we could choose when and where to listen to the sermon: sitting on the couch, whilst going for a run, in the bath, whilst re-arranging tulips with a power-tool. But an individualised, personalised, privatised faith is very hard to get excited about.

Third, some of us have allowed the gospel to become watered down to such a point that it is little more than ‘good advice’. Back in 2005, two sociologists, Christian Smith and Melina Denton, undertook a study of thousands of American Christian teenagers. They discovered that what these young people believed wasn’t historic Christianity, but a somewhat different set of beliefs:

  • A belief in a distant, remote God who created and runs the world
  • This God wants people to be good, nice, and kind to each other (and that this is taught by most the world’s religions)
  • The main goal of life is to be happy, secure, and fulfilled
  • God doesn’t need to be involved in your life except when you need him to fix a problem
  • All good people go to heaven when they die

Smith and Denton coined the term ‘Moral Therapeutic Deism’ to describe this set of beliefs and in the 15 years since they wrote their book,[2] it has spread far more widely than simply among North American teens. In many parts of the modern church, Christianity has at times been turned into something more approaching a self-help plan, God has become our celestial therapist, and Christianity one more means of achieving happiness.

As long as we believe, deep down, that Christianity is merely good advice, or suggestions, or a self-help plan, or even a moral code, we are going to miss its power and we will struggle with the motivation to really want to share Jesus with our friends. But of course Christianity is far more than those things. The first Christians, when they chose the word to describe their message, didn’t pick a word like ‘advice’ or ‘method’, or even ‘religion’, but they chose the word gospel, which means good news. As the well-known theologian N. T. Wright points out, this makes all the difference:

[M]any people today assume that Christianity is … a religion, a moral system, a philosophy. In other words, they assume that Christianity is about advice.

But it wasn’t and it isn’t.

Christianity is, simply, good news. It is the news that something has happened as a result of which the world is a different place … One can debate the merits of a religion, moral system, or philosophy, but a news event is discussed in a different way. Either the event happened or it didn’t; if it did happen, either it means what people say it means or it doesn’t.[3]

The more we get it into our heads, hearts, and souls that Christianity is good news—tremendous news, life-changing news, world-shaking, world shattering news, the more that will impact our motivation to share this with others.

Fourth, the cheap price we have paid for the gospel can sometimes lead to apathy. Sometimes we can forget how relatively easy it is to be a Christian in the west. Yes, maybe we might face people making fun of us, or social ostracism, or occasional snarky comments. But in many parts of the world, following Jesus can be tremendously costly, even life threatening. And the more your faith has cost you, the more that can translate into evangelistic zeal. I have many friends who are former Muslims and for many, the decision to follow Christ cost them their homes and families. Some had to leave the countries they were living in and flee because of the threats that their conversion to Christianity resulted in. But what I admire about so many of these friends is not just their courage, but their evangelistic zeal. My late friend Nabeel Qureshi, whose testimony was published as Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus[4] was one of the most passionate evangelists I ever knew. Following Christ cost him (for a time) his family and many friends—but he fell so head over heels in love with Jesus that he could not stop talking about him.

In Matthew 13:44-45, Jesus tells the story of a merchant who, on seeing the most beautiful pearl he had ever set eyes on, sold everything he had in order to get hold of such a treasure. Is this our experience of Jesus and the gospel—have we given everything, or are we willing to give everything, in order to grasp hold of it? For the more it has cost us, the more we will want to run and tell our friends and neighbours: “Look what I’ve found! Come and see!”

BRIDGING THE APATHY GAP

So if we suffer from apathy when it comes to evangelism, how can we get some evangelistic fuel in our tanks, some fire in our bellies, some jalapeño in our dinners? Well, the first thing to realise is that we can’t overcome spiritual apathy through either guilt or will power. Whether it’s upping our evangelistic energies or improving our health, we rarely manage it simply by gritting our teeth. As Dr. Rangan Chatterjee says in his best-selling book on improving your physical health: “Most people who decide to change their lives using only willpower to get them through are pretty much doomed to fail.”[5] The same goes for trying to use willpower to improve your spiritual health. So what can we do? Here are seven really practical suggestions for you.

  1. Pray! If you find yourself apathetic when it comes to evangelism, a great place to begin is by praying for the Lord to change you. Ask for a change of heart, for the gift of evangelistic zeal, and for a love and concern for the lost that overcomes your hesitancy. Don’t try to motivate yourself into feeling this—ask for the Lord to transform you.
  2. Reflect. It can be really helpful to read and reflect on the many scriptures that remind us of how dire a person’s situation is without Christ (e.g. Romans 3:20-23, or Mark 9:43-47) as well as passages that talk about God’s goodness and his love for the lost (e.g. John 3:16, or Romans 5:8). The more you read, reflect, and meditate on scripture, the more it will change you.
  3. Repent. If you feel guilty about your evangelistic apathy, that’s good news—that’s the sign of a responsive heart. So be honest and repent, taking the time to pray and say sorry to the Lord for your past attitudes. And be encouraged: scripture (and Church History) are full of examples of people who God used to reach others for Christ, even though their attitudes at first were totally wrong. (One of my heroes is John Newton: it took ten years after his conversion for Newton to realise that slavery was wrong, and that he needed to devote his life to preaching the gospel).[6]
  4. Get inspired by others. I love reading the stories and testimonies of those who are more evangelistically passionate than me—I can learn so much from them. Right now my kids are reading the Christian Heroes Then and Now series by Janet and Geoff Benge—so many of the people whose stories are told in that in that series that inspire me to share the gospel as they did. And then look to contemporary examples, people just like you and me. Check out the Workplace Evangelism series on the Solas website, with dozens of stories of ordinary men and women sharing their faith at work. Or listen to some of our PEP Talk podcasts around the same themes—our interviews with Anne Witton, Cameron McCartney, and David Barrie are good places to start.
  5. Get involved. Think about some small steps toward more frequent evangelism that you could try and that might work with your circle of friends, or your personality style. One easy first step is the How Was Your Weekend Challenge. It’s really simple: next time, on a Monday, when a friend or colleague asks “How was your weekend?” rather than make up some nondescript answer (“I went to chu—*cough*—and then I shampooed the hamster”) try saying: “My weekend was amazing! I went to church yesterday and the pastor gave this fantastic message—I learnt so many new things!” Be positive, be enthusiastic, for these things are infectious—and see what happens next. (And if nobody asks you how your weekend was, lead by asking somebody about theirs, chances are they will then reciprocate).
  6. Get accountable. Don’t try and start doing more evangelism on your own, but find a Christian friend or two and form a small group to pray for and hold each other accountable. (You can tell your friends: “Please pray that I’d have the courage to talk to Dave at work about Jesus”. And then they can ask you next week how it went and hold you accountable). In my twenties I was incredibly nervous about sharing my faith and speaking publicly about Jesus—but then I got connected with a group of Christians who went up to Hyde Park in London each Sunday afternoon and did street evangelism. It was scary and it was nerve-wracking but I wasn’t alone. I had friends with me and afterwards we’d debrief and pray together. So find others who can help you support you: Jesus sent the disciples out in twos (Luke 9 and 10), don’t try and be an evangelistic loner.

And in all of this remember, however much you worry if your evangelistic apathy can be overcome, remember that God has already done the far greater work of transformation: he’s brought you from darkness to light, from outside the kingdom to inside, he has already made you a new creation and put a new spirit within you. What an amazing transformation he has already done! And now he asks you to share the news of that transformation with others. Yes, it may take time to see your heart for evangelism to change and you may worry if that’s possible: but remember, what is impossible for us, is possible for God![7]

[1]     The video is available on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/6md638smQd8

[2]        Christian Smith and Melina Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).

[3]        N. T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is News and What Makes it Good (London: SPCK, 2015) pp. 16-17.

[4]        Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, 3rd Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018).

[5]        Rangan Chatterjee, Feel Better in 5: Your Daily Plan to Kick-Start Great Health (London: Penguin, 2019) p.10.

[6]        John Newton’s story is told in chapter 1 of Andy Bannister, Heroes: Five Leaders From Whose Lives We Can Learn (Rampsgill Press, 2015).

[7]        Luke 18:27.

Training and Evangelism in Frankfurt

by Editor

Before Covid hit, the plan had been that I was going to go over to Frankfurt for a three-day ministry trip. That obviously didn’t happen, so I joined them online instead. Aaron Bashore is a pastor out there, who we’ve known for sometime. He’s originally from the USA, but has lived and served for many years in Germany.

We worked together with Aaron and his team on a few events. The first of these was a church-based training event. I’ve discovered that German churches seem to like to hold events far earlier in the morning than churches here in the UK! So, it was an earlier start to the day than I am used to. Nevertheless we did a session on how to share your faith and work or university with them. The challenges of evangelism there are remarkably similar to those in the UK, and other places I have worked such as Canada – and some of the same approaches are helpful across these contexts.

The topic for their Saturday night open forum was, “Can We Trust the Bible?”, and this was an outreach event. Aaron, said, “We are really enthusiastic about getting people into the Word, so this was a good way to help us start those kinds of conversations with people.” I’m also aware that there is a Muslim community in Frankfurt, and Muslims are often brought up to believe that the Bible has been corrupted. So, this is an important subject to address.

In my talk, I looked at why I trust the Bible, including some material on the manuscripts, eyewitness testimony in the gospels, and some evidence from archaeology too. Then we looked at the way in which the Bible so honestly diagnoses the human condition.  While some religious texts seem to say that if you ‘just work hard enough you can become a decent person and be OK’ – the Bible is much more realistic. It uniquely explains what we are really like and why we can’t save ourselves and in fact need a saviour. The Bible insists that we need Jesus to die for us, and God to be gracious to us; and that fits the human condition better because it addresses us as we actually are. We did a Q&A too – and the questions were clearly from non-Christian folks searching for answers. For more on the reliability of the Bible, read here.

I’m constantly impressed by my German friends’ linguistic skills! Although they asked for my slides and handouts in advance so they could translate them into German, they were happy to have me speak in English, and the entire Q&A was conducted in English too! It was encouraging to hear that folks had responded well to both sessions – and I’m really hoping to be able to join them in person soon!

It’s been interesting to hear some responses to the evening through Aaron. He’ll be following up with one man who said that despite all he heard he still finds Atheism ‘more comforting’. More encouraging was the response from a lady who said she was now prepared to seriously read the Bible. So we pray that the Holy Spirit will open its truth to her.

I am hoping to be able to visit Aaron and the church in Frankfurt in the Autumn, but we will see what the regulations permit!

The Cost of Discipleship (RCCG 10 July)

by Andy Bannister

Andy really enjoyed speaking for RCCG on Saturday 10 July 2021. Below, you can find links to Andy’s slides and some other resources.

Download a copy of Andy’s slides from his The Cost of Discipleship talk here.

Have a read (or a listen) to a free sample chapter of Andy’s brand new book, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

Some other great books to read around today’s themes are:

Andy referred to the work of Open Doors supporting persecuted Christians; find them here:

For more information about the Solas Centre for Public Christianity that Andy leads, visit www.solas-cpc.org. In particular, do check out our SHORT/ANSWERS video series. Over a million people have now watched, downloaded, or shared one of these videos with friends. They’re a great, free evangelistic resource. 

If you’d like to help support Solas’s work of evangelism and evangelism training across the UK, you can do for as little as £3 a month and we’ll send you a choice of one of several great books as a gift.

PEP Talk Podcast With Georgie Coster

by Solas

Medical professions can often be useful for overseas mission work, but today’s guest tells us all about the mission field here in today’s NHS. In her work with the Christian Medical Fellowship, we hear about how young doctors and nurses are learning to share their faith – and seeing God at work!

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Our Guest

Georgie Coster is an intensive care nurse in the English Midlands and Associate Head of Nurses and Midwives at the Christian Medical Fellowship.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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Lee McDade, The Army & The Good News..

by Editor

Lee McDade spends his days as a Christian missionary to Britain’s armed forces, which is perhaps a surprising vocation for someone who once said he wanted nothing to do with Christianity or the Army! His official title is “Army Scripture Reader”, an archaic phrase which he tells me goes back to the Napoleonic Wars, when the readers literally read the Bible to the illiterate soldiers in the lines. These days he’s much more likely to be found giving a copy of the New Testament to a soldier than reading it to one; but the role of offering spiritual support to the Armed Forces, with the Army Chaplains, has remained the same, as has the gospel message he shares. And, just like those original Scripture Readers he carries a Bible with him wherever he goes, and often opens it and shares its message.  He works for SASRA , the “Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers Association”, who trace their work back to 1818, but have been organised under that name since 1938.

When I spoke to Lee, he was in uniform, in his office on Wattisham Camp in Suffolk from where the Army Air Corp fly Apache Helicopters. There, he shares army life with over 2000 people that he’s called to serve. Despite his cheery disposition, Lee is an imposing figure, who sized me up as ‘non-military’ within our first few seconds of meeting (correctly!). All SASRA scripture readers are former military personnel Lee explained, something really important for getting alongside soldiers as a trusted colleague who understands the unique pressures of active service as well as Army culture. As I spoke to Lee, it struck me that he was a brilliant example of what incarnational mission is supposed to be. After all, when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about how much he cared for them he said, “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” (1 Thess2:8) The more I listened to Lee, the more I saw a contemporary example of what that looks like. His commitment to the gospel of Jesus was as transparent as his obvious concern for the soldiers he serves – and his enthusiasm for mission infectious. “It’s an amazing privilege for me to serve amongst some of the best men and women I’ve ever worked with.” Lee says.

Lee has been with SASRA for 13 years. “I wasn’t a Christian when I was in the Army,” he recalls, “In fact, I hated Christianity as a soldier. My last tour of duty was in Bosnia, after which I left, angry and disillusioned. I began searching for answers, and as a result I became a Christian in 1999.” When I asked Lee about how he’d been called into SASRA his answer was intriguing. “I felt called to full-time ministry as soon as I was converted, I just wanted to share Jesus with as many people as possible”, he said. His calling into this work followed a decade later, when life with soldiers beckoned once again for Lee and his family.

Gütersloh, Catterick and Wattisham, are the bases Lee has served, and he says the archaic title “scripture reader” is really helpful. “A what?” is a common reaction when he is introduced, which gives him an opportunity to share his testimony and the hope he has in Christ. “My ministry consists of four P’s”, says Lee. “Prayer, presence, patrol and proclamation – and I do all four of those every day.”

When I asked Lee what a typical day in his ministry looks like he said. “When go into camp, I never know what is going to happen. So I make myself present – available to the soldiers, we are an arm of military welfare. Then I pray and I work with the chaplains. Then I go on patrol, I literally walk round the camp and chat to soldiers and civilian personnel. Where people are interested in the hope I have in Christ, I share that. Then I run Bible studies for anyone who wants to come.”

Every scripture reader works in different ways, but Lee says his favourite thing is just to walk around the camp, and strike up conversations. Opportunities are endless – and all that is in addition to garrison church services, Bible studies, prayer meetings and counselling services. Scripture Readers are often the first person a soldier with deep pastoral needs will confide in, and the welfare and chaplaincy teams value that, and the readers often refer people on for further assistance. “My business is to point people to Christ, and for that I use the Bible, my testimony and their questions as my main tools” Lee says – “I don’t do many formal evangelistic courses, I just open the Bible and share Jesus with them.”

“People are constantly interested in where I get my hope from – and I tell them it’s from my faith in Jesus – that’s what I’m here for” – says Lee. He clearly loves the people he serves, and he loves the gospel but regards the admin of the job as a necessary evil! “I often head for the smoking shelters and other social areas” Lee says, “I know there will be soldiers hanging about there, ready to chat, they are always a good places to be.”

Access to Army camps for Scripture readers like Lee is based on a memorandum of understanding between the MOD, SASRA and the Chaplaincy department, and they operate under the chaplaincy structures. “The fact that we are all ex-servicemen and women is really helpful for that relationship” Lee explained. “There’s a bit of red-tape to go through, but we are officially accepted and the Military (Army and RAF) really appreciate our welfare work with the soldiers. We don’t take our access to bases for granted, we work hard to get and maintain it because our ministry here is unique.”

Lee recalls that his time serving with the school of infantry was especially significant. Most of the soldiers there were young men, between 17 and 30 years of age who asked him all the questions of life. “Is there a God?”, “Why do you believe?”, “Why is there evil in the world?”, are just some of the questions he has been asked. Recruits there were being trained for the reality of war, and that generated all manner of profound questions which Chaplains and Scripture Readers are there to help with. “Your average young person maybe hasn’t thought much about death, but then they go to classes on morality in combat, dealing with mortality and so forth, and it makes them really think.” Lee notes. “When I first joined SASRA we were losing people every week in Afghanistan and we were working alongside young people preparing to go there and serve; and asking all those deep questions. Soldiers will ask anything – it’s a good job we’re all ex-military because nothing shocks us!” Lee said with a wry chuckle.

The ministry of the Scripture Readers can be hard work, punctuated with times of great blessing as well as what Lee calls “desert times”. Yet he says, it is unusual when he doesn’t have at least one gospel conversation in a day’s work. He says he’s learned to persevere through dry periods, trust God and “roll with the punches”. Technology has changed Lee’s ministry too, soldiers who get posted to other parts of the country or the world no longer disappear from his radar; but keep in contact with him through Facebook, WhatsApp and email. Lee says, “The Army is a small world, and veterans like to keep in touch with each other – to talk to people who have gone through similar experiences as them, so I am in touch with a lot of people all over the place.”

“When I share Jesus, some people avoid me, some mock, some agree, some ask questions and some say they want to know more about him and some trust in Him. It’s not a daily occurrence to lead someone to Christ, but it is without doubt the best possible thing to be part of. I’m a great believer in sowing as much gospel seed as possible. I heard the gospel again and again when I was a soldier and rejected it everytime, and only became a Christian years later when that seed bore fruit in my life. So even when people reject it, I don’t lose hope, but keep offering Jesus to them” says Lee.

I found speaking to Lee McDade both encouraging and inspiring, he’s clearly a man with a clear calling, in the right place, doing the right thing. I loved the way he is so committed both Jesus and the people he serves which is really a model for us all to follow in whatever field we find ourselves. As we drew our conversation to a close, because he was needed out on the base, he asked if Christians reading this could pray for him in his ministry. I couldn’t refuse a great request like that!

As you read this, the chances are that Lee McDade is standing in a soldiers smoking shelter, or in the post office queue, telling a young helicopter technician about the love of Christ. “Please pray for good opportunities for me to speak about Jesus”, he says – “and for wisdom and perseverance when things are tough. Ministry is a spiritual battle, a fierce spiritual battle, which can be hard so please do pray. We’re a charity, so you can pray for our finances too!”

Finally, speaking to Lee McDade made me think of Paul’s words in Colossians 1:3-6.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.

Nottingham-Trent CU Mission Week

by Editor

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking at Nottingham Trent University CU Mission week where I did three events for them. Two of the events were “Open forums” and the subjects they wanted me to look at were around Jesus and the Gospels. Firstly we tackled, “Man, myth or God?”. and examined the way in which if you actually take the time to examine the things Jesus said and did, it is impossible to slot him into the “good man” category. You really do have to either accept that he was who he said he was –God on the flesh – or reject him entirely. Secondly we looked at the reliability of the gospels in which I focused on the evidence that the gospels contains eye-witness testimony of the events of Jesus’ life.

As ever, at Solas events we followed the talk with Q&A – and it was great to see that some sceptics had joined the meeting, a collection of atheists and a Muslim too. We extended the Q&A on the other session I did for them – and did a meeting which was set aside exclusively for engaging with people’s questions. And we got all manner of questions about all kinds of subjects!

One of the most encouraging things has been to hear that a couple of the students who attended the mission have gone onto do some follow-up meetings with the CU. So I was invited back to their small-group to have some more intensive discussions, responding for example to the concerns of a young Muslim who is interested in Christianity. An atheist student is coming to those sessions, with entirely different set of ideas, assumptions and questions too. It was really great to be able to chat to them about the resurrection of Jesus – and why that makes sense and is important. It really was such a joy and privilege to be able to work with the Nottingham Trent CU and their friends.

What Is Christianity All About?

by Solas

What is Christianity all about? Many of our Short Answers videos respond to questions or objections about Christianity: but we increasingly meet people who don’t actually know what Christianity is. In this short film, Solas speaker Gareth Black explains the heart of the Christian faith — and why it is such amazingly Good News.

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Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose “Digital Media Fund” under the Campaign/Appeal button.

The Intellectualism Gap

by Editor

Like many people, I am deeply grateful for Christian apologetics. It’s developed my own faith and confidence that Christianity is true; it’s given me a wealth of resources for communicating my belief in God effectively in the public square. Most of all, it has enriched and stimulated me intellectually. I am the kind of person who has a strong affinity for ideas, for books by dead people which those outside the hallowed halls of academic have never heard of, for arguments and counterarguments, for information, philosophical dialogue… yes, even for footnotes! I once feared that Christianity could never stimulate me intellectually the way that my studies of mathematics, history or biology could. Though my mind was being stretched in physics or literature, my early experiences of church suggested that my Christianity could never invigorate my intelligence to the same degree but was destined to remain at a rudimentary, Sunday-school level. Unfortunately, far too many Christians have assumed the same thing. I was completely wrong, however. And it was being introduced to world of Christian apologetics – as well as to some incredible mentors who taught me how intellectually rich the Bible actually is – that I discovered that Christianity could be as much, if not more, intellectually stimulating than my other academic interests.

Yet as appreciative as I am of the importance of developing our minds as Christians, and as someone now thoroughly embedded in the world of apologetics and academic theology, I have come to recognise the real perils in these enterprises that coexist alongside their promises. I confess that I often find it considerably easier to spend countless hours swimming in the pools of Christian apologetics than spend ten minutes in concentrated, heartfelt prayer before the Lord. In fact, I am regularly guilty of allowing my investment in these areas to only serve to satisfy my own intellectual appetites or, at most, allow me a contribution with a niche Christian apologetics subculture. It never, therefore, transcends to serve meaningful engagement with unbelievers. In other words, Christian apologetics can often become an end in itself, rather than a crucial means by which we might effectively make straight the paths for others towards Jesus and shine the light of the Gospel within public spaces. This is the Intellectualism Gap to sharing the gospel of Jesus.

Of course, we need to be careful that whilst seeking to avoid any pitfalls of Christian intellectualism we do not throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater by angling ourselves towards an equivalent error of anti-intellectual theology. A ‘simple faith’ is not by definition a stronger, more authentic faith and there is no inherent tension between deep Christian devotion and enriching our God-given minds by thinking more deeply and developing our intellectual potential. We need to avoid what John Stott once referred to as ‘… the misery and menace of mindless Christianity.’[1] There is no necessary tension between human reason and divine revelation. Rather, we use our reason to understand what God has uniquely and sovereignly revealed, for as Stott further highlights, the God of the Bible ‘… is a rational God, who made us in his own image rational beings, has given us in nature and in Scripture a double, rational revelation, and expects us to use our minds to explore what he has revealed.’[2] Elemental to Christianity is the command to worship the Lord with our minds (Matt. 22:37; Mk. 12:30).

So we can clearly see that developing our minds is fundamental to what it means to follow Jesus. Yet the bible also cautions us about the potential snares pursuing knowledge as an end in itself can harbour. It can puff people up with conceit or senses of superiority that make it extremely difficult to be loving and generous towards others (1 Cor 8:1). It can even subtly delude us that theoretical knowledge and information about God and faith in God are synonymous. They are, of course, related but we can run into all kinds of problems if we conflate the two.

Christian intellectualism also contains the potential to impede our evangelism. Let’s consider two ways in which it might do so…

First, it can become a weapon of mass distraction. C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters imaginatively captured the hazard to faith of being distracted by things that, on the surface, might appear virtuous or even of spiritual benefit. In Letter XII the senior demon Screwtape advises his young nephew Wormwood that one of the most effective methods of hampering a Christian’s faith is not by temptation to some lurid vice but by continually occupying their attention with otherwise good things, which become ends in themselves and ultimately distract that Christian from real engagement with God. Screwtape writes that the lure of occupying our time and attention with these distractions, most especially if they have a veneer of spiritual substance, can become extremely strong. He reminds the junior demon Wormwood:

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards do the trick.[3]

Lewis’s insight is as sobering as it is brilliant: ‘…the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man [or woman] from the Enemy [i.e. Christ].’ In other words, Satan’s number one priority in the life of a believer is to do all that he can to disconnect them from sincere and meaningful engagement with God as a person, rather than a theory. One of the most effective strategies for this is to encourage them to invest their energies in things that may be moral, even Christian, in their content but which distract them from God himself. It is all too possible that, as beneficial as Christian apologetics can be as a means to augment our personal faith and public witness, it can also become an end in itself whose cumulative effect is, ironically, to subtly circumvent these activities.

What might this look like? It could be that we spend so much time watching videos of our favourite apologists on Youtube or listening to apologetics podcast episodes that we are left with neither the time nor the inclination to build meaningful friendships with actual non-Christians. It could that we are so thoroughly initiated in the niche questions, discussions, and vernacular of our favoured apologetics social media groups  that, either we can only assume, rather than know from real experience what the particular obstacles to faith for the unbelievers in our world might be. It might mean that we can only address such questions abstractly, akin to answering a question on a Philosophy exam rather than meaningfully connecting with a real person in a way that honours their emotions, experiences and personality in addition to their reasoning. It could ever be that our fascinations and sense of value has been so conditioned by the apologetics subcultures that, in all honesty, our attentiveness to others – whether non-Christians or recent believers – is limited because they do not share our particular interests or intellectually stimulate us enough to wish a deeper relational investment with them.

A second way that Christian intellectualism or allowing apologetics to become an end in itself can disable evangelism is by its temptation to place our faith in our intellect rather than God. As Christians, we are called to trust God for the effectiveness of our evangelism and use our intellect. Yet, as people who rightly value the brilliant resource of intellect and education, we can unconsciously shift our faith functionally from God to our reason. Paul was all too aware of this danger when he arrived in Corinth to proclaim the Gospel. He writes in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5…

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Some have misinterpreted this passage by suggesting that Paul is here discounting the use of intellect and education in favour of the Spirt, which is a false dichotomy. The heart of Paul’s message here is not about what methods we ought or ought not to not use in sharing the Gospel but about where we ultimately place our trust (faith) for the power that transforms hearts and minds. Paul himself was brilliant thinker, able to compete with the best and brightest minds of his day (cf. Acts 17:17-34). When necessary, he put his educational credentials and intellectual prowess to use in order to gain a hearing for the Gospel. However, Paul was also very aware that certain groups such as the Corinthians were unhealthily enamoured with intelligence, elegant oratory skills and personality gravitas, so much so that there was a real danger that they would place their faith in the truth of Paul’s message on the basis of his sophisticated rhetoric rather than the power of God. So committed was Paul to the Corinthians placing their faith in Christ on the right basis that he intentionally avoided using these elements of his skillset. Instead he came to them in ‘weakness’, knowing nothing among them ‘except Christ and him crucified’. In that sense, Paul used his reason but he didn’t trust in it and certainly didn’t want others to trust in Jesus because of it. Where his credentials and intellect became a potential distraction or stumbling block to people anchoring their faith in the power of God alone, Paul was free enough and devoted to the Gospel enough to not use them. This is the difference between using our intelligence in evangelism but trusting God, and subtly trusting our learning and only using God when we get stuck. There is always the danger of this latter offence in Christian apologetics. It’s the kind of problem that leads to things like devoting ourselves to endless hours of downloading content from thinkers/speakers we admire but spending virtually no time before God in prayer in order that we might access his power and wisdom. It can lead to fraudulent academic credential inflation or the constant need to embark on further programmes of study in the hope that it will guarantee us power and influence among people we admire and platforms we would like to occupy. And, like the Corinthians, it can also lead to immature forms of sectarianism (1 Cor. 3:1-10), judging ourselves against others in the apologetics world, or juxtaposing speakers against each other (like the real Twitter account that pits well-known apologists against each other and asks followers to vote on their favourite!) or identifying ourselves with particular thinkers over and against others on the basis of who impresses us most with their intelligence or communication All of these are evidences that we have shifted our faith from God and his power to the force of our own intellect. The peril of doing so – other than the obvious fact that this is not where spiritual power and influence truly reside – is that it will leave us feeling either unwarrantedly overconfident or continually inferior and insecure.

So as brilliant a resource as information or knowledge or apologetics often is in developing our faith and public witness to Christ, it is important that we are humble and vigilant enough to recognise when they might be becoming an end in themselves. We must continually remember that God is a person, not a theory, and ultimately expects to be related to on that basis, either by ourselves personal or by those we might be representing Christianity to.

So if we think we may be in any danger of falling into the Intellectualism Gap with our evangelism, what can we do? Let me very briefly suggest three responses:

  1. Take some time before the Lord to think about your relationship with philosophical/theological thinking or Christian apologetics and honestly evaluate what sort of fruit it is producing in your life. If it is only stimulating you intellectually but not actually drawing you into a deeper active faith relationship with God, or motivating you to meaningfully engage with actual unbelievers and sceptics (as opposed to abstract sceptical arguments!), it may be time to take a step back, and perhaps even repent of some elements of intellectual idolatry. Talk to a trusted Christian leader about your relationship with apologetics, or even reach out to us here at Solas and we would be only too happy to listen and offer any advice we feel might be helpful. Remember Pauls words 1 Corinthians 6:12: “I have the right to do anything”–but I will not be mastered by anything.’
  2. Consider a period of fasting from podcasts or your favourite apologists or Christian thinkers on Youtube and, instead, invest some time in developing friendships and evangelistic conversations with friends, neighbours or colleagues. Why not sign up to help at an Alpha or Christianity Explored course or even launch your own evangelistic event with supportive members of your local faith community. Yes, you may not find it as intellectually stimulating as the latest episode of Premier’s Unbelievable or Philosophy Bites, but if it allows you to actually discover actual – rather than presume upon – the questions or concerns of real people with whom you can walk a faith journey with it will be more than worth the sacrifice.
  3. I am convinced that one of the greatest antidotes to the Intellectualism Gap to faith or evangelism is an active prayer life. I so often forget that prayer is actually the deep end of the pool where all of my thinking comes together in glorious contemplation and conversation with the living God. There is no greater use nor higher purpose of the human mind than this: to know God and be known by him in living, personal relationship. Prayer is the place where our minds are stimulated to grasp more of the ‘depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God’, yet paradoxically sobered in acknowledgement of ‘how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and inscrutable his ways!’ (Romans 11:33); here our hearts are warmed to capture God’s abounding love for lost people; and here we access the true source of spiritual power and authority that will put our feeble thoughts and words to incredible and eternal use in calling prodigals come. If forms of Christian intellectualism are creating a gap in our evangelism, prayer is the means to fill that gap in.

[1] John Stott, Your Mind Matters: The Place of the Mind in the Christian Life, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 17.

[2] Ibid, The Contemporary Christian: An Urgent Plea for Double Listening(Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 115.

[3] C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil (London: HarperCollins, 2012), 60.

Encouragements from Cork

by Editor
Mission in Cork

This is the fifth or sixth year that University College Cork CU has run a Mission Week, and every year they are developing news skills and building on previous years. Last year was the first time they attempted having so many talks, both lunchtime and evening, and saw the benefit of being able to cover a wide variety of issues and topics within the week. This year, one of the changes was having just one or two speakers for the whole week. allowing them to build a connection with the crowd who were coming along. As the CU members confidence in the speaker grew they got bolder inviting friends, and people came back to hear the speaker again.

This year, obviously, being a Covid-year, brought a lot of challenges. One of those was how to get the first years, who have fully been participating in CU in an online format, to feel part of things and to be trained up in mission. Another was how to reach people well, in general, and how to engage with them on campus when we wouldn’t be able to invite students into a warm, welcoming, physical space.

Some Encouragements & Highlights

Firstly, the first years really did get engaged and have got a much better grasp on the idea that CU is a missional body.

It is encouraging that even in a year where things were a lot harder, the CU are still learning, growing, and building on what has gone before. The week certainly contributed to building the CU into a stronger mission team, and the effects of it will go on to impact evangelism in the next term and beyond.

A major highlight for me was the difference the week made with two particular non-Christian students. “J2 is a first year who just came along out of interest, as he wanted to get to know some more folks at UCC. He came to three out of the five events, and stayed afterwards to chat with CU folks. At the first one he came to, a lunchbar on Institutionalised Religion that Gareth was speaking at, and stayed for the whole length of the thing, even though it was the same talk repeated twice! He really got to know people, and that he is now connected into the community of the CU. He came along to the first mission week follow up event, an Uncover Mark study, and as he’s in the city some of us are planning to meet up with him in person for a walk and a chat.

The other encouraging story was “A” who has been coming along sporadically to CU meetings since Christmas, seeking community in these isolated times. I thought he wasn’t going to end up coming to any events over the two weeks, but he did come to the last one, about the cross! He was really engaged as we chatted in breakout rooms, and it’s so great to know that he has heard the gospel and the meaning of the cross explained so clearly. He also came along to one of the follow-up studies, and already knows one of the CU students who is keeping in touch with him.

– Contribution of Gareth:

As I’ve said, one of the main aims from my end for this week was that the CU students see that having a consistent speaker over the whole of the Missions Week(s) was very beneficial in terms of engagement and connection. I think having Gareth as one of the speakers really helped to solidify that notion, as he did such a great job in presenting the gospel clearly and answering the questions that were raised, both by the talk titles and in the Q&As. I think the CU students got to see a clear demonstration of how we can take peoples’ objections and question seriously, but also make sure that the gospel shines out, and that every talk points people to Jesus. In recording short videos for the CU to share over the week, Gareth also helped make the mission week clearly present on social media. That helped us a lot in terms of extending the reach of the weeks beyond the people who came along to the zoom events. Gareth’s experience of speaking into a student context was also really helpful, as the talks were pitched really well and, although he didn’t have the benefit of being a local, he took the time to engage well with the context into which he was speaking.

Solas’s Gareth Black said, “I haven’t done a CU events week in Cork before, so this was breaking new ground for me personally – and I loved it. The theme we developed with the students was “Love Is”. We really tried to build some confidence in the credibility of Christianity, especially around the issue of the character of God – which the students in Cork see as a critical element in their gospel witness. I did seven talks and four Q&A sessions over the fortnight, which was both quite intense and a brilliant opportunity! My talks included “Why isn’t God more obvious?”, “How can God be good when there is suffering?”, “Why did Jesus have to die?”, “Harm & Hypocrisy: Wouldn’t the world be a better place without Christianity?” The CU there were brilliant to work with, and it was great to in partnership with our friends at CUI again too.”

Student Feedback

“Throughout the Missions Week planning I have been learning that as long as God is in the centre, that is all that matters. He will come in power, unrestricted by Zoom” – Cian

 “I really enjoyed having an opportunity to delve into deeper issues in faith and confront them in a community that felt safe and open minded. It really blessed me to listen to speakers who were so sensitive and respectful, while also not shying away from the big questions!” – Sinéad

“For me it was a great week because I could hear about the topic of love in a more detailed context. It was also surprising to see how ‘love’ can be included in so many topics. I specifically enjoyed the talk about mental health and that God doesn’t think any less of us just because we may struggle with it. That really resonated with me.” – Laura

“The talks were delivered at a really good level for where students were actually at, and the questions they are genuinely asking. It felt like the speakers took the talk titles that were given to them and really made some great talks out of them. The talks were spot-on theologically, and also engaged with people well at an intellectual level. The big topics that we broached over the weeks were all dealt with sensitively and well. The local Cork context was also linked in well, and it didn’t feel isolating to people from a Catholic or non-religious background at all. The answers given at the question and answer sessions were great.”  –  The CU Planning Committee

Hannah Irwin is a Staff Worker with Christian Unions Ireland covering Cork and Tralee