In this video I address the #1 confusion about the Gospel today. When it comes to Jesus EVERYONE has to answer this question.
One of the most common questions I get from students when I teach and speak is how do I know if I am saved? How do I know if my friends and family is saved? In this video, I will help you think through this question biblically and clearly.
Are you confusing the Gospel?
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Why listening matters when sharing your faith.
If you want to have more effective spiritual conversations, then learn to listen.
Francis Schaefer once said:
“‘If I have only an hour with someone, I will spend the first fifty-five minutes asking questions and finding out what is troubling their heart and mind, and then in the last five minutes I will share something of the truth.”
Our temptation is to unload all the facts we’ve ever learned in one conversation.
However, the (more…)
Sometimes less is more. Especially when it comes to having quick conversations about what you believe and why. When it comes to the charge that the Bible is anti-intellectual, the best way to show that the Bible is not anti-intellectual is to talk about reality and not religion.
In today’s culture, religion is understood as a personal and private feeling that is not accessible by everyone else. You can’t question, challenge, or investigate it; you must simply be tolerant of it (i.e., false tolerance). That’s why having a conversation about Christianity as a religion is a dead end. It’s a nonstarter. We need to talk about Christianity in the context of reality where terms like truth, knowledge, reason, and evidence apply.
This week try to use more rational terms when you talk about your faith and try to limit emotional terms like “I feel.” People will notice and it will open the door to some fun conversations.
Why everyone needs the right to be wrong
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Question: What have you found helpful in talking to people who are skeptical of religion?
Whenever people use the word Christian in a conversation, I don’t assume they are using the term correctly (i.e., something that the founder of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, would recognize). Again, I’m not being critical here; we just live in a postChristian culture today. There’s simply too much misinformation out there. Moreover, people tend to repeat commonly used slogans or embrace a vision of Christianity that sounds curiously like twenty-first-century American values. In light of that, I have found that when I share what the New Testament actually teaches, people are genuinely surprised. In fact, many Christians I encounter also are surprised (and even resist) what I am about to share. So what do we do?
Well, lots of things! But in this post I will highlight just one. It’s a simple move, but has the desired effect. I don’t refer to Jesus Christ in conversations much anymore…I talk about Jesus of Nazareth. Why? Because Jesus was a real historical person who lived in the 1st century and is not as easily dismissed. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Jesus is the Christ and defend that view with passion and confidence. But my goal is to get people thinking about Jesus in a way perhaps they haven’t in a long time (or even ever done). Jesus is real. He is not in the category of the Easter bunny.
Question: What is one way today you can disrupt the predictable flow of a conversation with Jesus of Nazareth?
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Last summer I had a very important conversation with some sharp young students while I was speaking at Summit Ministries worldview camp in TN. It had to do with how we talk about Christianity with our friends, family, and coworkers. Most of the time, well meaning Christians talk about Christianity in the context of religion…not reality. Is that a problem? Yes, and here’s why. Religion is understood as a personal and private feeling that is not accessible by everyone else. You can’t question, challenge, or investigate it; you must simply be tolerant of it (and by tolerant, I am using the modern misunderstanding of tolerance which believes that all religious views are equally valid simply because a person sincerely believes them). That’s why having a conversation about Christianity as a religion is a dead end. It’s a non-starter.
That’s why I encouraged these students to talk about Christianity in the context of reality where terms like truth, knowledge, reason, and evidence apply. Any claim about reality is either true or false (it can’t be both). If Christianity is not the kind of thing that can be true or false…the battle has already been lost and the Gospel cannot be seriously considered. We need to talk about Christianity in the same way we talk about having a prescription filled at the pharmacy or receiving instruction from a doctor.
In today’s society, religion is a fuzzy (i.e., socially constructed or psychologically projected) category that makes little difference in everyday life. But if Christianity is true, then it speaks to ALL of life. It makes a comprehensive claim on reality. Jesus didn’t intend to merely address two hours of our week. As Christians we need to have more conversations about reality and less about religion. This insight is also critical to how we think about education and the next generation.
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