Rae
Fitch, Associate Pastor of Amanda Flipper A.M.E. Church in Decatur, GA, tells the story of a man who took an evening flight on which dinner
was to be served to the passengers:
Of course he was in first class, so we can expect that he
would have received first class service and a first class meal. He was a bit
hungry as he had missed lunch that day in order to attend a meeting so that he
could catch an earlier flight home. He inquired of the flight attendant how
long it would be before they would be serving dinner, and she was rather cross
with him, but he tried to ignore her behavior when she responded that it would
only be a bit longer. And so as dinner time arrived, the flight attendant came
around with the cart and started passing out the wrapped dinner trays which
included a tossed salad. When the passenger received his tray he was a bit
anxious and began opening his salad, but he was met with a surprise upon
peeling back the covering. There, on top of the mixture of lettuce and carrots
and what have you, lay a roach. Of course after such a strong urge to eat, his
hunger quickly left him and he no longer desired the salad or any other food
they had to offer. He became quite furious and decided that when he arrived
home he would most certainly send a scathing letter to the president of this
particular airline. So he wrote the letter and mailed it off.
A couple weeks or so later he was surprised to
receive a special delivery package in the mail. Lo and behold upon opening it
up he saw that it was from the president of the airline. In contrast to his own
letter full of contempt and anger, this letter from the airline president was
just dripping with apology. He informed the passenger that the particular plane
on which he had flown had been taken out of service. He told him it had been
stripped and treated for bugs. He also told him that the flight attendant would
most certainly be reprimanded, possibly up to and including termination from
employment. And he ended by appealing to the passenger to continue to use this
airline. As the passenger finished reading the letter, he noticed that there
was another page clinging to the back of the letter. You see the secretary had
made a grave mistake because the passenger noticed that this was his own
letter. He pulled it apart and his attention was drawn to the unfamiliar scrawl
of the airline president who had written these words to his secretary;
"Send this guy the standard ’roach’ letter".[i]
Sometimes
you need to give an apology for mistakes that you have made or things that you
have done that hurt, offended, or jeopardized another person. When an apology is insincere, people can
usually tell, but when an apology is from the heart, they’ll know that
too. James 5:16 tells us to confess our
sins to one another. When you have
messed up, apologies are necessary to make things right. They help people heal, move beyond the pain,
and grow. When you refuse to apologize
for wrongs we have done, those things can become barriers in relationship
between you and another person, and even between you and God. So apologizing is important.
I’ll
even go so far as to say that sometimes you even need to apologize when you
don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.
After all, didn’t Jesus take the burden of our sins, when He Himself was
guilty of none of them? Didn’t He bear
the blame for our wrongdoing, for the sake of reconciling us to God? Maybe you need to do the same with someone,
in order to bring peace.
Christians
need to take seriously our need to apologize when we’ve sinned. But the one area where we need to make no
apologies is in the matter of our faith.
It seems these days that our culture thinks we owe it an apology, just
for being Christians. A generation ago,
notorious sinners publicly repented of their sins. Now, true believers are made to feel like
they have to ask forgiveness for their religious convictions, if those beliefs
run counter to the culture’s godless opinions and mandates. We should not think, however, that this is
the first time Christians have been asked to say sorry for what they believe.
In
the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, Peter and John find themselves on trial
for the crime of Christianity. God had
done mighty signs and wonders through them.
Acts of healing and Spirit-filled preaching had resulted in thousands of
new converts, threatening to overturn the religious and political status quo in Jerusalem. Their trial had turned into an opportunity to
testify to their faith. Instead of
suffering death for their “blasphemy,” they are threatened, beaten, and
released. Yet, instead of apologizing for
their testimony, they preach all the more.
God continues to do miracles and the church continues to grow.
In
chapter five they are arrested again.
They do not remain in jail, because an angel of God opens the gates and
sets them free, saying, “Go, stand
and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life
(5:20).”[ii] Again, they are arrested while
preaching. Verses 27-29 say:
When
they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high
priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to
continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with
your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But
Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
This
intentional, respectful disobedience almost earns them the death penalty. However, the renowned rabbi Gamaliel wisely advises,
“Stay away from these men and let them
alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but
if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even
be found fighting against God (5:38-39).” Again, they are flogged and released—yet
instead of apologizing for their message, verse 42 says, “…Every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept
right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”
Just
as they did in the days of the early church, it’s time for today’s Christians
to stand unapologetically for their faith.
This doesn’t mean rudely throwing it in people’s faces or pointing
accusing, judgmental fingers. It does
mean refusing to capitulate to the demands of society to sit down and be quiet
about what we believe. It means refusing
to regret the teachings of our Lord. It
means no more backpedaling whenever people ask us about our faith. As Christian teaching becomes more and more
unpopular, the world will increasingly ask us to apologize. But we must take Paul’s words to young
Timothy as our own commission:
I solemnly charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have
their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance
to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy 4:1-5).
By
now, everybody has heard about the riots in Baltimore as a result of the arrest-related
death of Freddie Gray. One viral video
shows a mother, Toya Graham, grabbing her son Michael out of a crowd of
rioters, slapping him repeatedly, yelling at him, pulling off his hoodie to
reveal his face, and escorting him to the car.
Many have hailed her as a parental hero, saying that her use of force
might have been excessive if it weren’t for the extreme nature of the situation. Later in an ABC News interview on World News Tonight, Michael apologized for his role in the
riots, saying, "I understand how much my mother really cares about me…so
I'm just gonna try and do better.”[i] Michael came to realize his need to apologize
for his behavior, not just to his mother, but to the world.
Christians
need to understand the importance for apologizing for wrong things that we’ve
done, and for offenses we’ve given. In Matthew 5:23-24,[ii] Jesus says, “…If you are presenting your offering
at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and present your offering.” Unapologetic Christians create a
relationship barrier between themselves and other people, and between
themselves and God. Yet, while we should
be quick to apologize for our sins, we must never apologize for what we
believe.
In chapter six of the
Book of Acts, Deacon Steven performs signs and wonders by the power of the Holy
Spirit. False witnesses rise up against
him, and he is brought before the council on a charge of blasphemy. In chapter seven, Steven gives a defense for
his faith, but he never apologizes for it.
He reminds his hearers of their link to the past, calling upon the spiritual
authority of patriarchs and prophets. He
leads them on an historic tour from Abraham to Moses and Aaron, to Joshua and
David and Solomon. Perhaps he intends to
take them all the way to the cross and the empty tomb in his message, but he
allows his emotions to get the better of him, and he never finishes. What starts out as a well-thought-out
testimony ends up as an angry tirade:
“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears
are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one
of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had
previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who
received the law as ordained by
angels, and yet did not keep it (Acts 7:51-53).”
As a result of his insults, the Sanhedrin became bitterly
angry. They condemn him of blasphemy and
stone him to death. Christians often
look to Steven as an example of faith, and admire him for his courage to become
the first Christian martyr. Yet I am not
convinced that Steven needed to die that day.
We praise him because he didn’t apologize for his beliefs. But he didn’t die because he stood unwaveringly
for his faith. He died because he defended
his beliefs in an insulting manner. He
didn’t practice good apologetics.
“Apologetics” is a word that is often misunderstood. Many people think it means apologizing for
what you believe. In fact, it means
quite the opposite. It means defending
your faith in a way that will hopefully win people over. Unapologetic
apologetics would mean steadfastly sticking to your testimony about Jesus,
but giving such a testimony that would convince others to place their faith in
Him as well. Steven did one, but not the
other.
1 Peter 3:15 says, “…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.” This gentleness
and reverence is what Steven lacked as he gave his testimony about Christ. Christians need to be unapologetic about
their faith, but they need to stick to their crosses, not stick to their
guns. Too often we get so defensive that
we allow ourselves to become angry and offensive. In a poor case scenario, this could lead to
martyrdom. In the worst case scenario, it
could lead to a testimony that fails to achieve its purpose—the saving of
souls.
Practiced properly, apologetics can
mean the employment of scripture as an authority, as long as you’re speaking to
someone who already has a respect for the Bible. Christian apologetics can use philosophy,
science, history, law, or logic as a means of testifying to your faith. Bear in mind, though, that we should never
use these things as an attempt to prove that
God is real or that Jesus is true. God
can defend Himself—He doesn’t need us.
We give a defense for our beliefs, not for God. Sharing your testimony should also include a
personal story of your relationship with Jesus, and a reason why you
believe. I highly recommend the writings
of G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, and Lee Strobel if you want to
learn more about Christian apologetics.
And remember—this is the practice, not of apologizing for our faith, but
of defending it so as to lead someone else to believe.
The Gospel can sometimes be an
offense—but we ourselves should never be offensive. 1 Corinthians 1:23-25 says, “…We preach Christ crucified, to
Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but
to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser
than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Because the subject of our testimony is so
foolish and offensive to the world, we should take extra care to not be
offensive ourselves. “Speaking the truth
in love,”[iii] we should strive to make
love the technique of our testimony. 1
Corinthians 13:4-7 describes love in this way:
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does
not brag and is not arrogant, does
not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does
not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the
truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.
Unfortunately, this was not the technique of Steven’s
testimony. And I’ve known too many
Christians like him, who get carried away with anger toward their audience and
sabotage their witness. Believers need
to make no apologies for their beliefs, yet they do need to practice
apologetics in such a way that will lead people to want the faith that we
profess.
Come to think of it, while Christians should never
apologize for what we profess, good apologetics can and should mean apologizing
for those ways in which the technique of our testimony has offended our audiences. We should be sorry for those hypocrisies in
our personal lives, and in the history of the Church, that jeopardize our
witness. While we must never apologize
for the Gospel, we ought to repent of the offensive way in which we may have
pushed it down someone’s throat, misrepresented Jesus, or been a bad example of
what a follower of Christ ought to be.
Today
as we celebrate Steven’s martyrdom, let’s be honest about the accomplishments
of a hero of faith. But let’s also
recognize the things that his testimony lacked—the things that got him
killed. Let’s tailor our testimony so
that, God willing, we’ll live to see the result. Let’s remember that as offensive as the
Gospel can be, it’s important that we remain as inoffensive as we can. “Gentleness
and reverence,” says 1 Peter 3:15. This is the way that the Christian can
practice unapologetic apologetics.
[ii] All scriptures taken from the NASB.
[ii] All scriptures are taken from the NASB.
