We Owe the World an Apology

"You should be in church!", "You should get  saved!", "You should accept Jesus as your Savior!"

Sometimes, this is our approach with the world. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Bottom line! No explanation required and none given. What would you do if they responded with "Why?"  That is when we owe them an apology.

One of Webster's definitions of apology is "an acknowledgement of some fault, expressing regret, and seeking pardon". That's not what we're talking about. The other definition of apology is "a spoken or written defense of some idea, religion, philosophy, etc." That's what we're talking about. In religion, then, apologetics is "the branch of theology having to do with the defense and proofs" of that religion.

You've performed apologetics hundreds of times without realizing it. Have you ever told a child why spinach is good for them? (I like spinach.) Have you ever defended your position on anything? If so, you've done apologetics.  Apologetics comes from the Greek word, "apologia", and is translated "answer" in       1 Peter 3:15; "...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…" 

Apologetics and evangelism are naturally intertwined but are not the same. Evangelism could be described as telling the lost that they should accept Christ (as in the three statements opening this article) and extending an invitation. Apologetics tells them why they should accept Christ and increases the chances of them accepting the invitation.  We often are quick to tell them what they should do without telling them why. Telling them takes little time and effort. Telling them why takes work. Maybe that's why we aren't so good at it. If we expect them to accept Christianity as the one true faith, we must be prepared to convince them that it is the one true faith. Apologetics paves the way to the invitation. It lays the groundwork for evangelism.