Apologetics

I've been hearing the word Apologetics thrown around more and more in the church these days. To tell you the truth I really didn't know what it meant and then when I found out, it still seemed foreign to me. I've been hearing all of these Christian Pastors and teachers and musical artists saying things like "I know what I believe but I just needed to figure out why I believe it" This statement simply amazes me, and it amazes me because of this simple fact. How can anyone who truly feels Christ living inside of them, the Holy spirit bursting within them, the power of the almighty God transforming them really ask the question "Why do I believe this"?

My Grandfather is a Baptist minister. And he is of the old school of thought when it comes to worship and healing and so forth. No matter how much you argue with him, no matter how many scripture you show him, no matter how many logical reasoning's put forth to him, he will never change his mind on these matters. It's the same thing with people like the Jehovah's witnesses who don't believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. You can argue with them until you are blue in the face and put forth all of the scriptural evidence in the world and they still will not change their minds. Now, these two examples I've just given you are of two groups of people who believe in the Bible, if it's that hard to convince Bible believing people of the Biblical truths using logic and scriptures then how much more difficult will it be to try to convince an atheist? Apologetics tries to convince people that the Christian way is the right way by showing them logical reasons for believing. Many Christians study apologetics to firm up their own beliefs so that when questioned by an unbeliever "Why do you believe?" they will have the logical answers. But this entire line of thinking seems completely contradictory to the Christian faith as I know it. As a Christian, Christianity is very logical to me, BUT I didn't come to believe in Christ because of logic. It didn't become logical to me until I believed, because until you believe, Christ is not living in you. When Christ comes in, then it all comes together, it's all logical. But to try to then turn around and use that logical knowledge given by the entrance of Christ in your life to try to persuade an unbeliever, is simply folly. Because like you, the unbeliever will need Christ to make Christianity logical. How then are we to witness to the unbelievers? First I'm going to make a statement that might not go over very well at first but stick with me here. I do not believe in Jesus because of the accounts of Him in the Bible. I don't believe that He was the son of God/God in the flesh because the Bible says so. I believe these things not because of the writings in the Bible, but simply because Christ makes me believe them. I don’t believe in Christ because of the Bible, I believe the Bible because of Christ. I don't have to read books about why I believe, I don't have to study and pray to come up with the answers, because the answer is very simple, I believe because Christ makes me believe. If an unbeliever asked me why I believe in Christ I wouldn't go into some long philosophical speech filled with logic and scriptures, I would simply say that not one second goes by that Jesus doesn't prove to me who He is, not a second goes by that He doesn't show me Himself, not a second goes by that I don't feel the almighty God living in me. To share the feeling of having God living in you is the most powerful witness of all. And as for those people like my Baptist Grandfather and the Jehovah's Witnesses who are both more concerned with tradition rather than Biblical truth, when they ask you why you believe what you believe, say..."I believe because I share a life with God, Gods spirit reveals His will to me, God's power flows through me. And every second of every day He never fails to prove Himself to me.... Why do you believe?"