Christian Apologists and Culture Warriors

I have been involved in Christian apologetics for a long time. It has been an important part of my personal discipleship, influenced, no doubt, by my background as an atheist.

I firmly believe that Christian apologetics continues to be extremely useful, both for helping seekers and as discipleship for believers. But I do have some concerns.

One of my main concerns is that many apologists feel that they need to defend not just the gospel, but the entire conservative worldview. They are very aware that there is a culture war in the west between conservatives and liberals. Some apologists see a significant part of their role as opposing liberalism.

I see Christian apologists who are zealous, rightfully so, in presenting arguments for the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus. This is all good stuff.

But they equally see the importance of opposing climate change and critical race theory, not because the Bible speaks against it, but because it is part of the liberal agenda.

I’m not prepared to tell anyone what to do. If someone feels great loyalty to conservatism and feels called to fight liberalism with all their heart, that is none of my business.

But that is not Christian apologetics.

The classic text for apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15.

But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.

The purpose of apologetics is to give an answer about the hope we possess. I hope your hope is not based in conservatism (or liberalism). Peter seems to make it clear that our hope is about Christ as Lord.

I’m sure there are Christians who do see environmentalism and critical race theory as dangerous (for the record I am not one of them) and feel the need to oppose these and other movements.

My wish is that Christians (conservative and liberal) would see Christian apologetics and the culture war as two different things. They may call on some of the same skills but their goal is different. Combining them is confusing at best and dangerous at worst.

If you are a Christian apologist, focus your efforts on bringing people to Jesus over any other agenda.

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