The church is an apologetic!

I have been writing this column in Evangelicals Now for many years. The general theme is apologetics – the defence of our faith – using reliable evidence and being aware of contemporary questions.

I have done so as a lecturer at one of our nation’s Bible colleges. Archaeology, Biblical texts, ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions are all familiar territory for anyone studying academic theology.

But some people have been surprised to learn I am returning to pastoral ministry. After nearly 19 years teaching at Moorlands College, I am about to join the staff of Lansdowne Church in Bournemouth as an Associate Pastor. Does that mean I am no longer engaged in training men and women for ministry?

Training in ministry

The benefits of a Bible College for training would include study of Biblical languages, higher-level research, library facilities, the range of experience among students and staff, a degree qualification, and opportunities for experience in a range of churches. We should be grateful to God for the number of good Bible colleges and seminaries in the UK. They serve an important purpose.

But the local church will always be the primary place for training. When Peter wrote: ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ (1 Peter 3:15), he wasn’t thinking of a certificate course or specialist programme. Peter was assuming that all Christians should share in the task of defending and explaining the reasons for our faith. Workplace, local pub, classroom or hospital ward are all places to put those words into action. The local church is the obvious place for us to be taught, encouraged and mobilised in this great task.

Keep it local

Local church leaders have a great responsibility to ensure that Sunday sermons, home groups, youth clubs and regular reading all contribute to nurturing a robust faith in our members so that they are better equipped to explain their faith. This responsibility is ever more urgent with the decline of Biblical literacy. The UK of 2024 is a extraordinary mission field and the local church is the primary context for mobilising God’s people to be missionaries.

Local churches give us a context to test gifts of evangelism, hospitality and preaching in the context of real ministry. Churches are the front line for apologetics among all ages. Being able to explain our faith in these settings requires giving ready answers, not pre-prepared essays, when challenged.

So my move from a college to a church does not represent an end to my commitment to teaching and training. In fact, I have a particular responsibility to develop a new intern training programme, The School for Discipleship. That represents one way of keeping it local as we develop evangelists, pastors and missionaries in the context of church-based ministry.

Living witnesses

The church is not only a place to do apologetics, it is itself an apologetic. Christians in fellowship together demonstrate a love, unity and commitment that is evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most of us, somewhere in our testimonies, will point to the living witness of Christians we met and how that drew us to Christ. Francis Schaeffer, a great apologist-missionary of the 20th century, described it as the ultimate apologetic for the Christian faith. He wrote: ‘Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful – Christian community is the final apologetic.’

Schaeffer wrote many profound books, delivered insightful lectures and debated the Christian faith. But he never lost sight of the local church, Christian community, as the foundation of all our apologetics.