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Five Things You Won't Find in the Bible

People are prone to confuse what our culture values with what is right. Unfortunately, they do this because they fail to realize that Satan is the "god of this world" and that he has "blinded the minds of those who believe not" (II Cor. 4:4).

Here are five things that our culture values, but that God Himself doesn't value at all:

1) Self-esteem.
2) Tolerance.
3) Multiculturalism.
4) Feminism.
5) Political correctness.

BONUS:
6) "That may be true for you, but it isn't true for me...."
7) The child-centered universe.

What is Applied Apologetics?

Apologetics is traditionally thought of as the rational and quasi-philosophical defense of the doctrinal claims of the Christian faith. The concept of an apology, which means nothing like one might surmise from the English, has to do with rendering a logical answer to those who have questions about the Christian faith in general, or one's own embracing of the Christian faith (I Peter 3:15).

That the concept of apologetics has traditionally been applied to the doctrinal content (including the Biblical veracity) of the Christian faith is apparent in the definition of apologetics in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (EDT), which says the term refers to "A systematic defense or justification of the divine origin and authority of the Christian faith."

This type of apologetics has great value, both as a tool of evangelism and as a means of edifying believers. The fact is: the facts are all on the side of Christian (Biblical) theology. There is simply no other worldview that accounts for all of the data that we find in reality as well as the statements of the Bible. Whether in opposition to cults, world religions, or secular philosophies, the traditional apologetic mission of the church is a work of great value, and a battlefield on which the Christian faith will always win a logical debate.

However, it is my contention that this traditional aspect of apologetics is, while a powerful tool, also an incomplete tool.

Now of course, traditional apologetics, like that defined in the EDT, has always been used in conjunction with evangelism and with the proclamation of the word through preaching. But when Peter says to "always be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason of the hope that lies within you" (I Peter 3:15), traditional apologetics fails to encompass certain areas of conflict which demand the Christian message. And the failure of Christians to inject Christian truth, and introduce Christian reasoning into these areas has led to something approaching an imminent crisis of Western civilization.

Applied Apologetics, then, is the attempt, while continuing the valuable, necessary, and noble work of defending the doctrinal claims and religious authority of Christianity and the Bible, to also wage war against false thinking in the following areas:

1) General Truth Claims and Philosophy. The postmodern mind does not recognize general truth claims. This, of course, places it in the unenviable position of self-contradiction, for the statement that "There are no legitimate, binding truth claims" it itself a binding truth claim. But the postmodern emphasis on the lack of truth has given birth to a whole generation whose thinking has been clouded by multiculturalism, political correctness, and incoherent systems of thought such as feminism. People who genuinely believe that every society or religion is of equal value (multiculturalism) cannot, on an intellectual level, recognize the unique position that Christ asserts of himself (John 14:6) and that the apostles asserted of the Christian faith (Acts 4:12).

Those who believe that offending others with facts is a greater evil than affirming them with lies (political correctness) can never have a thirst for evangelism, and it is doubtful whether such people can even recognize their own sinfulness to respond to the gospel. And people who believe in incoherent philosophies of self-absorption, such as feminism and the self-esteem movement, can never actually learn to live in obedience and grow in their walk with the Lord. Feminism's hatred for legitimate authority (Eph. 5:22-24) and modern penchant for false allegations (Ex. 20:16) necessarily places its adherents in an attitude of constant resistance to the will of the Lord. And the self-esteem movement's focus on selfishness and self-absorption necessarily involves one in a style of thinking that will consistently undermine obedience, service, and spiritual growth (Matt. 22:35-40).

2) Ethics. False ideological systems have become so commonplace that we do not even recognize them as discrete systems of thought - we simply believe that they are representations of the truth. Yet a significant number of things simply assumed to be true in modern culture - from the radical sameness of women and men to the child-centered universe (i.e., the social vacuity of "children are our future," the political claim that we do it "for the children," and the legal horror that is "the best interests of the child") - are not only philosophically and factually incoherent but are detrimental to the grasping and practice of the Christian faith.

The world's system of ethics which values tolerance over truth ultimately sacrifices truth - not only in its acceptance but in its practice. We live in a deeply unethical society; a society in which, due to the Oprahized media, a politically correct educational and legal system, and the psychologizing tendencies of the culture, the average institution and person now considers evil to be good and good to be evil (Isa. 5:20). Sin is excused as sickness, while righteousness is condemned as "narrowminded," "abusive," or "anachronistic."

3) Social Truth. By social truth we are not referring to the social gospel - that devolution into liberalism that was all the rage in the Protestantism of the early 20th century. But rather we are referring to the fact that Christianity, and the reality which it assumes, demands a certain type of social order. It is long past time to be done with the liberal question-begging that "God is not a Republican." as if the Almighty Lord of the Universe bothered to register for elections. This type of immature and irrational sloganeering, while typical of an uneducated electorate and patently dishonest proponents, ignores the fact that God's divine economy does in fact bear a closer resemblance to a world run by conservatives, Republicans, or Libertarians than it does the American Democrat party, socialists, or liberals of any stripe. God is, for instance, a capitalist, not a communist (Matt. 25:14-30); He instituted the death penalty (Gen. 9:6); He is pro-life and therefore anti-abortion (Jer. 1:4-10); He allows us to choose our own life path without compulsion (Jos. 24:15) and to what extent we will support the poor (Acts 5:1-10); and He does not approve of perjury as a political tool (Ex. 20:16).

Jesus told the disciples to "occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13). The word translated "occupy" in the KJV refers to being busy about the master's business. Christianity, and civilization itself, is under full-fledged assault today - and the primary battle has already been won in the minds of both believers and nonbelievers thanks to inept public education, churches that focus on emotionalism at the expense of doctrinal truth and ethical training, incoherent philosophies, and a media more intent on brainwashing than honestly reporting.

Applied apologetics recognizes that the battle for lost men (Isa. 1:18) and the battle of Christian men (Matt. 22:34-40) is ultimately a battle that centers in the mind. The task of applied apologetics is to carry the truth of Christianity, and the Bible, into every area of life and culture, honestly apply it, and commit to bringing lives - our own and those of our hearers - into conformity with Biblical truth.

This is not kingdom theology - there is no intent to use politics to force a thin veneer of righteousness upon those who hate truth. But it is rather a commitment to courageously accepting and propagating the truth so that those who will receive it can experience the life-changing freedom that truth brings (John 8:32), and so that those who will reject it will at least be exposed to the truth, and the justified shame of having to continuously defend and deny their preference for error (I Tim. 5:20).

Applied Apologetics, then, while engaging in the traditional apologetic tasks of providing a philosophical and logical defense of Christian doctrine, opposing false religion, and upholding the sufficiency and authority of scripture, extends that apologetic mission to confronting a decadent society with the reality of truth, the superiority of truth, the necessity of Christian ethics (and consequent unethical nature of all that is un-Christian), and to the encouragement, preservation, and extension of social forces that conform to reality and Christian truth.