“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD...” Isaiah 1:18
“...but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you...” 1 Peter 3:15
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The Apostle Peter, following the encouragement of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, commands the followers of Jesus Christ to be always ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3:15).
A “reason” is simply an answer to in inquiry, an explanation, laid out simply and logically, the purpose of which is to account for the hope they see reflected in our lives. It is every believer’s duty to be prepared, when the opportunity arises, to explain himself, and to give an account of that which gives him such hope.
Both Jesus and Paul understood the need to employ reasoning skills in presenting the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Reason is the means whereby we may hope to break through the layers of ignorance, misunderstanding, misinformation, and deceit with which many people’s minds are clouded, in order to help them get a good, clear look at the truth of the Gospel.
But are people in our day really open to reasoning about religion? As many may see it, our generation has become so mired in self and whatever half-baked rationalizations may be required to sustain a lifestyle of indulgence and sensuality, that it’s just no longer possible – or, at least, highly unlikely – for us to discuss calmly, intelligently, and rationally anything that might call into question their preferred manner of life.
But the fact is, people today still function rationally; they still depend on their abilities to reason in order to make sense out of their lives and to make it through each day. The problem is not that people today are immune to reason; it’s that their ability to reason is trapped in an “under the sun” paradigm which maintains a closed roof against spiritual matters.
What we as believers and witnesses must do is learn to use reason, not to batter a hole in that ceiling, but to lead our unbelieving friends to remove some of the roof tiles, so that they might glimpse the larger reality that has thus far lay beyond their purview. Reason can help them accomplish this important task, just as it helped Nicodemus, for example, to begin thinking in a new way about what it meant to live unto the Lord.
Still, even if we succeed in getting our friends to gaze beyond the opened roof of their own worldview to the larger, brighter, purer realm of the Gospel, can we really expect to be able to make this wonderful Good News make sense to them? After all, the proponents of an atheistic, materialistic, and hedonistic worldview are so many; they have been so aggressive and outspoken; and the entire drift of the social, moral, and cultural spirit of the age is contrary to the Gospel in so many ways. We might be tempted to think that our contemporaries are simply beyond reach of any explanation of Jesus and His work.
And, indeed, our age can be so given to passion and whim that any reasoned attempt to make sense of the Gospel could be rebuffed as boring, irrelevant, or simply absurd. That’s the risk we run. Our responsibility is not to convince others of the truth of the Gospel, only to represent that truth in a reasoned and reasonable manner, to use reason to create a handrail for leading our friend along an unfamiliar path, one that will both show him some problems with his own worldview – problems he has not yet noticed – and which will continue to insist that the Gospel is the truth our friend really needs in order to make his life make sense.
As in every age, not everyone will be agreeable to such a reasoned explanation of the Gospel. However, some will. And, if only for the sake of the “some,” we need to be ready with a reasonable explanation of the Good News for every opportunity the Lord might place before us.
Next steps
First, you need to make sure you have a clear focus on the people to whom Jesus has sent you as His ambassador and witness (Jn. 20:21; Acts 1:8). Have you ever mapped out your Personal Mission Field? Download this free brochure and do so right away. Then share your mission field with a few Christian friends, and ask them to begin praying for you and with you as you develop a plan for reaching out to your Personal Mission Field with the Good News of the Kingdom.
Begin your own ViewPoint study group. Start with this ViewPoint series, “A Reasonable Faith.” A free PDF version is available, complete with questions for reflection and discussion which you can use to study the seven lessons in this series with others.
Francis Schaeffer was one of the great defenders of the faith of the previous generation. You can order this Trilogy of his most seminal works and discover the power of a reasonable faith all over again. You might also benefit from reading the article “Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer” by Bing Davis.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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