Video Transcript: Conflict in the Marketplace of Ideas

Welcome back, you've already cleared by possibly the highest hurdle in this whole process. And that is somehow coming to grips with these two conflicting realities. On the one hand, our culture says that it's inappropriate to argue or to disagree about theological or religious issues. 

On the other hand, the Scripture clearly teaches that we are to defend this faith that we hold so dearly. How then, do we reconcile those two? That's what this week was all about. That's what this day is all about. So just sit back, relax, see if there's some things that you can pick up from these next few moments. 

And from the time of discussion today, that will better equip you to contend without being contentious. Can you tell us, give us a couple of words, your content concept, a book god? Oh, man, a couple of words. A couple of cents? I don't know any creative universe, okay. Well, does that mean if the universe has already been here? There's no God has always been here? What if the universe has existed forever? Then there's no God, right? I mean, if you know there's the God, then you should know it without going back to see if the universe was created. 

You know, I think God must be why like a cat with a dog doesn't, you know, like, I saw a picture in the paper, it must be some connection, where I can recognize you as another me, even though you have some symbolic difference between you and me, right? Like, a dog or a tree, or even a rock or the sun or the water or the air, you know, sort often it. Yeah, so like human beings do this, you know, when they, when they adopt another person's child, you know, that that kind of is evidence that there's a God that there's a connection between spirits in whatever body that they're that they live in.

There's many different ways like for you to get to God and to, like, experience God and religion and stuff. So basically, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And he was a great man that, you know, I don't know if I believe in everything that he did is true, but I think most of it is and that he really made a difference and sort of was one of the first people to give people the opinion that there is something higher there and something that you can believe in and something that will always be there for me

The National Cathedral in Washington DC, most people don't even realize that we have such a place. What's interesting about the National Cathedral, is that it prides itself on being a place of inclusivesm. Now, that may sound like a very polite word, a very Christian word. But when I say inclusivesm, I'm not referring to the idea that anyone and everyone is welcome. I'm referring to the idea that anyone and everyone regardless of what they believe, or in whom they believe, is in right standing with God, simply by virtue of their humanity. And Acts chapter 4:12. We have the statement that there is salvation and no other and that there's no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. How can we reconcile these competing views? The answer quite simply is that we cannot the idea of inclusive ism and that everyone's okay, is incongruent with the idea that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and rose again on the third day. 

You see if everyone's alright with God simply by virtue of being human, then this raises a question. Why did Jesus die? What needs was there for his death? Was there no substitution in the fact that he took on the sins of mankind in order that he might make us right with God? That would be completely unnecessary if we were already right with God. But these are just some of the ideas that are prevalent in the culture in which we live. This is the battlefield may look very innocent, but it's not. The question is, as these two views come into conflict, will the culture give? What will you?

What do we need to do to understand the mindset of the people that we're trying to reach? Well, first of all, it's important to understand these philosophical presuppositions that people operate under. We talked about some of them in this project, the idea of religious relativism, the idea of relativism, overall, that, you know, not only are all religions the same, but basically, the relative relativism that says that all ideas are the same and are of equal value, this new tolerance. 

And also this idea of philosophical pluralism, where there are no absolutes, sometimes referred to as postmodernism, you know, where we believe that there are no absolutes. And so if we understand that, if we understand that that's where people are coming from, it helps us to present truth to them. It also helps us for example, you can no longer just ask someone if they believe in Jesus. Well, of course, I believe in Jesus. 

Now, what they just said is, yes, I believe in this good man, this good teacher, this good prophet, so on and so forth. You ask somebody if they're a Christian? Well, I'm sure I'm a Christian, you know, I'm a good person. I don't steal, I wouldn't kill anybody. I mean, of course I am. And so part of it is understanding this mindset, this philosophical construct, the way in which people think, and then rephrasing and restructuring the way we bring the truth to them.

And how much of a change do we have, in the way people think? And what I'm wondering is, do the old methods of sharing the gospel still work? Yes, and no, there are some places where those old methods still work. But it's been my experience, that the old methods were basically designed for people who already had a Christian worldview, people believe that there's a God, believe that there's a heaven believe that there's a hell. And so we come to them. And basically, we help them connect the dots. 

But when we come to someone who does not assume the existence of God, someone who does not assume that there's a such thing as sin, someone who does not share those basic worldview elements, these presentations, these methods are lost on them. And so we've got to back up a few steps, and establish some foundational, fundamental truths, and some agreement there before we can go to that next step of connecting the dots. 

Now, in some places, in some parts of our country, you know that people still share that basic worldview. And we can just go to them and help them connect the dots. But in in other places, and in increasingly more places, we've got to back up and do what some people refer to as pre evangelism. 

The gentleman who shared Christ with me, the guy by the name of Steve Morgan, he was well trained, he was a member of Campus Crusade. And he came in with a gospel presentation. And he started through this gospel presentation and realized very quickly, that just wasn't gonna work. I just didn't have the presuppositions necessary for that to work. And so what he did was instead of treating me like a notch on his belt, he backed up, trying to find out where I was, and then take me on a journey from there. And so what I do I call it this sort of Socratic method of evangelism is I talked to people, and I asked them questions, because here's what I want. I want individuals to explain their worldview to me. 

Because I believe that most people have a worldview full of holes, haven't thought it through. And they make some of these statements about truth and some of the statements and, you know, we've done some of it, you know, we deal with this whole idea, you know, there are no absolutes. Well, you know, that's an absolute statement. What if you just ask people questions about their worldview and continue to push, you come to a place where they have to admit they haven't thought it out? Or it doesn't work? 

Then there's the The opportunity to show them the alternative, the worldview that doesn't have holes, the worldview that doesn't work, and the worldview that answers all of the questions that their worldview leaves unanswered. And you've also treated them like a human being like an individual by showing that kind of interesting. that is encouraging you, it's okay to have these questions and the wrestle with these things. 

They're also answers to the questions that we have. And the goal for us ought to be to become equipped to the degree and to the extent that we are able to answer these questions that we receive from people, because there's some folks out there who desperately await our response to their legitimate questions. And know that there's a difference between a lot of times people ask questions, and they have no desire to hear the answer. You know anybody ever run into that before? You know, they ask the question, and then you answer it. And then they got another one. It makes absolutely no sense. You know, but I got, I mean, they're gone. 

Like, wait a minute, we're still on this issue here, aren't we? Well, no, you know, they have no, they have no desire for you to answer the question. And let's just be honest, for a moment, to be honest. Some people want to ask you questions. So they can hear the sound of their voice as they ask it because they think they're so intelligent. Amen. 

And we get a lot of that, learn to distinguish between the two, when you get legitimate questions from people answering, if you don't have the answer, say you don't have the answer and go get the answer. You run into a situation where folks just want to hear themselves talk, politely love on them in the name of Jesus and pray that they come to a place where they really want answers to their questions. Oftentimes, when we talk about these issues, we reduce ourselves to a discussion about who lives in that house, as though we believe that the person who lives in that house is the most important person, when it comes to what we believe, and the way we practice and the way that we live. understand something God is concerned about who lives in that house. 

But he is not bound by who lives in that house. The residence of the White House changes every four to eight years. But the King of Kings has always and will always sit on his throne. So our goal is not necessarily to make this or that kind of place to live, but to live as a people who realize that we've served the one true Risen Lord of the universe, and that he is sovereign, and is in control. Thank God for the freedoms that we have. But also, thank God, that if those freedoms were taken away, at any moment, we would still be servants of the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, and the most. As you go to a time of discussion, don't be afraid or ashamed to talk about the tension that you probably feel right now. 

Our culture has conditioned us over years, to think a certain way. And it is difficult sometimes to look at the Bible and see something that clearly goes against what we've been taught. How many times have we heard, you don't have discussions about certain issues in certain companies. And now all of a sudden, we have this material that says in no uncertain terms, it is our responsibility as believers to contend for the faith. wrestled with that