At the California Christian Apologetic Conference last Friday, Sean McDowell, the opening speaker for the conference and a great young apologist (he can't be more than thirty years old at the most!), said that (according to Barna Research) only 9% of evangelical Christian adults and 2% of all teens have a Biblical worldview! Which means that 91% of evangelical Christian adults and 98% of all teens DON'T have a Biblical worldview! I am assuming that the numbers are close to 0% for unbelievers.

How we view the world (our worldview), affects the way we live. Sean drew a triangle with four layers representing the components of a belief system. The top layer, or the tip of the triangle (kind of like an iceberg, which is usually all you will see of that frozen mass in the ocean) are behaviors. What drives our behavior is our values, which is the next lower layer of the triangle. Our values stem from our worldview. At the foundational base of the triangle which drives EVERYTHING above it (our worldview, values, and ultimately our behavior) are RELATIONSHIPS. That's why relationships are so important in evangelism. The old addage of "people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care" is true today. But when they know you care, they may be interested in your worldview as exhibited in your everyday behavior.

Sean also cited a statistic that 32% of unbelievers left the faith of their youth because of intellectual skepticism. Isaiah 1:18a reminds us that God wants us to use our intellectual reasoning abilities in figuring out what we believe: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD."

The dinner on Friday night (Sept. 7) with Lee Strobel and seeker small group leaders provided all of us with a more intimate gathering to get to know Lee and each other. Lee was gracious, engaging, funny, and inspiring in his passion for reaching the unchurched through reason and truth seeking. Our hope was that there leaders would have a chance to network with one another. I heard a story the next day of one leader that came feeling somewhat discouraged because her co-leader had moved away. She happened to sit at a table with two women that might end up being new co-leaders with her in leading a seeker small group.

The entire apologetic conference on Friday night and all day Saturday was filled with excellent speakers and workshops. Apologetics seeks to provide the rational behind the truth claims of Christianity. Some of the greatest apologists of our age were at that conference sharing their ideas. Shawn Hayes the founder of this conference and Stand for Truth mininstry says this in his opening comments of the program: "Today more than ever, truth is introduced as eing realtive, God, as irrational, and the Bible , as being irrelevant. Why do apologetics? Because it is not only important to know WHAT you believe, but also WHY you believe it. Because the more you know about God, the more intimate in your relationship you will grow with him."

Maybe next year you'll consider joining us? In the meantime, continue to understand what you believe and why. It wil come in handy in all your relationships. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." - Mary

Comments

[Emily]

Mary, this is so helpful, thank you! Just what I needed to take the next step with my group (and myself). Keep blogging!