–Fostering Helpful Evangelistic Conversations–

Liberals pride themselves on knowing more about the origin of God’s Word than us. As an educated critic, they believe they possess the secret knowledge of the Bible’s development. They have become wise in their own eyes. After reading certain authors, they believe that they now have cracked the code to the scriptures and consider them written and edited by man.  

I, of course, could debate these claims and the whole approach but choose not to at this stage. If you, as a reader, waver about your confidence of God’s Word, try reading The Origins of the Bible. Once a person understands the real argument is not about the details but the whole approach, it is much easier to assess the critic’s argument. The ideas of the liberals, however, are like viruses passed on by the many infected commentaries and professors.

We should not be thrown off guard by the liberals’ confidence in their knowledge. They simply believe that anyone who believes in the Bible is not educated. They conclude we are not educated because we have not read and understood the latest research on the scriptures. The more we speak of belief, the more convinced they are of our uneducated minds. They are sure that our defense of God’s Word is from insecurity or dreary ignorance.

We could argue with them, but we only prove our foolishness to them by speaking about belief. These kinds of debates are not very helpful. It is, perhaps, like a person taking advice from a monkey. The monkeys (conservatives) might be cute but their supposed level of knowledge is so different, that it is not really considered valuable. Although this example is extreme, I share it because I feel that approaching the liberals through this door really will not go far except in further convincing them of our foolishness and building up their pride.

One would think with all their research capabilities that they would get straightened out by the facts or even by an honest look on how the churches and seminaries that they have touched have died a slow and ugly death. They are spreading a cancer of doubt that attacks and disables faith. Their professed religiosity is repulsive.

Of course, if a fundamentalist catches this superior mindset, it is equally repulsive. This is another reason we do not want to argue with the liberal. We will end up sounding much like them. The young have left the churches in droves because no power of life and love was left. Without God’s holy standard, all kinds of sins are permitted and even encouraged. But interestingly, they talk much of what they think is the key to the Bible’s message. This is love. This is also the door that we, perhaps, can actually enter into their lives.  Next =>