page three of Christian Internet Apologetics 

 

The Power of the Word

Isaiah says:

"Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. "For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off." (Isaiah 55)

It is the Word of God which does the work, not our fancy explanations and eloquent "speech."

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:17-31) 

"the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." (Heb. 4:12-13)

But we do suggest using the NIV or the NKJV and not the archaic language of the King James. Furthermore take the time to paraphrase, explain, interpret. When those words on the above list occur in legitimate Scriptural verses, replace those code words with words the reader is likely to use in everyday speech whenever possible.

Free of Charge

We lament the fact that many Christian Web Sites are commercial: designed to sell books and tapes, or to promote a particular "ministry" or church. From the beginning one of the strong principles of our work in Cyberspace has been based on Paul's words to the Christians at Corinth.

What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law --though not being myself under the law --that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law --not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ--that I might win those outside the law.To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:18-27)

Salt

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one". (Col 4:6.19).

Or from NASV:

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person".

Ted Wise comments, "Have you noticed that our most successful dialogs have been when we have been most like Jesus? Grace-filled opening lines, overlooking faults, sins and errors (at first) and treating everyone as an equal, then carefully answering with milk when appropriate and seasoned meat where it is warranted. As I've read over a few random emails from the past, it is clear that we are actually growing in our gourmand skills as we salt to the taste of the seeker. I'm amazed at how strangers, over the net, seem to sense that there is an 'aroma of life' at our sites."

Don't Argue 

It is very easy--especially in Cyberspace--to move from a gracious exchange of one's ideas and views, to intolerance and even bigotry towards those who believe differently than we. Sadly, the relative safety and anonymity of Cyberspace allows email exchanges to quickly turn to shouting matches and arguments. These are not profitable and nor honoring God. The Apostle Paul's advice to young Timothy are applicable.

Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Newsgroups and Chat Rooms

Last time we looked, there were around 26,000 Newsgroups on Usenet alone--not to mention AOL, Compuserve and other network groups. Some news groups are very worthwhile. Many are a total waste of time. Some are pornographic. Some are so hostile to the truth that is in Jesus Christ, that contributing to these groups is no different than casting pearls before swine. There are many occasions when we find that it is worthwhile to visit selected newsgroups and to reply by private email to intelligent, searching questions that happen to be posted there. For example, perhaps the inquirer is genuinely looking for God and is newcomer to a newsgroup which you know will not give him the answers he seeks. Send the person a private email message and an "e-friendship" will often result. In other cases we can hope to keep someone's weak faith from being shattered by wolves or prevent the more innocent from swallowing the bait of a cult group. Occasionally posting to one of the better newsgroups can let people know about our web site and resources.

None of us has ventured into any of the chat rooms thus far in order to bring Christian debate into one of these groups. Mostly this is time consuming and we are all quite busy! Perhaps someone can try this open approach and let us know how it can be used by God and in what circumstances?

We DO email other Christian web sites and introduce ourselves. When appropriate we try to be affirming, but we also gently challenge some individuals and groups that seem to us to be off base. In many cases this results in profitable and friendly discussions. The Lord always teaches us through such e-talks with people who believe a bit differently than we do. We have met a number of well-meaning Christians in Cyberspace who are poor communicators and thus not reaching anyone and still wondering why. We meet quite a few people whose web page posting suggest they have an ax to grind because they do not understand the New Covenant Jesus has called us to live by. We have encountered a plethora of false prophets and false teachers on Internet lately and the outward appearance of some of these sites can often be highly misleading.

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