Greg Koukl: 🤔 A Challenge to Your View Could Be A Blessing

Introduction

As I have argued in many different posts it is important that we not be afraid of someone challenging our views. If we are committed to truth, then we will naturally desire to know when we have believed something false. In his book Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, Greg Koukl explains how such challenges to our views may actually be beneficial:

"A commitment to truth -- as opposed to a commitment to an organization -- means an openness to refining one's own views. It means increasing the accuracy of one's understanding and being open to correction in thinking. A challenger might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, an ally instead of an enemy. An evangelist who is convinced of her view, then, should be willing to engage the best arguments against it."

The Blessing

When a challenge comes against our view, that is an opportunity for us to see exactly how accurately that view reflects reality. We can see how strong the arguments are for the truth of our view and how strong the arguments are against the truth of our view. If our view is actually true, then it will be able to withstand the most powerful arguments against it. These arguments will be found to be faulty in one way or another- a false premise or invalid logic. If we cannot find the logical fault in the argument against our view, then we need to consider the possibility that our view is false and needs to be altered.

As evangelists for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is important that we engage challenges to our particular views of reality. For if we hold to and defend a false view, then those who see the fault with our arguments will project that falsehood onto the Gospel. We must not hold to a view when the arguments against it cannot be overcome, lest we misrepresent Christ to an unbelieving world. If we find that we must change one aspect of our worldview, it does not mean that the whole worldview must be changed. However, that one aspect must be changed to provide a more accurate witness of Christ.

Conclusion

Koukl's book explains how to navigate conversations in a winsome manner that allows us to not only get the other person thinking about their worldview, but it allows us to consider the other person's points and arguments without feeling threatened. If you have not read Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy.

Recommended Reading To Investigate Further:

• 3 Good Reasons to Question What You Believe
• Is Your View Falsifiable?
• Internal Debates and Apologetics
• Reasons In And Out of a Worldview

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Colin Kaepernick, Cries of the Heart, and Christ

Introduction

The name "Colin Kaepernick" has flooded my Facebook feed this week. Until the last few days, I did not even know his name. From what I could tell, he is a quarterback for the National Football League (NFL)'s team The San Francisco 49r's. The fact that I do not follow any sports means that this sudden appearance in my feed is quite out of the ordinary. So I decided to investigate. It turns out that Kaepernick caused a stir and a great deal of outrage the other day, when he refused to stand for the National Anthem before a preseason game. This is a highly disrespectful decision that he has made clear that he plans to continue. This decision has sparked much outrage on the internet and much praise in the media. While I do believe that what he did was highly disrespectful and should never be encouraged, if we look past his actions to his reasons, we see profound insights (profound for our society, anyway) highlighted by the longings of his heart. These observations and desires that he has expressed provide powerful evidence for the truth of the Christian worldview and a door wide open for him to accept the call of Christ on his life.

However, before you read on, please familiarize yourself with Kaepernick's comments on his decision here.

Two things that he said immediately caught my attention. The first was that he was protesting racial inequality and mistreatment of African-American people. The second what that he said that that "is bigger than football" and even accepted the possible fate of being removed from the NFL and losing endorsements over his decision.

How Should Christians Vote in Political Elections?

Introduction

As a defender of the Christian worldview, I do not defend just a "mere Christianity" but an entire worldview that encompasses morality and ethics. Unfortunately, politics is necessarily dependent upon those two. How a person governs, legislates, judges, and even votes all comes down to their view of morality and ethics. In any political season, it is necessary for the Christian to understand the proper (true) ethical view to guide their decision in how they vote. They need to not only be grounded for their own decisions, but they need to be prepared for the times in which they can have intelligent discussions on the topic, rather than contributing to the simplistic emoting that we see on the internet today. In this post, I want to take a look at how (if) a Christian should vote when the given option is not clear (who or if we should vote). I will conclude with books that I highly recommend for everyone interested in ethics and politics to read. Please take the time to read this post carefully and the links provided at the end. I believe that they will help prepare you for making the right decision when you go to the voting booth and will help you intelligently discuss and defend your decision.