When Skeptics Ask

Now, let's talk about some important considerations, though, before we jump in to the questions.

There are two of them, and here's the first one.

We need to have proper perspective as we go through any kind of discussion, any kind of evangelistic encounter, and we need to remember that you can win the debate, but lose the gospel.

When skeptics ask questions, sometimes the temptation for us is not just to answer them, but to win.

And the question is, what really wins a debate? And often we think, "Oh yeah, the truth wins a debate." No, not really.

The truth rarely ever wins human kinds of debates.

That's not actually what allows you to outperform the other person.

Often, debates are more about tactics than truth.

Debates are who can talk the fastest, who can respond the quickest, who can be the most forceful and passionate and have the ability with words to overwhelm you and make you cry, and then therefore you won because the other person lost.

Or if you're very clever, you can turn it around and you can cry, and then emotionally manipulate the other person and make them feel guilty.

So now you have two people crying on the stage.

I mean, this can happen.

And so- Rarely is debating ever just about the truth.

It's about tactics.

And sometimes when we're talking with somebody and they make us look bad, we just think, "Oh, no.

Is Christianity false because of that?" Has nothing to do with the truth.

Had everything to do with tactics, and what we need in this, we need the right standard.

What does it mean to actually have a successful conversation? Is it just I won? I took those guys down.

I humiliated them, and it went viral on the Internet, and now I can start my own ministry of apologetics.

Is that really the right standard? Or is it actually more like this? It doesn't matter how much other people humiliate you.

It doesn't matter if you had or didn't have all the right answers or the most sophisticated replies, but you told them the gospel.

You told them the gospel.

That's the right standard.

Declaring good news.

When you do that, you automatically have succeeded.

Now, let's talk about some important considerations, though, before we jump in to the questions.

There are two of them, and here's the first one.

We need to have proper perspective as we go through any kind of discussion, any kind of evangelistic encounter, and we need to remember that you can win the debate, but lose the gospel.

When skeptics ask questions, sometimes the temptation for us is not just to answer them, but to win.

And the question is, what really wins a debate? And often we think, "Oh yeah, the truth wins a debate." No, not really.

The truth rarely ever wins human kinds of debates.

That's not actually what allows you to outperform the other person.

Often, debates are more about tactics than truth.

Debates are who can talk the fastest, who can respond the quickest, who can be the most forceful and passionate and have the ability with words to overwhelm you and make you cry, and then therefore you won because the other person lost.

Or if you're very clever, you can turn it around and you can cry, and then emotionally manipulate the other person and make them feel guilty.

So now you have two people crying on the stage.

I mean, this can happen.

And so- Rarely is debating ever just about the truth.

It's about tactics.

And sometimes when we're talking with somebody and they make us look bad, we just think, "Oh, no.

Is Christianity false because of that?" Has nothing to do with the truth.

Had everything to do with tactics, and what we need in this, we need the right standard.

What does it mean to actually have a successful conversation? Is it just I won? I took those guys down.

I humiliated them, and it went viral on the Internet, and now I can start my own ministry of apologetics.

Is that really the right standard? Or is it actually more like this? It doesn't matter how much other people humiliate you.

It doesn't matter if you had or didn't have all the right answers or the most sophisticated replies, but you told them the gospel.

You told them the gospel.

That's the right standard.

Declaring good news.

When you do that, you automatically have succeeded.