How Should Pastors Answer the Question, Is Christianity Good?
In seminary I was trained to answer questions like: Is the Bible reliable? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Are miracles really possible? Each question is driven by an important, underlying question: Is Christianity true? However, today people often ask different questions. Considering the prospect of celibacy, my friend with same-sex attraction asks, “Does God want me to be lonely and unloved?” A frustrated person of color proclaims, “Preaching the gospel isn’t enough. We need justice!” A woman in my city group inquires, “Why does it seem like the church is against women?” They are essentially asking: Is the Bible sexist? Is Christianity racist? Is the Church homophobic?
These three issues—sex, race, and gender—are the issues of our time. Each one was supercharged by a lightning rod event, which occurred within the span of five years, placing tremendous weight on ministry leaders. Yet, beneath these questions is an even deeper question: Is Christianity good? People want to know if the new life Christianity offers is actually a good life.
How should we respond?
Pastoral Apologetics. We can respond to controversial topics by making book recommendations, but the issues are deeply personal. We could respond with packed one-liners, but the issues are also complex. We could update our statement of faith, but application is messier than tidy doctrinal statements. When questions are raised about our church’s views on women in ministry, racial bias, and sexual orientation, I try to remind myself that behind the often-barbed inquiries is that deeper question: Is Christianity good?
While we should respond to cultural concerns with biblically grounded theological answers, our response should also offer tangible proof of Christianity’s goodness. We must also respond pastorally, paying close attention not only to what we say, but how we say it. The way we respond can be a defense of the goodness of Christian faith. When thorny issues arise will you be combative or kind? When church members complain will you be dismissive or attentive? Will you truly listen and embody the goodness of Christ in your response? People need more than apologetic zingers, book recommendations, and tidy statements of faith. They need flesh-and-blood leaders who carefully consider the issues, with the character of Christ. They need pastoral apologetics.
Pastoral apologetics pairs a reasonable, biblical response to an issue with a charitable and winsome spirit. It embodies both the truth and goodness of the gospel. While enduring his share of church division, Timothy received these striking words: “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness . . .” (2:24–25). If we are bound to Jesus, not public opinion, we will teach his word in this way: with kindness, patience, and gentleness. This is pastoral apologetics. As servants of the Lord, we should defend both the news and goodness of the gospel.
What does pastoral apologetics look like in practice? It is virtue with action: kindness while arguing, patience amidst evil, gentleness when correcting. Often we choose action or virtue. Correct, instruct, argue or kindness, patience, gentleness. Depending on our proclivity, we will either defend the faith or pastor the people. But Paul calls us to both, to pastoral apologetics. To be kind, not just to those we like, but to the quarrelsome. To be able to teach, not only when we are praised, but also when we are opposed. To correct the teachable and deal gently with the proud. This is the real—essential—challenge: to hold action and virtue together when the heat is on. This is leadership for tense times.
Kind not Quarrelsome. Kind not quarrelsome reminds me of an elder who met with an angry married couple in our church. As the couple voiced their concerns, they misjudged the elder and mischaracterized the church. It appeared they were trying to sabotage their relationship with the church. Instead of defending himself, this elder calmly zeroed in on the real issue. He implored the couple to move forward with him in “love that endures all things.” His robust kindness was a Neo-like hand before a hail of bullets. Personal attacks seemed to fall to the ground.
Paul’s instruction assumes the presence of a quarrel but insists on the absence of a quarreling spirit. In conflict we must talk, even argue, but do so kindly. However, we often choose between quarrelsome or kind. We may defend the truth while sacrificing peace or make peace while sacrificing the truth. But in choosing one over the other we lose the spirit of Jesus. We settle for aggression or niceness.
President of Biola College, Dr. Barry Corey, clarifies the difference between aggression and niceness: “Whereas aggression has a firm center and hard edges, niceness has soft edges and a spongy center. Niceness may be pleasant, but it lacks conviction. It has no soul. Niceness trims its sails to prevailing cultural winds and wanders aimlessly, standing for nothing and thereby falling for everything.” The Lord’s servant possesses a firm center with soft edges, a kind not quarrelsome spirit.
How did the elder exude such kindness? He was kind because, in the moment, Christ mattered more than self-respect. His aim wasn’t to win but to love. He was truthful because he wasn’t a slave to their opinion. He exuded mind-boggling kindness because he acted as a servant of the Lord. He knew that by serving the Lord, in word and deed, he would best serve his hostile brother and sister. Enslaved to Christ, he sought that “God may perhaps grant them repentance” (2:25). His Christlike response was a compelling defense of the goodness of Christianity.
Patient with Evil. In any church gathering, evil lurks about. Some Sundays, sitting in my chair bent over in prayer, I can sense fiery arrows descending upon the congregation. Occasionally, I feel the presence of a huge invisible finger pointing at my head. Words of condemnation spring to mind: So and so isn’t going to believe a word you say. This sermon isn’t any good. Some days, thank God, I sense no evil at all. But the Tempter is always on the move.
A good leader is aware of the traps laid for those he leads. He doesn’t just preach the text or against the headlines but instructs his congregation. He is attentive to the evil that besets his flock. It might be distorted ideas about race, sex, or gender or it may be anxiety, condemnation, the occult. Whatever the issue, our attentiveness shouldn’t stop with calling out sinister influences.
A patient leader separates the evil traps from struggling saints. He knows those who fall into evil are more than the sum total of their sins. He chooses to see them as disciples in need of instruction, wandering sheep who require a shepherd. As a result, he preaches against sin, but for the sinner. He pries open the trap while pointing them to freedom. This puts considerable strain on the leader—patience in the face of evil does not come easily—but it is worth it for the freedom of even a single soul.
Pastoral apologetics also includes correcting opponents with gentleness and teaching through difficult issues. Jonathan addresses these and more in the rest of his chapter, “Questioning Christianity” in The Unwavering Pastor: Leading the Church with Grace in Divisive Times.
Excerpted with permission from The Unwavering Pastor by Jonathan K. Dodson. Copyright 2022, The Good Book Publishing.
Jonathan K. Dodson is the founding pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas, where he lives with his wife and three children. Dodson is the founder of GCDiscipleship.com and the author of a number of books including The Unwavering Pastor, The Unbelievable Gospel; Here in Spirit; Our Good Crisis; and Gospel-Centered Discipleship.