One meaning the dictionary gives for the word apologetics is: The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. And for the word apologize: to express regret, ask forgiveness, make an apology, beg pardon, say you are sorry. A.W. Tozer said of one popular preacher of his day, “He is an apologist who needs to apologize.” All Christians, to some extent, are apologists, especially preachers.
My dear friend, Dr. John R. Rice, used to say, “Some preachers ask before preaching, “Who’s out there? then shoot.” He went on to say, he believed a man ought to shoot first, and then ask, “Who’d I hit?” Far too many preachers today “tip-toe through the tulips,” as they say. They come to the pulpit as Agag of old, “delicately.” At a time such as this in our beloved country, we don’t need psychologists in the pulpit, but heart surgeons.
It seems many who are called to defend the faith, preface their defense with an apology to the people before doing so. Preachers need to stand up and play the man! If deacon “fuddy-duddy” tells you, “You’re rubbing the cat the wrong way,” tell him to turn the cat around. Preach every sermon like it’s your last, and preach it as though Jesus was in the audience. Please the Master, not men. Why would you want the respect of a world that hated Him? Be a man “Approved of God.”
Barrel-straight preachers are thought by some to be of a different temperament than their peers. NO! They have a different heart. Don’t try to pass off your cowardness for compassion. The most compassionate men I ever met were men with strong convictions. Truth is always before love, else how would you know what true love is. Yet men trim their message in the pretence of love (Jer.2:33,a). True, some do the right thing, but in the wrong way. But better that than the reverse. But I would add, in contending for the faith, one need not be contentious.
“Why should clay fear clay?” (James M. Grey)
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