‘You
get up every morning 'fore the sun comes up. Toss a lunchbox into a pickup
truck.’
-
Aaron
Tippen, Workin’ Man’s PhD
‘I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places’
-
Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places
‘For
consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly
standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.’
-
1 Cor.
1:26
This
past week I was reading through C.S. Lewis’ lecture ‘God in the Dock’ and
something caught my eye. Perhaps
unintentional, but I usually read Lewis with an attention to detail. Here Lewis mentioned something
important in passing. The lecture is about the inclination of our putting God
on trial, but at the outset he prefaces the lecture by talking about his
audience. He is talking about
addressing members of the Royal Air Force and the particular challenges of
making an apologetic appeal to ordinary folks. Lewis calls them the ‘Intelligentsia of the Proletariat,’ in
other words, ’…mechanics, electricians, and wireless operators’…those we
encounter every day that have their worldviews framed by an admixture of
psychology, pop-culture, and religious half-truths. Lewis
gives a fair amount of consideration as to how to make a gospel appeal to those
involved in the everyday work world.
He painstakingly analyzes their influences with an eye on to how to make
a gospel appeal.
Most
of us are ordinary folks with ordinary callings. And yet what we have as Christians is an extraordinary
message…if we could only articulate it.
It would do us well to consider those we come in contact with in
everyday life. There is no doubt
that those who consider themselves Christ’s disciples must live with an eye
toward gospel proclamation. What
this means for evangelism is that we must also be students of our
audience. In the amazing
providence of God, He has placed us in relationships with others, and these
with a plethora of opportunities for gospel proclamation. The question is…what will we say? How will we answer the questions raised
by the Bill Mahers and Penn Gillettes of the world? These are the modern prophets of this generation. Can our apologetic withstand the
assault of the neo-atheist? Do we
know enough to be able to offer a thoughtful defense of Christianity? We’re in a war of worldviews and I’m
afraid most of us are unprepared for the battlefield.
This
is an appeal to enter the fray. As
believers God has called us to engage and not to retreat. Christianity is a legitimate voice in
the arena of ideas. How can we
engage the intelligentsia of the proletariat if we don’t even know the
questions they are asking? It
makes sense to take a lesson from Lewis and to consider how the Christian faith
can be a reasonable answer to the myriad of alternative voices. In fact...we have a responsibility to do
so. By default we’re already
acting according to our worldview.
The question is, will we love our neighbors, family members, and
co-workers enough to study them, understand their worldview, answer their questions, and give them an
opportunity to hear our extraordinary message?
-DJM
June
2014