Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Making the Stand to Reason Vision a Reality

Episode Date: January 18, 2018

Alan explains one of the challenges that ambassadors for Christ will face in 2018. Download the mp3...

Christians fancy themselves as loving people who model their behavior after the compassionate god-man Jesus of Nazareth. Now society, on the other hand, believes differently. They believe Christians are these bigoted, anti-science, judgmental, and backward-thinking people. And so while society sort of progresses, we're allegedly stuck in the past trying to kind of hold back morality, science, and sexual ethics. And of course, that apparently makes us hateful.

Now, I know this because I've been out there talking to people and getting a lot of solicited and unsolicited feedback. In fact, last year in 2017, I gave 158 presentations to more than 26,000 people. By the way, that's the most I've ever spoken to in a single year. Now, as in the past, I've often invited to teach on controversial topics that Christians are eager to better understand. So, for example, I was invited to teach on abortion and homosexuality and Islam and a whole bunch of other things that, again, are very controversial. and Islam and a whole bunch of other things that, again, are very controversial. Now, many times, non-Christians, especially Muslims or people from the LGBT community or abortion choice advocates or other kinds of just skeptics and atheists, they'll attend these events, which, of course, leads to lively and very spirited discussions.

And even when I responded in a kind, calm, and gracious tone, people still interpreted the content of what I was saying as hateful. Now, what all this engagement taught me is that it has become harder to convince the world that the hallmark characteristic of Christians is love. And perhaps you've probably noticed this as well. love. And perhaps you've probably noticed this as well. Now, although this can be discouraging, it reminds me why Stand to Reason's mission and vision is so critical for our time. Stand to Reason's mission is to train Christians to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for Christianity. And by doing that, we hope our vision will become a reality for you. And here's what our vision is. Confidence for every Christian, clear thinking for every challenge, courage and grace for every encounter.

I'm sure you, like me, have made it a goal to be gracious and loving when sharing your faith or communicating your worldview. And I'll admit though that I have room for improvement, no doubt. I'm not trying to say that I've arrived on this question. But sometimes I realize it doesn't matter how kind or gracious you are. Sometimes God's message, whether it's the gospel or whether it's Jesus' view on sexuality or something else, simply gets people upset. And in those times, it's critical to remember Standard Reason's mission and vision. The goal is to have confidence to think clearly and to be courageous

and gracious in every encounter with non-believers. Notice the focus of our mission and vision is on you, the believer. We're trying to train a certain kind of person, an ambassador for Christ. That's what 2 Corinthians 5 20 talks about. And so it's your job to be faithful to that identity. You're supposed to proclaim the truth in a clear and persuasive yet winsome and gracious way, and then leave the results up to God. So in other words, don't be committed to the end result. That's in God's hands. But instead, be responsible for your part.

Now, unfortunately, I predict it'll become more difficult for ambassadors for Christ to share their convictions in 2018 but that's why at STR we're more committed than ever to train you to make a difference for Christ wherever your sphere of influence is