Apologetics: Cult Experts Needn't Apply

Let me be clear: You don’t need to be a cult expert to witness to cults, you just need to be interested in their salvation.

If you’re truly disinterested you are answering the door like a disinterested unbeliever (see my previous post) in which case perhaps it’s best you don’t go to the door. You’ll only end up giving a bad impression of a Christian apologist. As a Mormon I found some Christians all too readily played to my own confirmation bias as they struggled to answer simple points. I also found myself on the receiving end of some pretty ripe insults. People do this because they don’t know what else to do. This is because they don’t know how to read the Bible like an apologist. Perhaps they’re not shown how.

The Church

One of the big issues for me these days is the failure of the church to simply equip people, make disciples, build apologetics into our thinking. Consider the way a cult works, like a franchise. Everything is controlled from the centre. Like many coffee shops and eateries, if you walk into a branch anywhere in the world it’s predictably familiar.

In the same way, churches are too ready to buy in pre-packaged programmes for evangelism and discipleship, hoping that what worked ‘over there’ will surely work here. It’s like going to the cafeteria to find they’re putting gravy on everything. I like gravy on my chicken, on my beef, but not on my apple crumble.

This makes the church top heavy with programmes, leaders busy with processes,leaving them little or no time to think about what will work for my church, what are my peoples’ needs? Perhaps the church is failing to equip people for witnessing because the church is less like a fellowship and more like a franchise.

The Ministry

‘I’m not an expert in apologetics.’ That’s what people say. ‘I don’t know much about the cults.’ They say that too. You don’t need to be an expert in either of these two things. People’s idea of witnessing, especially to cults, is often mistaken.

Having looked at the church, let’s look at this ministry. When we talk about cults perhaps we give the wrong impression. When we talk about cults do we talk about Jesus, or do we just talk about cults? We can get so fascinated with the inner workings, the stranger, more esoteric doctrines, the scandals, that we can easily leave people behind. We can give the impression that you do need to be expert by simply sounding like an expert.

To be as confident as that Mormon you simply need to know and be confident in your Bible. It’s a question of being a Bible student. If you’re caught out by a question, what’s the next thing you do when you step back inside your house. Do you reach for your Bible, or for the TV guide? Reach for the TV guide and you lose. There’s such satisfaction in resolving a question and being prepared with an answer next time.

Doug Harris always used to say, when you’re witnessing to cults you do two things; show the error and talk about Jesus. If you don’t have time to do both talk about Jesus. He also taught that you expose the error by holding it up to the light of truth. Do you see where the focus is? It doesn’t matter how many wives Joseph Smith had, or that Joseph Rutherford was a drunk. It matters that we get to the cross by the shortest route possible.

Christian Superstition

There is no room here for Christian superstition, the idea that every thought, every book, every handshake, or greeting comes with the risk of being demonised.

I took a call recently from someone who had been to a Christian wedding. He saw that somebody had given the bride and groom a horseshoe, and was concerned this may open a gateway to the occult. I assured him it wouldn’t, and advised him that if he worried about such things it would paralyse him with fear as he saw demons everywhere.

I hear people say they pray for Reachout because we’re ‘ministering in the devil’s backyard.’ I appreciate the prayers, the support, but I have news for you; we all are! Step outside your door and there it is, the world with all it’s deceptions, errors, and temptations, and on your doorstep. How will you deal with it?

Does the battle belong to the Lord on Monday morning? It isn’t the devil on your doorstep, it’s an unsaved, lost soul who wants to talk about God. Mission organisations spend fortunes in money and effort and resources to reach the lost, and we appreciate, support, and celebrate missions; but here are the lost – at your door.

They don’t need you coming at them with a bag full of deliverance strategies, ‘In the name of Jesus.’ It’s not a lecture to put them right they need, it’s a conversation to draw them close. My wife and I became Christians because a Christian man showed kindness, an interest in our salvation, in answering our questions. If they have a question and nowhere to take it, if you’ve been a good Christian witness, perhaps they’ll come to you. It’s a mission on your doorstep and it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss.