I am encouraged after finishing the article and course readings for this week; it has
helped me to recognize that there is a balance between incarnational and informational
apologetics. It is evident that most non-believers view the vast majority, if not all Christians as
hypocrites when it comes to living out what we preach. As a someone who is excited to reach out
to those who are lost, I realize that the way I live my life may be the best and for some, maybe
only Gospel some people ever read. I have to be incarnationally in the way I live out the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This can only be achieved through a constant relationship with Jesus and the
building of trust through means of servanthood to those who are lost. We see a glimpse of this in
Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well as Earley puts it, "Jesus carefully listened
to her words and planned his response. Listening is an essential, powerful tool and an aid for
building any relationship. If we want lost people to listen to us when we share the gospel, we
must first listen to them as they share with us."1
There have been times where my goal of just share the gospel has made me rush past
what other were saying; so I believe by becoming a better listener, I will be better capable in
pinpointing the opportunities that God has given me to address spiritual matters within the life of
an unbeliever. Right now, the preferred method I use when evangelizing is the one shared by
William Fay in his book, Share Jesus Without Fear. This method helps me to be a better listener
and to get a better view of the persons life or worldview, by asking the questions and having
them answer however they want. Furthermore, when the gospel word of God is more than
informational and has become incarnational in our lives, we are better able to understand the
emotions that are displayed by unbelievers in moments of vulnerability. This is also a very
important part of the evangelism process, to not only share the gospel but to connect with a
1 Dave Earley & David Wheeler, Everyday Evangelsim, (B&H Publishing Group, 2016), 121.
person on a more human emotional level. Then I will be able to use the connection I have made
with the person to share the gospel with them, and I so do continue to break down the barrier of
hypocrisy between Christians and the world. Both approaches of informational and incarnational
apologetics are directly linked and must be balanced in order to be effective and authentically
engage in biblical evangelism. Wheeler explains, “The simple truth is that the “incarnational” life
is merely living as Jesus lived by balancing beliefs with behavior. In the end, Christians must
understand that an unbelieving world will not believe what we say about Christ and our faith,
until they first see the truth manifested through us. In short, this is “incarnational” apologetics at
its best!”2
Thanks for your very well written thread. I loved reading your comments about how Christians
should try to infect the fellowship with the gospel much like a virus would infect a body. This
reminded me of an Old Testament passage that speaks of the same thing. Focus for God's people.
After God's people were exiled to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, a false prophet appears in
Jeremiah 28 to tell the people to isolate themselves from Babylonian culture, Release them from
their captivity in two years, and while they wait they must escape from the heart of the city.
Needless to say, God removed this false prophet and appointed Jeremiah to speak on His behalf.
Jeremiah 29 marks the letter Jeremiah sent to the exiled elders in which God gave specific
instructions. In the letter, God tells them, “Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat
their fruit. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take women sons, and give your daughters
to wife, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease” (Jeremiah
29:56 NIV). In other words, they will be there for a while as God directs them to face the city
rather than isolate themselves from it. He then commands: “But seek the prosperity of the city to
2 David Wheeler, Incarnational Apologetics, Article.
which I have exiled you, and pray to the Lord for it, for in its prosperity you will find your
prosperity” (Jeremiah 29:7NIV).
Although many of the Hebrew people of believed they must isolate themselves to avoid
assimilation into Babylonian culture, God directed them to reverse assimilation into culture by
maintaining a focus on divine service. The same is true for us today as we evangelize a lost and
dying world. By adopting this approach to ministerial evangelism, the world will be impacted by
the message of the gospel.
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