Witness To The Word

John 1:6-13

  

Bonus Content

Tim Keller on ‘How to Reach the West Again’ — An amazing Podcast

Here are some quick highlights from an article that Keller wrote on ‘Pascal’s Method for Presenting the Christian Faith.’

• First, you disarm people — you have to surprise them.

  • Most people in our day expect Christians to be intemperate, irrational, and hypocritical.

  • So surprise them — simply through the fruit of being a true child of God — by being well-informed, thoughtful, sensible, openminded, helpful, loving and generous!

• Next, after you’ve surprised them/upset their expectations — start to show them the attractiveness of the gospel — make them wish it was true.

  • We must know our culture—know its hopes—and then show others that only in Christ will their aspirations ever find fulfillment, that only in him will the plot lines of their lives ever have resolution and a happy ending.

• Now, Pascal says, “show that it is [true].”

  • If they have not been brought through stage 1 (being disarmed and surprised by the lives and speech of believers) and stage 2 (seeing the great and attractive promises of God in Christ), their eyes will simply glaze over if you begin to talk about ‘the evidence for the resurrection.’

  • They will still expect Christianity to be at best useless and at worst a threat.

  • But if Christianity has begun to make emotional and cultural sense they may listen to a sustained discussion of why it makes logical and rational sense.