Apologetics, the defense of the faith, is something only experts do, right? Even the word ‘apologetics’ says “Keep out: Experts only.” Apologetics books do the same. How can someone ordinary like me do apologetics?
One of the reasons I like Josh Chatrow’s book, Telling a Better Story, is that by focusing on stories, it makes apologetics accessible to all, and do-able by all. In chapter 5, for example, he sums it up as steeping in and stepping into.
Steep your life in the Gospel Story
All our stories have been edited or even taken over by the culture. That’s why Chatrow says we must begin by embedding our lives in the true story, the Gospel story.
“Constantly comparing the rival stories to God’s story is essential to not being lulled to sleep in a secular age.”
Studying Christ’s story will not just challenge and change our story, it will challenge and change our character, an essential element of any apologetic or evangelistic witness. That way we not only tell a different story, we are a different story.
Step into others’ stories
The next step, Chatrow says, is to learn how to step into others stories in order to point them to the way out. He calls this “inside-out” apologetics and it involves six stages:
Listen for their stories (big and small narratives that shape their lives)
Highlight inconsistencies within their story
Identify overlaps with the Christian story
Discuss disagreements with the Christian story
Explore how satisfied they are with their story
Try on the Christian story to see how it fits them and the world
That’s doable apologetics isn’t it? Apologetics for dummies, even!
How can I do apologetics? Steep in the Gospel story and step into others stories in order to help them step out and into Christ’s story.