STR 20th Anniversary

One of the things that stood out the most for me at the STR, Stand to Reason, 20th Anniversary conference was the reminder of the organization's mission & values:  to equip Christian Ambassadors with KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, and CHARACTER. As Craig Hazen said in his introductory message, there are many examples in Scripture where it emphasizes God's desire for us to KNOW.  This was also the first time I heard Sean McDowell speak, and he was very impressive.   How wonderful that Josh McDowell has passed on his love of apologetics to his son.  Sean pointed out that a person may have knowledge and wisdom, but Character is needed to truly be an ambassador.  We are not just in a post-Christian culture but an anti-Christian one; and we need to "do apologetics" with LOVE.  In talking to skeptics, one of the best ways to reach them is to LISTEN and to stop making "atheist jokes". Then Mary Jo Sharp reminded us that the TRUTH does need to be told, because it is Objective, not Subjective.  Some of the main challenges to Apologetics that she has seen are:  1) poor reasoning skills (e.g. attacking character rather than having a good argument w/reasoning and logic; asking questions rather than having an actual argument; or not defending their views and just attacking instead); 2) apathy toward historical truth (e.g many construct their own view of Christianity), 3) unreasonable requirement for evidence (e.g. asking for "irrefutable proof", which is like asking for a galaxy in the lab before believing one exists); and 4) difficult questions, which need to be addressed with love and respect.

During the STR Teaching Staff Forum, they talked about:

• The Openness of the Church to Apologetics - it's mixed, and often they need to make a case for it
• "Loss" of Young People in the Church - yes, mainly they leave during college or even younger because of intellectual skepticism.  About 30% come back, but mainly to raise their kids in church, but unfortunately not necessarily b/c they have found answers.  The encouragement was to teach youth with the mindset that you never want them to leave the church in the first place; and we want to not just teach but also to TRAIN
• The "Feminization" of the Church - yes, generally women gravitate toward spiritual things more than men; but, Apologetics has traditionally drawn more men in the audience than women, though that is changing also
• Bad Arguments - one that often comes up is the assertion of the requirement that a person cannot know unless they see; but, that is in reality not the case  (one example given is in police work, where a case wouldn't be "cold" if there was direct visual evidence; yet, they can still often be solved without it)
• Conference Topics - "Compromise is not an option", "One person standing can make a difference"