Navigating Highs and Lows of Apologetics Ministry Life

My first year as a Christian was probably the hardest year I’d ever experienced. With no church background and zero Bible knowledge, I felt so unseated and desperate that I immediately began reading the Bible for direction (which was a good thing!).

And guess where I started? Genesis. It seemed natural that if I was going to read, I’d start at the beginning, just like every other book I’d picked up. I apparently was too naïve (or simply not directed by anyone more learned than me) to understand that I should have started in the Gospels because the beginning was “just too confusing,” or so I’ve been told.

Having come from an atheistic outlook on life and having fully embraced the story of evolution early on, I was now confronted with the plain reading of Scripture, which clearly suggested God created in six days with no indication of long ages or evolution. And I just accepted it because I had just given my life to Christ, repented of my sin, and committed myself to serve God.

The Renewing of Your Mind

I just assumed that if God had given us a guidebook, it would be accurate.

It didn’t seem that confusing at all. It was laid out very simply, and I just assumed that if God had given us a guidebook, it would be accurate. So despite my previous evolutionary indoctrination, I assumed that just like so many other things I’d been taught that were wrong, so was the naturalistic history that very much contradicted what I saw in God’s Word.

I had never read or even heard Romans 12:2 said aloud at that time, but I now recognize what it describes as what had begun to happen to me when I accepted God’s Word with a simple, trusting faith.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

On top of my Bible reading, I decided to go to my local used bookshop and browse through the spirituality section for a Christian book. I found an old, dog-eared copy of Richard Wurmbrand’s Tortured for Christ, which lead me to understand the depth of commitment that Christ-followers are called to.

I distinctly remember the preacher at the service where I got saved saying, “You need to find a Bible-believing church!” I thought, “Didn’t everyone that goes to church believe the Bible?” I mean, if you didn’t, why would you bother going? I didn’t know anything about church except what I had gleaned from TV and society in general, but I knew churches all had crosses on top of their buildings and that Christians read their Bibles, so I didn’t quite understand what he was getting at.

It wasn’t until after I had finally attended a church for a while, read Christian magazines, interacted with more believers at small groups, and heard various sermons that I began to realize that many Christians didn’t hold to Genesis as plainly written.

Growing in Faith

Later on, finding excellent apologetics material from Answers in Genesis and other professional creationist organizations really boosted my faith. I could now make all of the connections between what we observe in the world and how they match what we see in God’s Word. It really wasn’t that difficult once I discarded an evolutionary lens, adopted a creation, fall, and flood chronology, and applied it consistently.

However, I must admit to feeling quite frustrated at times when I would show fellow Christians my resources and attempt to explain how God’s Word could really be trusted from the very first verse, only to have them rebut the plain reading of the Bible, attempting to force long ages and evolutionary beliefs into the biblical narrative and convince me to accept the same.

But why? I could just never truly understand the motivation behind it. I could see that (even though Christians should always stand on the authority of God’s Word regardless) perhaps years ago when there were hardly any resources available for Christians to help them understand evolutionary ideas properly, that there would be many that simply attempted to blend those ideas together.

When there has never been more support for biblical creation and the flaws in the evolutionary story have been exposed so clearly, it is difficult to see fellow believers imbibe and actually promote evolutionary ideas within the church.

But today, when there has never been more support for biblical creation and the flaws in the evolutionary story have been exposed so clearly (even among secular groups), it is difficult to see fellow believers imbibe and actually promote evolutionary ideas within the church.

The Need for Intellectual Credibility

After years of speaking on the subject, I have learned that in many instances it is really all about people attempting to maintain intellectual credibility among their unsaved peers, family, and friends who might denigrate them as anti-science and unintellectual for taking a stance on a literal Genesis.

But I’ve always maintained that if an unbeliever is going to mock Christians for believing in creation, they are likely going to mock you for believing a dead man came back to life as well—and that an axe-head floated, a donkey talked, and a virgin gave birth. It’s really all about consistency in thought, word, and deed.

However, I have also seen and received so many positive testimonies over the years from believers of all ages who were impacted by a presentation, book, or other resource that invigorated their walk with Christ and helped them overcome the doubt, fear, and stress that the weight of evolutionary teaching had placed on their faith. And I know that these interactions are likely just the tip of the iceberg. Knowing there are many is highly encouraging.

And in everything, it is a great comfort to know that I am just one part of the body of Christ that the Lord uses to bring about his kingdom. He brings true balance to everything, including the highs and lows of ministry life!

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. (1 Corinthians 3:5–9)