There’s one key word — you’d almost think it was a secret word — that answers the big question Christian apologists have been asking for years: How can we have greater ministry in the church?

We apologists have our answers, but they’re typical apologists’ answers. We think it’d be solved if we could get churches thinking more like we do. On one level I totally agree: The church needs to put a lot more emphasis on discipleship of the mind. If only we could persuade them of that!

And maybe we could, if only they were there already. I don’t know how we can simply persuade them to listen to us, though, until after we’ve persuaded them to listen to us. We apologists should know enough about circular arguments to know that circular causation doesn’t work, either.

Most of us also know that we bear responsibility for our corporate nerdiness, and maybe even our combativeness. We’re not all guilty of that, in fact, maybe not even most of us; but enough of us are to stain our reputation. We’ve known about that for a good while, too, though, so that’s not the secret.

Not Really … Pastors Know It!

Apologists are still missing one crucial ingredient — and it’s one that every pastor knows is no secret at all. While we’ve been thinking the church needs to catch up with us in discipleship, pastors have been wishing we’d catch up with them in this one most crucial ministry skill. Listen and find out why.

See the related blog post: “Apologists and Pastors, Here’s How We Can Finally Work Together (And We’d Better Get To It!)”

This episode is part of the Season 2 emphasis on Heat to Light: Moving Through Cultural Controversy Toward the Light of Spiritual Transformation.

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Note regarding publishing schedule: This has been a season of tough family crises, including my dad’s passing away last month. I expect to resume a full weekly podcasting schedule very soon.