Where do Apologetics and Evangelism meet?

                I think I have covered this type of question in passing, but people seem to think that apologetics and evangelism are miles apart when it comes to their disciplines and how they relate to Christian ministry. In fact, I think they are two sides of the same coin. I believe that in today’s culture, with the demand for sources for everything that we assert, that apologetics needs to be woven seamlessly into evangelism and vice versa.
                First, I would like to set my views on evangelism and apologetics. From what I seem to understand, evangelism is the spread of the gospel through our own personal testimonies and speaking from scripture. Apologetics comes from the greek word apologia, a legal term meaning “to give a defense”. This means that Christian apologists use evidence to give a defense for our faith, in obedience to 1 Peter 3:15.
                My problems with evangelism and apologetics are these. In my experience, apologists can fall into the trap of arguing for the sake of arguing, forgetting gentleness, respect, the Lordship of Jesus, or any combination of these. We must not forget that we are here to make disciples of men, in the hope that they would choose Jesus as their Lord and Savior from mankind’s sin. I see problems in Evangelism when people become “bible-thumpers” or expectation that people take the same view of the authority of scripture. When we are dealing with non-Christians, sometimes we need to convince people that scripture is worth reading as a document, then reading as the inspired word of God.
                This was a bit short, but I think these are parts of loving God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths. We have to have a mix of apologetics and evangelism, so that we can show the love of Christ and show what he has done for us as individuals. However, we must also have our reasons and evidence to support our faith and to show people that our faith isn’t a blind faith, but a faith built on the fulfilled promises of God and that we hope to see His future promises fulfilled.

I hope this has been helpful, but something that has been on my mind recently and a goal that I wish to achieve with this ministry. I realize that this ministry for the most part has an online presence, but I wish to be able to be real here as well as if you meet me on the street. We as people have a bad habit of forgetting our hearts in discussions. We cannot be jerks just because the person is not in front of us. This isn’t an issue of having thick skin, we need to be reasonable and able to have meaningful discussions on the internet if that is where humanity means to share and disseminate information. This is doubly important for people wanting to have truth discussions when it comes to Christianity. I admit, I don’t follow these suggestions 100% of the time myself, but will work to show my heart for people online as well so that I can be an example to others. May God bless you and have a good rest of your night. 

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