Things I do wrong in apologetics

[Matt16_18]

There is not anything that is necessarily wrong with saying something that makes a person upset. When I left the Catholic Church, Christians used to say things to me that made me upset. So what! I was not living in a state of grace, and it was a great gift from God that I met Christians whose witnessing made me suffer extreme emotional distress. Uncompromised Christian witnessing caused me to experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and that isn’t something that is fun. It is good to be have your soul in thrown into turmoil by Christian witnessing when you are walking the path to Hell. We are fallen people, and we don’t want to give up our favorite sins, nor do we want to subject ourselves to the temporal authority of the Catholic Church.

The worst mistake that one can make in apologetics is to try witness out of one’s own strength. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the right words to say, so that Holy Spirit is witnessing though you. If you do that first, and your words then cause and a violent response in a person, that may be EXACTLY what God desired from your witnessing.

Love and enabling are two entirely different things.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.
Matt. 10:34-36

 

[johnnyjoe]

loyola rambler:

Don’t try to do everything all at once. There’s so much information that can be given on something, but most people really appreciate the cliff notes. An example? I was doing some research with a group of federal employees at Cook Co jail a couple of years ago. A devout “born again” gentleman was all upset about Catholicism and I asked him why. He said this, then said that. So I asked him what bothered him most and he said it was the unbiblical things like confession. Imagine his surprise when I quoted chapter and verse where Jesus left that charge to his apostles. He looked at me, shook my hand and told me how wonderful to finally get that put to rest. We spent the rest of the day during our breaks with him asking questions and me giving simple answers. The less I put forward at the outset, the more questions he asked. It’s a very nice technique that will keep you from opening the floodgates.

Be a teacher, not a preacher. Remember how many years it took you to learn everything. Take the time and have the patience to teach others at the same pace. Talk with them, not to them. And most of all, be nice when you do it.

Great technique there…as a salesman, I know that if I am talking and the client is not, I am losing more than winning. I try not to use my “sales” personna when witnessing for the Lord and His Church, but the lesson at the heart of a good sales call is getting to know your prospect. As Christians, we need to be interested in the PERSON first, and the Holy Spirit will guide our words to sooth the needs of that person’s soul. We, for our part, must make every effort to form ourselves well. The real hallmark of an apologist is not how hard he can push back, but how deep the well of knowledge he makes available to the Holy Spirit so that God can make use of us as His Instrument.

 

[loyola_rambler]

Matt16_18:

Love and enabling are two entirely different things.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.
Matt. 10:34-36

Excellent thought…

 

[Richard_Lamb]

I think it was Father Mitch pacwa who said we should strive to win souls and not argument.

 

[Rae]

Because I am so passionate about the Catholic faith, and am
learning so much myself, it’s very hard not to get too excited (and sometimes, admittedly, to angry) when discussing Catholicism with others. I have never been good at verbal skills, and find that, in normal conversation, I tend to ‘wander’ a bit from topic to topic. I’d say that this is a fault in apologetics, because it’s better to stick with one topic and answer it well, than to skip around a lot.

I’m working on it.

 

[philialeaf]

Here are some of the things I have done wrong in apologetics…

1. PRIDE…It is so easy to fall into it when trying to teach someone, to forget that only God is the source of wisdom and truth–NOT ME!
2. Wanting to say everything at once…Sometimes it’s best just to “plant the seed” of some idea in a person, not be overbearing with it and risk losing their attention.
3. Getting tripped up by Bible Christians who can quote chapter and verse and use it as ammunition.
4. Being more interested in the splinter in someone else’s eye…
5. Forgetting that IF I DO NOT LOVE I AM NOTHING.
6. Assuming I am only there to teach, forgetting that I can also learn a great deal from the other person (and listening and showing respect makes them more likely to listen and respect you).
7. Being more interested in apologetics for the sake of teaching others than in charity and my own prayer life.

I’m sure there are lots more but those were the ones that came to mind!