(This post is a follow-up from Lesson 4 in our ongoing series on apologetics at GCC)
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
Prolegomenon
As a father to four young children, we have often found ourselves taking trips to various zoos over the past several years. There are many attractions to be found in most zoos, but no trip seemed to be quite complete without a visit to the lion exhibit. The majestic lions typically only stroll about nonchalantly or nap in the sunlight, yet on one trip one of the male lions roared as we were passing by the exhibit. When I say that this lion roared, I mean it was as if for a moment the lion forgot his rather domesticated surroundings and found himself transplanted to the plains south of the African Sahara. This memory is stuck in my mind because when the lion roared, it felt physically jarring, as if your own body were being shaken by the sheer power of that sound.
The Voice of the Lion
In the Narnia series written by C.S. Lewis, there is a pivotal moment when Aslan (the great lion who represents Christ in that epic allegory) speaks—or rather, he roars. This occurs at a pivotal moment in the saga: the White Witch (the evil queen Jadis) has just killed Aslan on the Stone Table and has departed to make war on the good inhabitants of Narnia. Yet Susan and Lucy (who both witnessed Aslan’s death and had remained with him) had seen Aslan brought back to life in a magnificent defeat of death and evil. Following this defeat of death (along with some rejoicing and celebration), Aslan told the children to protect themselves as he roared:
“And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears.” And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it. And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind. (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, p.185)
Aslan’s roar is wonderful for his followers in Narnia, but there is no mistaking its power. This is the same voice of Aslan that sang Narnia into existence (in The Magician’s Nephew), the same voice by which he called his creatures to himself, and the same voice that now shakes Narnia with its power. In response, the creation shook before the roar of the creator, and the trees bent before the might of his voice.
We live in a world that roundly considers such discussions of God speaking to be thoroughly backward (or perhaps even fundamentalist). Most people are quite comfortable with the idea of God speaking, so long as that speech is subjective, dependent on the individual (e.g., your truth), and non-binding on anyone else. However, the idea that there is the God who has spoken authoritatively through Scripture and finally through Christ (Heb 1:1–2) is quite unpalatable for the modern mind. Further, the idea of a God who has spoken with absolute power and finitude is even less welcome.
In the above passage from the Narnia series, Lewis was speaking of a powerful and magnificent reality with his analogy of the mighty Aslan and the power of his roar. Consider how Scripture speaks of the voice of God:
"The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'" (Psalm 29:4–9)
The word of God is majestic and powerful, blowing the tallest trees flat with its might and causing the animals of the forest to give birth in reaction to His power. When God speaks, it is the voice that commanded all things into being (Gen 1:1–31), the voice that calls His people to Himself (Acts 2:38–39; Rom 8:28), and the same voice that shakes this world with its power (Job 37:2–6). One can scarcely read Lewis’ account without considering the words of John:
"Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded." (Revelation 10:1–3)
What follows is an effort to recognize the voice of the roaring God in a world that has turned a deaf ear to His majesty and power (2 Tim 4:4; cf. Jer 6:10).
A God-centered Approach
The Christian witness must be a theocentric witness—that is, a God-centered witness. Christians must bear witness to the Creator God, the God who has spoken through His Word, the God who is there (to borrow a bit from Francis Schaeffer). God is the focal point of the universe, and the Christian witness must revolve around God with a singular sense of devotion. It is Him we proclaim in all wisdom (Col 1:28). Maintaining a God-centered witness entails maintaining a proper view of who God is. Any failure at this point of proper identification will obscure the message of our witness or distort our witness into something less than a biblical Christian witness.
Yet one may object at this point: does this approach unduly ignore the contributions of the world? If those we encounter do not claim to be people of faith, is it not obtuse (or even wrong) for us to appeal to matters of faith? To answer this question, we may recognize that there is no middle ground upon which the Christian and the world may meet. There is no epistemological Sweden in this discussion. Simply put, neutrality of thought is quite impossible for all parties involved. Every person (whether Christian or not) operates under presuppositions and assumptions about how the world works, commitments that we may refer to as faith. Every person operates based on these faith commitments, while the only question is in what (or who) we place our faith.
Here, then, is the trajectory of a God-centered approach. Every interaction points the opposing party to the object of faith, whether that faith is in modern science, or human reasoning, or metaphysical commitments. Humanity, for its part, knows God and yet suppresses that truth (Rom 1:18–32), so the God-centered witness must call the object of faith to attention and attest to God as the proper source of authority in these matters. In a God-centered approach to witness, the Christian must point directly to God as the very centerpiece of faith and knowledge.
Our approach to maintain a faithful witness to the world must begin with a theocentric worldview. One of the passages that should be considered quite definitional for Christian witness is 1 Peter 3:15: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” The word used here for “defense” is apologia, from which we gain the term apologetics to describe a defense of the faith. Yet a defense of the faith is insufficient if we neglect the foundation of this passage: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” Before the Christian is called to defend the faith, they are first entreated to honor Christ as holy. Any defense of the faith, any appeal to logic or reason, any endeavor to truly know anything must properly start with the honoring of Christ as Lord. Our pursuit of knowing recognizes Christ as the ultimate commitment.
Maintaining a God-centered perspective is a key facet of maintaining a robust Christian witness in this world. The word of God is powerful, as it is the voice of the Creator shaking the created order. The Creator God is above that which He has created and exercises sovereign rule over His creation. God works for the sake of His own name, to proclaim His glory to all the earth. In response, God’s people are commanded to fear nothing, yet to maintain a godly fear of the Lord who has spoken.
SDG,
Josh Howard
Josh Howard serves as the Elder/Pastor at Grace Community Church in Battle Creek, MI, co-hosts the Good Doctrine Podcast and The Age to Come Webcast, and is an alumni of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (PhD, ThM). Josh has also authored The Exorcism of Satan (forthcoming, Free Grace Press), The King's Command (forthcoming, College & Clayton Press), and A Primer for Conflict (forthcoming, Founders Press).
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