Those who know me would agree that I'm a fairly non-confrontational person. I would rather let you have your way than argue about it. I simply don’t like being in opposition with anyone! So when someone asked me a few weeks ago wether I liked Chris Rosebrough’s radio show FIGHTING FOR THE FAITH, my first instinct is to say ‘no way jose, this guy is brutal!’ He’s harsh, hostile, and critical! He mocks those who have lost their way and fallen into false Christian teaching! Sure, his theology (beliefs about God) is great and he definitely knows his bible but shouldn’t he be showing love to those who don’t have the same understanding as him instead of tearing them down?
However, through a number of conversations with Christian peers, much thinking and ACTUALLY listening to his radio programme, I became challenged regarding my stance towards Rosebrough. And not just him, either- I started to wonder if maybe I might be allowing my own feelings of anxiety around potential conflict to cloud my opinion of those bravely defending the Christian faith?
The bible says that as Christians we should hold tight to the truth of the bible, to defend our faith. To not defend your faith-that is to say people can believe whatever they want, or whatever is right for them is the same as saying I don’t believe that what I believe is actually the truth. Confused? Heres a scenario that might help this make more sense:
Lets say you see a young man, riding his bicycle in the middle of the road. Cars around are swerving to avoid him- so you stop him, and tell him ‘DUDE! Did you realise that when you ride your bike in the middle of a busy road your likely to get hit by a car?!’. The young man says simply ‘What are you talking about? I don’t believe in cars- I can’t get hit by a car if I don’t believe they exist’
Would you respond with
A) ‘Well, if you don’t believe in cars I guess you cant get hit by one. Whatever works for you man...’
B) ‘Your crazy! Can’t you see the cars around you? Can’t you see them swerving? How do you not see the danger here’
Of course you would answer with B. Because you know the truth of the situation- that if you ride a bicycle down the middle of a busy road, there is a high chance of you being hit by a car. It doesn’t matter if the person riding the bike believes something different- the reality of the situation- the TRUTH remains the same.
So lets apply this to defending the Christian faith. The gospel is TRUE.(the good news that even though all people have done wrong by Gods standards and deserve punishment- God punished his own son Jesus in our place so we would not receive the penalty that we deserve). And if the gospel is the TRUTH, when we see someone saying something that directly contradicts the truth, the most loving thing we can do is tell them. So when I challenged Rosebrough earlier in this post, saying ‘shouldn’t he be showing love to those who don’t have the same understanding as him?’... what I didn’t understand was that through FIGHTING FOR THE FAITH- this is exactly what Rosebrough is doing. In the same way you might confront a cyclist in the middle of a busy road and remind him that truth is what he is doing is dangerous- Rosebrough confronts those presenting theological beliefs that are untrue and reminds them that what they say is straying from the truth and is dangerous to the Christian faith.
And yes, this may bring Rosebrough directly into opposition with others. After all, nobody LIKES being told they are wrong! But Rosebrough bravely continues to do so with a level head, keen understanding and witty humour. And you know what else? Rosebrough doesn’t simply remind those who are teaching wrong things about the bible of the truth, but he also helps fellow Christians to learn about how to defend our faith with humility, grace and most importantly, truth.
So my initial judgement of Rosebrough’s radio show WAS in fact clouded by my dislike of being in opposition and therefore potentially being in conflict with others. In fact, Rosebrough does exactly what the bible calls us to do, lovingly directing others towards the truth of the gospel.
If you want to know more about Chris Rosebrough and his radio show FIGHTING FOR THE FAITH, click here
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