The Internet is laden with blogs dealing with religious and spiritual commentary and reflection, of which mine is but one of multiplied thousands. A few are written from a distinctly Christian point of view, fewer yet are written from a distinctly orthodox perspective, if one defines orthodox Christianity as that which is built upon the early creeds. Fewer still are written from an orthodox reformed perspective, in which man's eternal salvation is understood as being secured through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross for the sins of those who trust Him, and is accessible by faith alone in Christ alone, through grace alone.
Participants come to this field of intellectual and religious inquiry from a variety of perspectives ranging from atheistic to polytheistic. Some are relativists, seeing "many paths to God-however-you-conceive-of-him/her/it." Others deny any real existence of a personal deity, but simply enjoy the discussion. Some are clearly seeking.
Christians (and by that use of the term, I am hearkening back to its origin in Acts 11:26, which spoke of a community of those who believed that Jesus Christ was the exclusive and only way of salvation for all people everywhere, period) enjoy no obvious clear rational advantage in the debate. Though our belief system is internally coherent and consistent, and Christian intellectuals can and have held their own in debate for centuries, we must recognize the fact that according to the wisdom of the world what we believe is counted as foolishness: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18, NASB).
If you, Christian, are looking for the validation of your beliefs by means of the affirmation of the rest of the world, you will not long claim that title, 'Christian'. Ultimately, we believe what we believe by faith - we walk by faith, not by sight. Neither by miracle nor by the excellence of rational argumentation will one be persuaded who refuses to exercise faith. We are saved by grace through faith. No biblically informed Christian can deny this. So long as this era persists, we will be not only the minority religion but the despised minority religion, held in special contempt by the intellectuals of the age.
None of this is to say that what we believe is irrational. The Christian faith has a wealth of great arguments at its disposal. But at the end of the day God and God alone can produce sight in the blind, life in the dead, faith in the faithless. And, when God turns the light on, Satan can not turn it off.
This brings me to our unfair advantage, which is the sovereignty of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pain is a powerful persuader. There are two components to the powerful persuasion of pain. First is your own pain. God has called you to suffer for Christ, Christian (1 Peter 2:21). And not only to suffer, but to do it with patience and joy (1 Peter 1:6-9). Your enduring faith, in the midst of enduring trial, is a powerful foundation that will prepare those around you to hear what you have to say.
Second of the components of pain is when your unbelieving friend enters into their own suffering. When your friend's marriage is on the rocks, or their child is in the hospital, or their spouse is in the funeral home, when they suffer the angst of depression, etc., if you have been kind, gentle, caring, and humble, they may be inclined to seek you out (1 Peter 3:15). The cynical skeptic, the unassailable intellectual, who will not be reached by the power of your ideas can be touched by caring, kindness, humility, and gentleness. When they finally tire of their intellectual sophistry, all of their high-sounding arguments will seem to them thin and unsatisfying in the presence of personal pain. If you have demonstrated steadfast hope in the midst of your own disasters, they might come to you in the midst of their's.
Is this always true? No, of course not. Is it often true? Yes. What is the difference? It is found in John 6:44. Check it out.
If we are going to be effective witnesses, maybe we need to turn down the volume a little, and instead learn how to suffer patiently. Maybe we need to be less self-centered, and more focused on serving others. Perhaps there is a place for the placards, parades, and protests. But more likely, long-suffering patience and selfless kindness will have the more powerful appeal. We will not win the masses (we never will), but we can win one or two. This is our unfair advantage: God is active in the world of mankind, seeking the lost. He sovereignly uses our disasters and discomforts to cause us to seek Him. When He opens our hearts, we will come, we will believe. Evangelism is effective because God is sovereign. No argument formed can stand against Him, when He decides to move (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Our opponents have no such advantage.
