The Dawn Treader

I first heard the name Ravi Zacharias in 1996 while working in Greensboro.  My friend Matt asked me if I wanted to borrow some tapes of a guy addressing the topic of atheism with skeptics at Harvard.  Matt said the guy was brilliant.  I borrowed Matt's tapes and listened to Ravi Zacharias' famous 1993 lectures at the Harvard Veritas Forum.  I was mesmerized on my morning commute to work.  I listened to the tapes repeatedly.  Zacharias' two lectures were: A Critique Of Atheism, and A Defense Of Christianity.  They were outstanding.  I especially enjoyed the question and answer session.  These lectures formed the backbone of Zacharias' best-selling book, … which sits proudly on my bookshelf at home.

Listening to such a capable apologist as Ravi Zacharias ignited a fire in me.  I desired to be able to articulate truth in a clear and precise way ... just like Ravi.  His trenchant use of stories combined with a razor sharp articulation of truth became a model for me.  I began to follow his ministry and shortly thereafter, the ministry of other Christian intellectuals like Greg Koukl.

The memoirs tell the powerful story of God's shaping hand in Ravi's life.  Ultimately, it is a story of God's sovereignty.  The term "God in the shadows" is a poetic reference to the lifelong presence of God's hand on Ravi's life -- even when he was an atheist, and especially in his attempt at suicide.  The story of Ravi's grandmother, who was the spiritual matriarch of their family, is particularly moving to me.  My own grandmother provided that same kind of spiritual leadership and heritage for my own family.

Several things in the Ravi's story really grabbed me.  After Zacharias had addressed an evangelism conference in Amsterdam in 1983 (at the behest of Billy Graham, no less), he makes the following comment.

"Before I left Amsterdam on that occasion, something very curious struck me about the event.  I pondered that there were so few people operating in the arena of apologetics.  Most of the preaching in the area of evangelism was geared to the "unhappy pagan."  "What about the 'happy pagan'", I thought, "The one who has no qualms about his life?"  Life was about to change for me in my heartfelt desire to preach to the skeptic."

I can relate.  God seems to put happy pagans in my life too.  They are pleasant people who are busily living their life, seemingly without a serious care in the world. They seem to have it all together.  I realize that everyone hides a private reality behind a public face, but I am sure you know someone who fits the description 'happy pagan'.  These people are typically skeptical about the Christian faith because they have heard it presented as an answer to coping with life's problems, and frankly, they feel they are doing just fine on their own.

Zacharias goes on to describe the formation of his ministry (RZIM).  He details a conversation he had with one of the key financial supporters of RZIM.

"I shared how we envisioned a ministry that would communicate the gospel effectively within the context of the prevailing skepticism.  It would seek to reach the thinker and to clear all obstacles in his path so that he or she could see the cross clearly and unhindered.

"The presuppositions of the majority of this world aren't the same as Christian's presuppositions," I pointed out, "and many of their questions are honest ones."  I told them I wanted to address those struggling people – the Thomases of the world – who saw life as not making sense.  If the church didn't place true value on a person's questioning, then we were effectively absolving ourselves of a responsibility to that person.  At the same time, if the skeptic's questions weren't honest, we had to address them in ways that exposed his or her dishonesty.  Apologetics had to be much more than about answering questions. It had to focus on questioning the questions and clarifying the truth claims."

I love that.  I also love how Ravi always connects apologetics and evangelism (as almost the same thing), and how he recognizes both the need for answering questions and questioning questions.  Christian apologetics, as I have written before, combines defense and offense.  Knowing whether you are dealing with an honest questioner is an extremely difficult thing to discern, in my opinion.  When is a skeptic truly seeking answers, and when are the questions just a smoke screen?  In my own case, I always assume that a questioner is truly seeking answers until I see sufficient evidence that someone is really not seeking answers – they are seeking vindication for their own rejection of the gospel.  I am a believer in not throwing pearls before the swine.  If someone is hardened against God and hostile toward Christians, the best apologetic is your manner in dealing with them.  I personally make it a goal to leave those kind of people with at least one pleasant encounter with a Christian.

Ravi's memoirs offer a glimpse into the people and events that God used to shape one of the most courageous, articulate and impactful evangelists of our time.  Two themes come through powerfully.  One, God is sovereignly in control.  Two, what matters most is not your successes or failures, not how well you are known or not known, not how many sermons you have preached or how many people you have led to Christ.  What matters most is how well do you know Jesus?  Successes are hollow, even "religious successes", if you do not intimately know the author of life and His purpose.  Focus on Christ in you.  Live in union life with him, and God will order your steps.  Perhaps you will have a worldwide ministry like Ravi.  Then again, maybe you will live an ordinary life like me.  What ultimately matters, is how well you know Jesus.