How to Defend Your Christian Views from Critics

Carrying your cross is difficult. That’s an understatement. There are so many different crosses that can be in someone’s life. A common cross for all Christians today is accusation. Let’s face it. Our Christian faith is extremely counter cultural in this secular time period. Secularism hates Christ and his church. If you’re outspoken about your beliefs, you will certainly experience some shunning. Don’t be afraid though. It’s a cross. Pick it up and follow Christ. Here are five quick tips to help you defend your Christian views from critics. 

Step 1: It starts with humanity. 

No one will listen to you if they think that you think they’re stupid. They will get defensive and put a wall up that will never be broken down. So, first things first, recognize their humanity through acknowledging their compassion, effort, or some positive aspect about where they’re coming from. The way to the mind is through the heart.

2: Know your stuff. 

How can you defend your faith if you don’t know your faith? If you really want to teach those around you, it is necessary to invest time in learning why you think what you think. It takes time and effort, but if you really care about others who are being tricked by the secularist culture, then I promise it’s worth it. 

3: Confidence is key.

The conversation definitely starts with humanity. And compassion is a good thing. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be confident and staunch in our beliefs. We need to be dead set on what we believe. For instance, abortion is evil. We know it’s evil and we have reasons to think so. But we need to act like we know it, if that makes sense? We need to say it like we mean it. Have a confident tone of voice and don’t give up on a soul in an argument when you get frustrated. These conversations can be hard and long. But if they see you are persistent, they will have to acknowledge there is something about this topic that is driving your conviction. Conviction is attractive to people. Lukewarmness will never convince anyone. People want to do the right thing. We don’t only have to explain why it’s the right thing. We have to show that we are bought in to our own ideas. 

4: Start to read. 

This tip is kind of related to #2, but it dives a little deeper. Reading is absolutely necessary. Watching videos is good too. But I must emphasize, reading to learn is absolutely necessary. Being a Christian is awesome because we have the truth on our side. Reading books about our faith will be instrumental in learning to defend your views. In a book, or even an article, an author has the chance to slowly and methodically lay out every little detail about his viewpoint. This is important because it is usually in these little details where secularist ideas sneak in and twist the truth. For example, a common argument against Christianity today is that there is no reason to believe in a God who has done so much evil to the world. The argument is flawed because it just assumes that God causes evil. Nothing could be further from the truth. A perfect God could never cause evil. However, he may allow evil for a greater good. It’s details like these  that you will find in a well written article or book arguing for Christian values. Now, there are secular books and articles out there. Just like the aforementioned argument, there is always some truth in those writings. But again, as they say, the devil is in the details. The fight is within the hidden details. So, keep that in mind, and read about your faith.

5: Keep it to one on one.

There’s always an exception to every rule, but always or for the most part try to keep these conversations to one on ones. When people know there are others around watching your conversation, they will get defensive and won’t want to feel any shame if they concede their argument. So, it’s less likely you will have success when someone’s guard is up. And that’s not what we want anyways. The goal is not to shame someone for having erroneous beliefs. The goal is to win hearts and minds. And again, I’ll add, that begins with the heart. In the first tip, we talked about recognizing someone’s humanity. Part of that is upholding their dignity. We must make sure they walk away from that conversation feeling like they have self-worth and confidence. So, keeping conversations to one on one allows two people to become truly vulnerable and recognize each other as equals instead of enemies. It’s always important to view a debate not as a competition, but as a partnership. You’re not working against someone. You’re working together, with them towards the truth. If you want to tell someone they truth, take them by the hand and guide them. There is no truth without love, and there is no love without truth. 

I hope these help you in your pursuit of hearts and minds. God bless.