Pag kinalabit mo ang nakabukang dahon ng makahiya plant, tumitikom ito na tila baga lumalayo na sa’yo. Ganon din kapag may namamaga ang sugat mo, ilinalayo mo ito sa kung anumang bumangga dito kasi ayaw mong masaktan. Oftentimes this is what happens sa ministry kapag tayo’y nasaktan o nagkaroon ng hindi maganda o negative na karanasan. We withdraw. What was once an act of giving (yung ministry natin), now is holding back na parang makahiya o sugat na delikadong makalabit. Ang problema sa apologetics is that it will always begin with a discomfort kasi apologetics being a defense of the faith or the gospel is always situated in a conflict, assumes an objection. So how do you continue?
We have been studying motives for apologetics and today is our last of the three. Kailangan nating malaman na ang assumption ng ating three-part series na ang ating pag-papaliwanag at kapamaraanan sa pag-apologetics ay hindi formula to assure na maniniwala ang tao sa katotohanan ng Diyos. We leave it to God’s decision to reveal Himself to a person. We do not consider our apologetics method or tactics na final na susi sa pagbukas ng puso at isipan ng tao. This leaves us with a humble realization that this work is not finally our work but God’s. Not our kindness and our reasoning that have the final say.
We may have gained skills in setting the stage and presenting our case and demolishing arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against the knowledge of Christ, but these things do not have the final say. Tulad nga ng nasabi ng the late Bill Bright about witnessing na related din sa apologetics, “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” And this reality oftentimes frustrates us because we want immediate outcomes. We can't control that pero we can can calibrate our motives. So we need a motivation to continue doing without the desired outcome that oftentimes entice us away.
We call these the motivations of faith, hope and love. When faith is our motive in apologetics, we take a step of confidence to a ministry that might probably leave us insulted, uncomfortable etc. but our trust is in a Person who is committed to teach us; when hope is also our motive, we work with contagious energy because our hope is bigger than our task: the Big God who gives us joy; and lastly, when love is also our motive [along with faith and hope], we will continue to serve and give despite the many hurts and negative trials that come our way because that is the love we learned from Christ, a love that gives, a love that serves -- not merely a feeling kind of love, but an action kind of love. Because apologetics is also a witness, we witness for Christ because of our love.
This loves gives back to God and to neighbor. Sa Matthew 22:36 tinanong ang ating Panginoong Hesus,
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”This is the situation that also makes apologetics good. To continue to love as an act of grateful obedience sa Diyos. Pero nararapat na maunawaan pa natin ang katangiang pagbibigay ng pag-ibig.
To understand love, we have to start with the love of God. Love is nasa nature ng Diyos. Just as breathing is part of our life, love is with God. God is love (1 John 4:8) -- yang ang nature Niya. Pag sinabing nature o kalikasan, ang katangiang ito ay inseparable sa Kanya. Napakalawak ng meaning ng divine love pero sa interes ng topic natin ngayon let’s focus sa isang key characteristic netong divine love. Mag focus tayo sa motion of the will. This motion is one of giving. We understand love also as a giving attribute and reaching-out motivation from God. If He is not loving wala ang idea ng blessing, grace at favor.
This motion should characterize our apologetics ministry. Magbigay maski may mga obstacles.
Kung wala pong motion of the will to give ang Diyos, wala pong meaning ang divine grace at mercy. Wala tayong kaligtasan kung hindi bahagi ng kalikasan ng Diyos ang mag-gawad, magbigay. Ang grace, if you look sa verses like, Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” may motion ang will ng Diyos from Himself giving a gift to someone. Again, kung walang love ang Diyos hindi mago-occur sa isipan niya to grant something. Ika nga ng isang kilalang Baptist theologian na is D.A. Carson, “[God’s] love wells up amidst His perfections and is not generated by the loveliness of the loved.” Grace amplifies our understanding of what divine love is. Imaginine niyo na lang na imbes love, God would be like the Canaanite god na Moloch na may lust for blood. Imbes na magbigay siya, kukuha siya ng mga child sacrifice.
Ang mercy halos tulad din ng grace pero may key distinction. While sa grace, the receiver is undeserving of gifts because he is not qualified, mercy on the other hand the receiver deserves punishment sa ginawa niya laban doon sa magga-grant ng mercy sa kanya. Parang yung sa Prodigal Son. Siya na nga yung lumapastangan sa Ama niya ang Ama pa ang tumakbo palapit sa kanya nang siya ay manumbalik. Imbes parusahan siya, mercy ang natanggap niya. Sa madaling salita, ikaw na nga yung binigyan ng Diyos ng buhay ikaw pa ang gumawa ng sala sa kanya, subalit in His mercy He bestowed salvation pa. Hightlighted ang love diyan kasi kung wala sa bokabolaryo ng Diyos na magbigay, then you won’t receive any. Mercy amplifies our understanding of that giving nature of God.
The love of God is an act of His will din to grant something, give favor etc. It is this best depicted in the act of giving a gift. Sa apologetics, you are trying a doubter to arrive at knowledge goods of truth, understanding and wisdom na galing sa Diyos. This is your motion to give.
God gave in creation. Kung wala sa nature ng Diyos ang love, He wouldn’t even think of granting somebody something. He wouldn’t create a world that obviously He does not need but is needed by the people He created and loved.
Idagdag ko lang etong sinabi ng Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology on God’s love,
That seeking and bridging reaches its pinnacle when God sends his Son into the world to rescue sinners and to provide them with eternal life ( John 3:16 ; Rom 5:7-8 ; Eph 2:1-5 ). John declares, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" ( 1 John 3:16 ). God's love is not based on the merit of the recipient ( Deut 7:7-8 ; Rom 5:7-8 ). Because he is love, God is not willing that any person should perish, but wills that everyone repent and live ( Ezek 18:32 ; 2 Peter 3:9 ).†And this love serves as the foundation for our loving for in 1 John 4:7-8 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This is foundational sa ministry ng apologetics.
How we understand love should not be merely emotive o yung arousing intense feeling na typical sa mga puppy love at mga hugot. Importante din yan pero feelings can disappear, but that doesn't mean love can go to. We may not have great feelings, but we can still continue with great love -- the love that we learn from Christ.
We learned from the nature of God na ang love ay may motion of the will that gives. Yes, magbigay. Without God's love, the ideas of grace, mercy and blessing do not make sense at all --
in fact they will be empty words pag ganon. Ang John 3:16 has this idea, "For God so loved the world that he GAVE his one and only Son."
Pinakita ni Kristo na praiseworthy ang ganitong uri ng pagmamahal sa Luke 7:44-46 kung saan kinukumpara nya ang gawi ni Simon the Pharisee to that of the sinful woman. So notice the act of the will that “gives” here --
Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.”This motion of the will to give is one of the cardinal features of love in the Bible. This feature should be a burning motive in our commitment to serve even in an adversity-filled Christian task called apologetics. Oo mahihirapan talaga kasi malimit mahihirap ang tanong at may naka-angkas pang emotion. Madali kang madiscourage. Subalit, kung isa sa mga key motives mo for ministry is to love with its motion to give, 'yang motive na yan will give character to your action to continue the God-given task of defending the faith. That is the love of Christ in action.
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