I was an elementary student nung mapanood ko ang action film ni Lito Lapid na San Basilio. Hindi pa common film term noon ang hyper-reality. Ang hyperreality sa film ay yung simulation or representation of reality na distorted or exaggerated. Sa isang napaka memorable na eksena ng pelikulang San Basilio, tinakasan ng dalawang pusakal si Julio Valiente (played by Lito Lapid) sa isang maisan. Kailangan niyang i-neutralize and dalawang ito subalit iisa na lang ang bala niya. Ang ginawa niya ay itinapat nya ang talim ng kaniyang kutsilyo sa nguso ng kaniyang baril and then fired the gun, splitting the bullet and then hitting the two murderous villains. Sa proverbial na Western idiom, ang tawag dito ay hitting two birds with one stone.
It is always beneficial sa ministry kung may multiple functions ang isang task o hitting two birds with one stone or bullet. Namu-multiply ang effect ng efforts mo. Today I will introduce to you a method in doing apologetics which I develop called 4H Apologetics. Ito po ay method na hitting two birds with one stone dahil it has two functions for you as a Christian servant. First it is a personal learning process (a curriculum -- a road map for personal development in the area of apologetics). The root word ng curriculum sa Latin ay currile or road, way or path. You can use 4H na parang gabay sa daan ng pagsasaliksik. Pag may natanggap kang objection, may personal learning process ka to deal with the objection na pasunud-sunod. Para siyang automated instruction kasi – Step 1 – Hear; Step 2 – Help; Step 3 – Heal; Step 4 – Honor.
Pangalawang function, 4H Apologetics is also an conversation outline kung paano ka makikipag usap or makiki-engage sa skeptic or talagang naghahanap ng kasagutan sa Christianity. Magsisilbi siyang conversational pipeline to create an environment that is conducive for the production of belief, whether it be a verbal engagement or a written engagement.
Bawat isa diyan has specific actions to do that will guide you in not only finding answers but also hope to lead ‘yung kausap mo for a better knowledge of God. “Nothing can be done except little by little,” sabi nung French poet na si Charles Baudelaire.
Marapat lamang na ang isang nag-eengage sa apologetics ay magkaroon ng conscious at concientious (a quality ng isang tao na “wishing to do what is right, especially to do one's work or duty well and thoroughly” ) dahil apologetics is a ministry din and as such it should involve a process na mahihiyangan ng Christian.
Oftentimes I find myself flustered o nagugulumihanan listening to objections of people sa Christianity dahil napaka complicated niya. Ganyan din ang nangyari kay Fritz, isang university student na involved sa isang campus ministry. Sa isang evangelistic project ng kaniyang campus ministry, gumamit siya ng isang survey sa isa niyang kaklase bilang simula ng kaniyang pre-evangelism efforts. Sa survey na ito may paraan siya para matanong ang kaklase niya about his views about God, sin and other things. It was at this point na, sa salita ni Fritz, “binakuran siya ng maraming tanong at complaint about God.” Ang kaklase pala niyang ito ay dati daw believer pero naging agnostic na. The reason I tell this story is because of Fritz reaction sa mga tanong ng classmate niya. He fell into an argument. He confessed that he was aiming to give him immediate answers at doon siya nalito.
In talking to people na may mga objections, mas maganda kung may engagement plan ka. That is just what 4H Apologetics does. At the back of your mind, you will follow a process to respond to this objection.
At kung regular na gagawin mo ito, ikaw ngayon ay magkakaroon ng mastery sa skill na ito.
Sa pakikipag-usap natin it is important if we have a mental outline how we will try to tackle an objection. Sa Hear, you will listen and determine the argument. You will submit yourself under the force of reasoning ng kausap mo. Sa Help, you will provide your counter-claim and support with which you will have to build a cumulative case using positive and negative apologetics. Sa Heal, you will attempt to identify a non-biblical idea and recuperate that non-biblical idea with a biblical one. Lastly, sa Honor you will try to lead the person to a simple study of the Scripture you used to recuperate the wrong idea earlier. Although you might think this is a confusing task, actually mas mapapadali kasi for every H mayroon kang given tasks na gagawin na well-defined.
So 4H Apologetics is a process. This is where it gets challenging in the church (at nagiging source din ng frustration ko malimit) because when I introduce 4H, some Christians would feedback, “Kinakahon mo ang Holy Spirit pag ganyan" or “Just follow the leading of the Spirit.” While there are true principles that ground those statements, like “Don’t rely too much on your own ability” and “Be spiritually sensitive to the Holy Spirit” those statements above are accusations that will remain baseless if (1) you follow a process AND AT THE SAME TIME (2) have the humility not to trust on your process alone but be prayerful and (3) submit to the work of the Holy Spirit who is not against making process. I have frequently asked Christians who say those statements kung they do regular quiet time of prayer, praise, devotions and Bible reading; if they say yes, I would tell them, “That’s a process.”
Sa kanyang aklat na The High Performance Entrepreneur, ang author na si Subrioto Bagchi tells this story,
Fuji Xerox was a joint venture between Fuji and Xerox. Fuji Xerox won the legendary Deming Prize for Total Quality Management even before Xerox, the parent company, got the Malcolm Baldridge Award for quality in the US. The gentleman was explaining why process orientation is the key to building competitive success. Someone asked him vainly, “But Michelangelo followed no process?”
Unflustered, the expert replied, “First, be Michelangelo.”Maganda nga ang may process kasi mayroon kang tinitingnan that you can evaluate. “Everything we do is a process that can always be improved,” sabi ni Tanmay Vora.
Everybody else, he said, must follow process
Yet we are aware that we do not want this process to devolve into a technique that we think ensures an end that is only given to the Holy Spirit to accomplish. May certain skepticism ka din kahit papano sa process. Hindi ganap yung pang-unawa natin sa proseso kasi ilalapat mo iyan sa iba-ibang environment at almost always, mag aadapt ka on may areas. Pero ganun pa man a process is important.
Sa 4H Apologetics gusto nating kunin ang mga pagdududa at gawin itong pagpupuri o yung tinatawag natin dito na from doubt to doxology. This is our big program. Sa ganitong paraan patuloy nawang masumpungan ng mga believers ang pag-asa at katotohanan ng salita ng Diyos though the believer walks through the valley of the shadow of doubt. Bawat isang H sa 4H may dalawang katanungan. Ang mga katanungan pong ito progressively outlines a Christian’s journey from doubt to doxology.
Ang mga katanungang ito kada isang H ay ang sumusunod. Sa Hear, ang first question is “What is the claim of the argument?” Second question: “What is the support of the argument? Sa help naman po, ang dalawang magkasunod na tanong ay “What is your counter-claim?” at “What is the support of your counter-claim?” Sa 3rd H, Heal, ang dalawang magkasunod na tanong sa outline is “What is the idol that this argument is trying to create?” at “What is the biblical teaching about God that recuperates this idea of the idol?” Sa last H, Honor, “What application can you draw out from the correct ideo of God?” and “What action point can you resolve to do at this point?”
Kung mapapansin ninyo ang process helps you not only to provide an answer sa objection, but also support a congenial environment well-suited for reaching God’s goods of truth, understanding and wisdom. Nakalapat ang 4H para ‘yung pinag usapan nating mga intellectual virtues sa previous episode ay magamit mo as a witness so that you create this environment na hiyang sa paghahanap ng katotohanan. It is also my hope na sa pakikipag usap mo sa kaniya, mapalapit din kayo sa isa’t isa at maipatotoo mo rin sa kaniya ang kabutihan ng Diyos sa iyong buhay.
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