A Battle Nobody Wants to Fight

There’s a saying “Pick your battles.” It means don’t waste your time fighting for things that aren’t worth it. You shouldn't waste your time and energy on causes of little benefit.

One fight worth waging is apologetics—the defense of the Christian Faith. Believing in the value of sound doctrine, Paul exhorted his protege Timothy with these words:

Fight the good fight of the Faith (1 Timothy 6:12).

This exhortation worked for Timothy. He took up the battle. He defended sound doctrine. He allowed himself to be inspired by Paul's words. However, apologetics is a lost science today. Look around the Church. Hardly anyone is interested in it.

Apologetics consists of explaining the fundamental doctrines of Christianity to our detractors. But who can explain Christian Fundamentals in this age of apostasy? Most pastors today can’t even explain the Fundamentals to their own congregations, much less to critics, heretics, or gainsayers. Pastors today simply don't know what sound doctrine even is.

There was a time, in the days of the Early Church, when every pastor was trained to do apologetics. There was a time when it was a requirement for every pastor and deacon to defend the apostolic doctrines—what Paul called the trustworthy message.

He [a pastor] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people … rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the Faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the Truth (Titus 1:9-14).

The standard for pastors and older men in the Early Church was high. They needed to be sound in the Faith. They needed to be able to 'refute those who oppose' sound doctrine. They needed to be able to deal with people who reject the Truth.

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in the Faith, in love, and in endurance (Titus 2:2; NIV modified).

The Best of Them

Today, there are some Evangelical ministries (GotQuestions.org, Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM), reasonablefaith.org) famous among Evangelicals for their work pointing out the errors of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other deviant pseudo-Christian organizations.

And there are a handful of ministries which have become popular for an emphasis on sound doctrine (Ligonier Ministries, Grace to You, Desiring God)—but how can we gauge whether their doctrine is truly sound?

It's easy. Do any of these ministries teach the Fundamentals of Hebrews 6:1-2? Do they recognize that Fundamental doctrines are identified in the Bible? Do they value the seven great Realities of Ephesians 4:3-6? Do they have a statement of faith? (Most churches are afraid to publish one on their websites today). If they do, does it align with what the Bible calls ‘the Faith’?

Let's say they recognized the importance of Ephesian 6:3-6. Great. Is their One God the Father? Is their One Baptism the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Do they demand of their congregation that each one manifest a spiritual gift?

Do they preach the One Hope as the coming Kingdom of God? Does their evangelism include baptism for the forgiveness of sins? Do they preach a Resurrection from the Dead? Do they know how Jesus became Lord?

If not, then these ministries (as good as they are) are a snare. At best, they turn people’s hearts towards the Bible. At worst, they breed fanatics—that is, people passionate for human teachings. And at the very worst, the people they inspire to be passionate about their man-made doctrines will someday persecute those of us who keep our focus on the Bible.

The best of them is like a thorn bush, the most upright like a thorn hedge (Micah 7:4; NASB).

The ministries we named above are the best we know of. If someone were to ask us for a recommendation of what ministry to go to so that they might be strengthened spiritually, we would have to name one of these (even though none of them are doctrinally sound when held to the standards of the Fundamentals or the Seven Realities). Check for yourself: None of them are founded on the basic Truths of Christianity.

Regardless of the condition of the Church, whether it be in apostasy or revival, you and I have been exhorted by the Holy Spirit to fight the good fight of the Faith. The main challenge with this exhortation today is that you’re unlikely to find people to side with you. If nobody around you is able to define sound doctrine properly—that is, if your friends don’t have any knowledge of the Faith, you’ll have to wage this battle with little support.

What Should We Fight For?

Now, “fighting for faith” [faith with no the] on a socio-political level is another cause altogether. That is, defending freedom of religion is another kind of fight. If that is your righteous cause, you’re going to have to defend the cause of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists right along with Christians in your country's court system. You’re going to become increasingly busy with law and legislation defending religious groups.

However, that’s not what Paul was telling Timothy to do. Rather, Paul was exhorting Timothy to battle for a body of doctrine. This verse should never read “Fight the good fight of faith” in any Bible version. In the original Greek, it says the Faith. The Greek does not have the word faith by itself. Faith in this passage must have the article the --the Faith! That's what we're fighting for--the sound doctrine we've inherited from the Apostles, the doctrine of the Apostles.

What You Must Do

To fight for sound doctrine, you and I must debate with people in the Church. We must defend the New Testament teachings of the Apostles by preparing sound arguments. This requires boldness, bravery, and manliness. It requires the attitude of a soldier. Look at what Paul wrote about the approach of his missionary team. He said:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Do you have solid arguments? Can you handle the Fundamentals the way a trained soldier would handle his weapon? Are you willing to fight this battle, the good fight of the Faith? You'll have to do what Paul did and 'take captive every thought' which 'sets itself up against the knowledge of God' in Christian churches and among Christian friends.

“But,” you say, “there are so many contradictions of sound doctrine.” You're right. These are times of apostasy. The Church is in worse shape than ever. But God chose you to be a part of this generation, and it is incumbent upon you to be bold.

Are you afraid? We all are to one degree or another. But don't let that get you down. Be brave. Bravery is not the absence of fear. It’s the willingness to face your fears. So face the false prophets. Demolish their arguments. Fight for the Faith!