Why Should Mamas Study Apologetics?

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Why should Mamas study apologetics? The truth is Mamas manage more big questions than just about anyone else. Everything from why is the sky blue to is God real, falls into our lap! And how you answer matters!

Apologetics.

That word probably immediately stirs up some sort of feeling deep in your chest.

You either roll you eyes- picturing men in stuffy suits debating the age of the earth, shrug your shoulders because you aren’t entirely sure what apologetics is, or you lean back with a sly grin because you already know that this is important.

Wherever you are on the spectrum, I’m so glad you’re here. I have been in all three of those mindsets at some point or another. This blog is to go over my own experience with diving into apologetics, the reasons all Mamas should dive in, and some encouragement as you aim those precious arrows.

Because- this is what it is all about. So grab a coffee and let’s chat: why Should Mamas Study Apologetics?

“I have no use for Apologetics.”

That’s a direct quote from none other than yours truly!

I had no use for Apologetics. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but I had a really great relationship with God built on faith so I didn’t need it. But for some reason my husband did. That drove me nuts. He had gone from being an Atheist to Agnostic- to a devoted Christian. I had prayed for that transition. I thanked God for changing his heart. But now he was diving into this strange world I couldn’t understand.

He lugged around his Bible and spoke of Logos and the Kalam cosmological argument. For his birthday we sat through hours of Dr. William Lane Craig giving a presentation and answering questions at a college campus. I wrestled fussy toddlers with Chik-fil-A while he hung on every word.

I tried to talk him out of it. Truly, I am ashamed to say that now, but at the time I felt that if he needed all this proof for God and the Bible then surely He lacked faith and love for Jesus, right? For some reason I couldn’t see at the time that it was Apologetics that had ultimately won Him to Christ. If I’m being honest, I think I assumed there weren’t answers to all of our questions. As if God somehow wasn’t big enough to conquer our doubts so we shouldn’t dwell on them.

I had no use for apologetics, until I needed apologetics

Have you ever heard someone say something about God that just sort of made your ears perk up?

Something that you know deep down in your soul is untrue, but you can’t pinpoint the lie. A few years ago I watched as people that I had previously looked up to for their Christian faith began to walk away. It was an odd thing to watch and I began to notice a pattern.

It would begin with this idea that slowly crept in that they were somehow more loving and more just than God. “Oh well a loving God would never….” I’m sure we have all heard someone say that at some point or another. Then it would become this loving embrace of the LGBTQ+ ideology. Not a loving embrace in that they should come to church and find their identity in Christ, but rather that their desires were their identity and we should just love them enough to accept them. (I have a blog on the Redefinition of Love, if you want more information on that movement. You can read it here!)

Little by little, these people would ‘deconstruct’ their faith until they had to make a public assertion that they were in fact “no longer Christian.”

Christian musicians, pastors, authors, friends, and previous co-workers- abandoning their faith. I couldn’t make it make sense. I couldn’t understand what I was watching happen in the body of Christ; I needed someone, something- anything- to help me understand what was happening.

In Walked Apologetics

I was obsessively searching the Internet for anything that could make this all make sense. Nowadays, you can read up on this on almost any Christian website or hear all about it on any Christian podcast, but at the time I couldn’t seem to find anything that really spoke to what my eyes were seeing. My heart knew something was wrong, but no one else seemed to be noticing.

And then I found Alisa Childers.

Can I just say that Mamas diving into Apologetics is one of the most profound and beautiful things in our world today?

For those who don’t know Alisa’s story, she was once a singer in the Christian group ZOEgirl. She was raised in church and later joined a church in Nashville, Tennessee. Her Pastor at this church offered a select group a private Bible study essentially. He marketed it as a Theology course, and invited her to take part in it. She agreed. In this class, however, she learned that this Pastor was deconstructing his faith. He filled the room with doubts and questions and pushed this Progressive Christianity that has become so rampant today.

Alisa found herself spiraling, drowning in an ocean of doubt. Most people stop there. They walk away.. But thank God, Alisa did not. She’s a Mama after all, and Mamas don’t give up that easily. Instead she dove into Apologetics and found the answers the needed to reconstruct her faith- stronger and better than ever.

Diving In

I watched a couple of interviews with Alisa Childers and learned that she would be starting her own podcast soon. And this was my on ramp. I began listening to podcasts and reading books I had previously snubbed my nose at. I began questioning my husband and entertaining lively debates with him.

(Side note: Apologetics has been wonderful for our marriage. It has helped us both to be better communicators with each other and with others. It has also given us a common hobby and something to enjoy together.)

I started tuning in weekly for 20 Questions with Mike Winger and introducing Apologetics to the Sunday school class I teach at church. Apologetics gave me an opportunity to ask my own questions and find real answers. It didn’t destroy my faith; it increased it. I began to realize that God has left evidence for Himself- everywhere- all throughout history, nature, science, language, and art. The Bible is the Word of God, but it is not the only proof of Him. (Not to mention all the amazing evidence for the Bible!) He is not the author of confusion, and He wants us to know why it is that we believe in Him!

So that’s why I study apologetics. But Why Should Mamas Study Apologetics?

I Read My Bible, Isn’t that Enough?

Absolutely, that is a fantastic place to start- and end for that matter. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. And I am a firm believer that if a Bible is all you have, then a Bible is all you need!

1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we should “always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.” The Greek word translated here as ‘defense’ is apologia– it means to give reasons or evidence for.

Mamas, I want you to pause here for a second. Shut your eyes and ask yourself the question- why do you believe in God? What is your reasoning for committing your entire life to walking with Him? It has to be something more than because my parents did and expected me to. Our parents’ faith is not ours- it may influence ours but it isn’t a dominant trait passed down like the color of our eyes. And the same is true for our children. Our faith will not be theirs simply because we have it. We have to be ready to give them a defense for the hope within us.

Does anyone else here have the big brained kid who is bursting with questions?

That’s my oldest, Isaiah. He is full of great big questions. Questions that make me have to stop and think long and hard before I can answer. He needs thoughtful, logical answers, and he needs me to give them. The Bible is enough. It tells us all about Jesus, who He is and what He did. It is the roadmap to salvation. But when the question arises as to “was He real?” Do you know that there is immense historical proof for Him? Reading our Bible is the place to start and it is the place to end. Everything should be measured against the word of God, but there are so many resources to help Mamas navigate the word- to better understand it and teach it to our children. There is so much proof for the God we serve, don’t ignore it.

The world is set on making them doubt, your job is to make sure their foundation is strong!

Everyone has doubts, you just need more Faith!

I think this is the classic answer in the church.

And it is why Apologetics is so crucial. Apologetics doesn’t say “you just have to believe it” or “you just need more faith”. Instead it says “this is the reason why” or “this is the evidence for..”

I think the best way to show this is how Jesus answered doubts in the Bible.

You’re probably thinking of Thomas here, right? How he refused to believe Jesus had risen until he put his finger through the nail scar and saw the pierced side. That is a good example of Jesus proving Himself, but I love when John the Baptist is consumed with doubt.

John the Baptist. The forerunner. The one who comes in the Spirit of Elijah. That same baby who literally proclaimed the name of Jesus in the womb! The man who lived off locusts and wild honey, the voice crying in the wilderness. That John the Baptist- who baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descending on Him like a dove- doubts. It almost sounds humorous. How could he, of all people, doubt who Jesus was?

But he did.

While sitting in prison he sends a messenger to Jesus and asks- “Are you Him, or should we seek another?”

After all this. Everything John has went through- sitting in prison for proclaiming the truth of God- he asks, “Are you even really the one?”

And of course Jesus rebukes him and shames him! How could he possibly question me? No, that’s not what Jesus does. Instead He gives a defense that will satisfy John’s doubts. He tells the messengers to go and tell John what they have heard and seen- “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

This is prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years before (Isaiah 35:5-6), so when John hears what Jesus is doing- he immediately knows this is the one.

Jesus answered. He gave a defense. If there were ever a time to tell someone to just have faith this was it. Jesus doesn’t rebuke John. He gives a defense, and then Jesus turns to the crowd and speaks of who John is- “Verily I say unto you, Among them that is born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11)

Mamas, our babies need to hear our defense. They need to know why we believe what we believe. Logic is not opposed to faith- our faith grows when our understanding Jesus grows.

I’m a great Gatekeeper, so I don’t worry about opposing world views

I know that you all are great gatekeepers, really and truly I mean that. You care what your children see on TV, you monitor or hide them away from the internet, and you shelter them with your very life.

But Mama, did you ever think you would have to tell your children they can’t choose their gender?

Did you ever for a moment fathom that other adults would be seeking to undermine your authority as the teacher of you children?

There are laws being discussed where children can be taken from their parents if their parents do not allow them to take puberty blockers if they feel they are in the wrong body.

I never imagined the depths and derangement of opposing view points that would be crammed down on my babies. I never imagined so many people would question my authority or my love for them simply for trying to protect them.

Mamas, we can be the greatest gatekeepers in the world, and we should strive to do our best; but we have to live in glass houses with one way glass- as is age appropriate of course.

We must introduce our children to world views and help them to see them through a Biblical lens. I want my children to meet other religions in an atmosphere where we can talk through them and reason them out together. I want them to view their bodies and their identities through their Creator’s eyes.

Apologetics cracks open the door to the world and allows us to view everything through a lens of logic and reason.

Once we can establish that truth exists and is universal, when we can prove God and His word are true, when logic aligns with religion and our view of the world is shaped through God’s eyes- we can open the gate and trust that they can navigate the world outside- no matter what lies it throws at them.

Okay, okay I get it, so where do I start?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked!

First of all, you should start with you.

What are your questions?

What are the doubt in the back of your mind that you refuse to acknowledge for fear that if you pull the thread your whole world might unravel?

Start there.

Dig deep and find answers that satisfy your questions. Take every idea captive and hold it up alongside the word of God. Learn to read your Bible in its context- without your preconceived notions and ideas.

And if you find that you are wrong about something, throw out the bath water- but keep the baby. Don’t deconstruct if you find that one of the pieces is in backwards. We can rebuild and create a stronger foundation on truth.

Here are a few resources to get you started!

Alisa Childers’s YouTube channel. There are tons of videos here discussing the importance of theology, understanding doctrine, how to read the Bible, discerning world views, and more!

BibleThinker.org Helping You Learn to think Biblically about Everything! This is a great site to look up exact questions on!

7 Lies Your Children Will Believe Unless You Do Something- Mike Winger with Elizabeth Urbanowicz This video is a great place to start understanding the common lies that are fed to our children and what we can do to counteract them.

And last but certainly not least the book, Mama Bear Apologetics! I am a firm believer that every new Mama should be gifted a copy of Mama Bear Apologetics and a Yeti Coffee Mug upon leaving the hospital- in the meantime, this is a great baby shower gift! Mama Bear Apologetics is exactly what it sounds like Apologetics for Mama Bears! Mamas who are not content to roll over and let the world feed their children lies. When you go to war with those sweet arrows in your quiver, make sure this is in your Arsenal!

Aiming Arrows

This is really the heart behind this entire website. I love sharing recipes and homemaking encouragement and I think it is all part of aiming our arrows, but this is the most important work. Mama, there is nothing more important you will do in your life than tell your children about Jesus. Regardless of your gym schedule, your income, or how high you climb the social, economic, or corporate ladder- nothing compares to introducing your children to Jesus.

Aiming your arrows is the most important work of your life. Everything else will pass away. Your recipes may live on for a couple of generations.

Your work ethic may impact your grandchildren.

But in the end, we leave it all behind.

It won’t matter how clean your house is or if you kept up with laundry.

It won’t matter if you served a homemade dinner every night or zipped through KFC after a ball game.

Those treasures we store up for ourselves in heaven are not about the money we saved or the car we drove. It’s all about the people we share the gospel with. The people we walk to Calvary with. The ones we pray with and for. That work is eternal. Fire doesn’t touch it. Death cannot harm it. We are aiming arrows into eternity.

We are aiming to raise children who will love God with all their hearts for all their lives!

And that is why Mamas should study apologetics.

Happy Aiming!

-Ashley

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