Zacharias' message more pastoral than apologetic
By Mike Haynes
All the
time, people ask Ravi Zacharias questions such as, “Why does God allow
suffering?” “Why does God allow disease?” Although the world-renown preacher
and author has many philosophical answers, his brief response during a sermon
at Hillside Christian Church was more speculative:
“Cancer.
Medical issues. How do we know God did not send someone to help us with all of
this by the brilliance of their mind and their capability, and we aborted those
individuals right in the womb?”
Addressing
the questions of doubters wasn’t his main intent in Hillside’s Saturday night
service April 2. The native of India, head of Ravi Zacharias International
Ministries in Atlanta, is known as an apologist, which means he presents
logical reasons for the truth of Christianity. But as Hillside pastor Tommy
Politz noted, Zacharias’ message in Amarillo was more pastoral than
apologetic.
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| Ravi Zacharias at Hillside Christian Church April 2, 2016 |
It also was
inspirational. I had heard Ravi – in evangelical Christian circles, he almost
has first-name status – on the radio and had seen the white-haired intellectual
in online videos, but he was new to my wife, Kathy. Her reaction was, “Wow, I’d
like to hear him again.”
This
message didn’t deal in sterile, hard argument but in informed kindheartedness. Zacharias
recalled that his daughter, Naomi, couldn’t find her keys a few months ago and
said, “I must be losing my mind.” His 3½-year-old grandson, Jude, replied,
“Mommy, whatever you do, please don’t ever lose your heart, because I’m in
there.”
After an
“awww” from the congregation, Zacharias made several pastoral points. Drawing
from the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25, he cautioned parents not to
favor one child over another. He urged communicating with family members whether
it’s at a baseball game or a restaurant. And he warned that the way to succeed
is not through deception.
Zacharias
said while the greatest strength of his native India is its brilliant minds in
science and other fields, its greatest weakness is corruption, including in
business and government. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the late D.D.
Davis, an Ohio businessman who gave Zacharias a large donation to help start
his ministry.
When the
evangelist asked Davis what he wanted in return, Davis said he wanted only one
thing: integrity.
“When
you’re living a duplicitous life, you’re running” from God, Zacharias said.
He recited
a long passage from the 1893 poem by drug addict Francis Thompson, “The Hound
of Heaven.” God pursues us even as we flee from him, Zacharias said.
Yes, even
poetry was compelling in that slightly hoarse but soothing voice, dramatic but
genuine. And though Zacharias’ sermon was by no means academic, you left
knowing he is both a fervent believer and a solid scholar. I later had to look
up F.W. Boreham, who Zacharias called one of the greatest Christian essayists
in part because of “The Sword of Solomon.” The visiting preacher, pointing out
that “each individual is indivisible,” quoted Boreham on the laws of math: “The
two halves of a baby make no baby at all. … No man who has once fallen in love
will ever be persuaded that one and one are only two. He looks at her and feels
that one plus one would be a million.”
In addition
to his overt message, Ravi Zacharias gives the impression that Christianity is
so multi-faceted that all its glory can’t be experienced in a lifetime.
Literature, family, struggle, joy, healing, humor, integrity, trust, scripture,
transition – all those and much more bring meaning to lives touched by Christ.
“Jesus
didn’t come to make bad people good,” he said. “Jesus came to make dead people
live.”
* * *
Ravi Zacharias’ Amarillo message is
available online at http://hillsidewired.com/message/raised-to-run. 
