Apologetics: It Tastes Like Chicken

Apologetics: It Tastes Like Chicken 

by Robin Wilson

Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Taste! What a wonderful sense. Often times when tempted with exotic meat the tempter who has already tried the meat will say "It tastes like chicken". The assumption is that everyone has tasted chicken. Let me assure you, frog legs DO NOT taste like chicken. They taste like pond water and yes I have tasted both. 

Having become a Christian at an early age I put my "God goggles" on and from that day forward have seen through the eyes of a Christian worldview for a very long time. As an apologist, I at first found it hard to take off these "goggles" and "see" the world from a godless point of view.  If you are sincere in your witness to the lost you will need to do this from time to time. 

As Christians we must remember that we have not only "tasted" the Lord to see that He is good but also "ingested" Him in our being by way of the Holy Spirit. You can taste something and spit it out, it is a whole other thing to consume it. 

Hebrews 6:3-6"3 And this we will do if God permits.4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame."

There are many people that have "tasted" God and have claimed to know Him, yet in reality they spit Him out.... never ingesting the Holy Spirit. As apologists we need to avoid describing our Lord in the terms that only Christians understand.  Remember these people may have never "tasted chicken" and have nothing to compare it to. Do not assume a person has "tasted the Lord".  

1. You may not be able to use  Bible verses with a person that has no respect for the Bible.
2. You may not be able to use terms that we as Christians understand the meaning of, like being "saved".
3. You may not be able to simply state how God has changed your life for the better and expect them to understand what you mean by this. 

Keeping this in mind and look for creative ways to introduce them to Jesus

1. Get to know the person and their background.
2. Ask them to explain why they are hostile to God. Let them talk and not respond until they completely explain.
3. After listening to what they say ask the Lord to guide you in your responses and don't check your brains at the door. This person has been placed in your path for a reason. God is willing to guide you.  Luke 12:11 “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

You are not alone in this Great Commission. It may seem like a daunting task to explain the taste of chicken to a person that has never tasted it, but it is not impossible.  

Matthew 28:19-20
"19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,even to the end of the age.” Amen."

By Robin S. Wilson