I have been thinking about this term ("defending the faith") quite a bit lately and the more I consider it the more I believe it is not what we, as followers of the Way of Christ, are supposed to be doing.  This past week the topic came up again for me as I listened to a sermon from a very "fundamentalist" viewpoint, especially in regard to how we should use Scripture.  Unintentionally perhaps, this sermon seemed to imply that people should value Scripture primarily as being inerrant, authoritative, literal, revelatory, objective, absolute, propositional, etc. 

I am not saying I totally disagree with these characteristics or their importance, but I am saying they lend themselves to the rationalist concept of apologetics or defense.  As I was reading more of McLaren’s A Generous Orthodoxy, I was able to pinpoint some of my discomfort in elevating "the defense of the faith" in this way.  Fundamentally, I don’t think that’s the most important thing (or even an important thing!)  I agree with McLaren’s statements below:

For me the fundamentals of the faith boil down to those given by Jesus: to love God and to love your neighbor.  These two fundamentals will not satisfy many fundamentalists, I fear.  They’ll insist on asking, "Which God are we supposed to love?  The God of the Baptists or Brethren, the God of the Calvinists or Methodists, the God of the Muslims or Jews?"  I’ll respond by saying, "Whichever God Jesus was referring to."  Then, still unsatisfied, they’ll probably ask, "What exactly do you mean by love? And who is my neighbor?"  At that point I’ll probably mutter something incoherrent about Samaritans and walk away…

…Jesus has taught us that the way to know what God is like is not by determining our philosophical boundary conditions / definitions / delineations before departing, but rather the way to know is by embarking on an adventure of faith, hope, and love, even if you don’t know where your path will lead (think of Abraham, Hebrews 11:8).  The way to know God is by following Jesus on that adventure.  One doesn’t learn what God is like in a library or pew and then begin to love God in real life.  One begins to love God and others in real life.  In the process one learns what God is like–and one might be driven to the library and pew to learn more.  Anyone who doesn’t embark on the adventure of love doesn’t know God at all, whatever he can say or define or delineate, for God is love."

In that last sentence I’d like to add defend to his list.  How can we love God and others when we are so busy being defensive or constructing our mental proof checklists?  Honestly addressing and answering people’s questions, concerns, and skeptism is OK, but I think that’s different from the defense mentality I’m referring to.  I think we need to seriously consider Jesus summation of the law and practice living it out.  We also need to re-evaluate why we value Scripture and how it should be used to follow Christ command to love God / neighbor.  That’s my 25 cents on the matter!