Vol. VII No. 10

The Debate

Written by Christopher Mentzer

As the start of this month Ryan and his father-in-law, Jacob were in a debate concerning the topic of The church of Christ as a cult. I hadn’t heard from him since then and decided to drop him an e-mail to find out what happened. Here’s his response…

RYAN: Good to hear from you Chris! I trust your daughters are enjoying the summer off? Rachel was sad that school was over but she loves summer as well.

Our two-night debate was a success. There were members from both congregations at both evenings as well as dozens of visitors from other churches. Things did get a little heated each night in our discussion but I reminded myself as to why we were doing this to begin with and it helped me a lot!

On several occasions Jacob attempted to intimidate me with his accusations and I simply asked him for bible passages to back up his statements and he was unable to produce them. I found out later that this is how he handles all of his debates through intimidation and passionate words and very little scripture. Most of his opponents would crumple as they were too inexperienced. Although I was inexperienced, I knew that without book, chapter and verse for the things you believe in, you have no platform to stand on.

After the second evening Jacob actually approached me and admitted defeat! A very difficult thing for him to do. In addition, he asked to have a bible study with me as I had shown him things he wasn’t aware of that were actually in the scriptures. I think this is the start of a new convert!

Happy to hear these results, I replied to his e-mail…

CHRIS: Congratulations are in order! Not for the debate itself but for standing up in what you believe and giving a defense against false doctrine (1 Pet. 3: 15-16; Eph. 5: 11). Also for getting through Jacob’s hard heartedness to show him the “light of the world” which is Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:12). Debates, like this one, rarely have this kind of ending. Usually both sides will admit victory and go off to continue to believe the way they did before the debate began. Jacob must have actually listened to your words and where you found them in the scriptures. To me it shows that he is interested in finding the truth. I’m sure with Kathy and Regina as new converts, somewhere deep inside him, he knew that they were doing the right thing but chose to ignore it because of his beliefs.

Hopefully a bible study with you (and I suggest you involve your wife and mother-in-law) will make Jacob clearly see what the scriptures say.

A couple days later Ryan sent me this response…

RYAN: I will definitely include Regina and Kathy in the bible study. I just fear that Jacob will come to the table with his preconceived notions and attempt to overtake the study himself. I plan to begin with a discussion on authority as I know that is the right place to begin and then we’ll move on to the use of titles and the plan of salvation. I’m not sure how long this will take and, of course, I’m not going to make a timetable but I hope that he will be open and honest and actually make an effort to study the truth.

Oh, one more thing before I close. Just thought I’d let you know that I’m working out a business deal with a friend of mine and I may not have to work in the grocery store anymore!

Oftentimes we rely on what the preacher to study for us and allow him to interpret the scriptures rather than search them for ourselves. This is the problem that creates so many denominations. Read the bible for yourself (Acts 17: 11) and make your own decision. If you need assistance, just drop me a line!