Shane Pruitt of the North American Mission Board address the EQUIP Apologetics Conference at Union University. — Photo by Lyla Dietz / Union University
JACKSON — Most cultural debates today are rooted in an attack on God’s original design for His creation, Shane Pruitt told a group of high school students at Union University on Sept. 7.
“At the end of the day, God is the originator, designer and inventor of it all,” said Pruitt, national Next Gen director for the North American Mission Board. “And if God is the original designer, inventor and creator of it all, He also gets to define what things are.
“A lot of cultural agendas and a lot of cultural issues that we’re trying to navigate today are really an attack on God, and it’s mankind wanting to prop itself up as God instead of letting God be the authority, letting God be the definer.”
Pruitt was one of the keynote speakers at the third annual EQUIP Youth Apologetics Conference, jointly sponsored by Union’s School of Theology and Missions and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. The event drew about 230 people, according to Gregory Poore, the conference organizer and Union’s associate professor of philosophy, apologetics and ethics.
The conference is designed to help teenagers address their doubts and questions, consider the Bible’s truth claims and witness to biblical truth, with speakers trained in theology, philosophy, apologetics, sociology and youth ministry.
Barbier
Other speakers included Jay Barbier, youth ministry specialist with the TBMB; Justin Barnard, professor of philosophy at Union; and Phil Davignon, associate professor of sociology at Union.
“It never ceases to amaze me when I see youth gather at a conference that is intended to help equip them with defending their faith,” Barbier said.
“They see this as an opportunity to help grow their students in learning how to deepen their faith while confronting the culture with a biblical response and foundation,” he noted.
Barbier spoke on the topic of “ Does my past sin keep me from telling others about Jesus?” Christians may hesitate to share their faith and engage in evangelism for several reasons, he said.
“Understanding these reasons can be helpful for addressing barriers and encouraging more effective outreach. There are many excuses that hinder believers from sharing the gospel and we looked at a correct view from Scripture to know that God can use anyone despite of their past sin.
“Proverbs teaches us that a righteous man falls seven times and still gets up. This should give us hope knowing we are a broken people that desperately need a Savior and it should help drive us to sharing the hope of Jesus with so many that desperately need Him,” Barbier said.
“The Bible assures believers that past sin does not disqualify you from sharing the message of Jesus. Instead, it emphasizes that through Christ’s grace and forgiveness, believers are made new and empowered to be effective witnesses.”
In his address, Pruitt answered four basic questions that he said everyone asks: “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” “What’s wrong with me?” and “What’s the solution?”
“Everything starts with God,” Pruitt said. “So that means you are not from some primordial ooze. You did not start out as pond scum that began to grow legs. Apes are not your great-uncles and your great-ancestors. You come from a holy, on-purpose, creator God.”
Human beings are either male or female because God said so, and saying that is not hateful, Pruitt said. In fact, he said it’s more unloving to celebrate or affirm that God made a mistake on someone.
If God is the creator and designer of the universe, Pruitt argued, then He also gets to be the definer. The Bible speaks with clarity on issues such as when life begins, what marriage is and who determines sex and gender.
“It’s very arrogant for us as a culture to think we get to redefine what God has already defined,” he said.
The purpose of life is for people to know and worship their creator, Pruitt said, and he told students they would always feel like something in their lives is missing if God himself is missing.
Sin is the universal problem for all of humanity that results in separation from God, but Pruitt said Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem of sin and brokenness that plagues every single person.
“No one is too lost for Jesus to find,” Pruitt said. “No one is too dirty for Jesus to cleanse. No one is too broken for Jesus to fix. No one’s too wounded for Jesus to heal. No one’s too far gone for Jesus to reach. No one’s too guilty for Jesus to forgive. And no one is too sinful for Jesus to save.” B&R — B&R editor Lonnie Wilkey contributed to this report.
