You can't argue with a fence post.

Recently at church I was speaking to one of our deacons wife's when she made the comment that you can't argue with a fence post. I must say that the comment sort of offended me because I felt as if it was an excuse to not share the gospel with certain individuals. I let it go at the time but it has never been far from my thoughts and while in my devotions this morning the thought came back and I realized that while you can't argue with them, you can prepare them. Growing up I was raised on a horse ranch so I had plenty of experience with putting up fence so it was pretty cool when this example came to me. You see if you were to take a plain wooden fence post and put it into the ground it would not be long before it would begin to rot with the rotting beginning on the outside. This is the same as a person who has not had the gospel preached to them. They have evidence of God because He tells us that His law is written on the hearts of man. Now if you used a pressure treated post it would still rot but would take a little longer to do so. This would be as a person who has heard the gospel but still denies Christ. Now as a young man growing up on a farm we would often times coat our post with creosote to keep them from rotting. The result is that many of our post are still standing some 30 years later. This can be reflective of a person who has heard the gospel, denies it and argues against it while the creosote is reflective of the answers that are provided. These answers provide logical explanations for the arguments presented and while we might not see the results of the covering we have the promise in God's word that His word will not return unto Him void yet there is still rotting taking place. You see many of our post seemed to be in good condition from the outside but upon closer inspection they had been rotting from the inside. There was a crucial step that was missed when we coated the post. We neglected to coat the base and the top of the post so therefore the weather conditions were able to take its toll on the post. The results of debating others regarding our faith is not up to us. All we can do is be ready to provide an answer and not just any answer but one that is both logical and rational because our faith is not blindly placed but is based upon rational logic. Peter tells us that we do not follow foolish tales. 2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Regardless of the evidence that we may provide if our lives do not support that evidence it is as if we forgot to seal the base and the top of the posts. The complete sealing is God and not us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who resides in us and will continue in us until that day. And while it is true you can't argue with a fence post you can continually prepare it. Who knows, if Christ came back today perhaps that preparation is what will be used to allow the Holy Spirit to seal it. Until then keep preparing. If you have any questions regarding evidential support for questions regarding God or the Bible please feel free to contact me at any time.