Earlier this week, the famed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias passed away from cancer at the age of 74. Zacharias had an international ministry that took him across the globe defending the Christian faith and presenting the gospel. He had a prodigious travel schedule and wrote many books. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy and a wealth of wisdom and insight into human nature, society, and theology. What follows are some of my favorite quotes from Ravi.
Culture
In the 1950s kids lost their innocence.
They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term —the generation gap.
In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.
It was a decade of protest—church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love. It was the decade of me-ism dominated by hyphenated words beginning with self.
Self-image, Self-esteem, Self-assertion….It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and no one had the nerve to tell them there was a difference.
In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.
Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.
In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason. Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.
In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.
Life in Christ
I came to Him because I did not know which way to turn. I remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has 330 million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all-inclusive.”
Atheism
To sustain the belief that there is no God, atheism has to demonstrate infinite knowledge. Because their declaration is tantamount to saying, I have infinite knowledge that there is no being in existence with infinite knowledge.
Humility in truth
Truth that is not undergirded by love makes the truth obnoxious and the possessor of it repulsive.
Living Well
Beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing.
Contemplation
Many Christians have so busied themselves with programs and activities that they no longer know how to be silent and meditate on God’s word or recognize the mysteries that are in the Person of Christ.
Tolerance
“TRUTH CANNOT BE SACRIFICED AT THE ALTAR OF PRETENDED TOLERANCE. REAL TOLERANCE IS DEFERENCE TO ALL IDEAS, NOT INDIFFERENCE TO THE TRUTH.”
Belief
A man rejects God neither because of intellectual demands nor because of the scarcity of evidence. A man rejects God because of a moral resistance that refuses to admit his need for God.
Truth
Truth by definition excludes.
Destiny
There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny
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Josh Benner 