It’s Like Deja-vu All Over Again!

I would bet that most people who know me casually would describe me as an extrovert.

After all, my role in ministry is to deliver lectures to large groups, produce ongoing media in front of a video camera, meet with supporters, and communicate with staff on a regular basis.

And while I truly enjoy all those activities and consider it a blessing from the Lord to be used for his purposes in this way, the truth is that after long periods with people, I can become extremely exhausted and often need some “alone time” to recharge my batteries.

Introverts and Extroverts

Like most, I never understood the real difference between introverted and extroverted personalities until a pastor friend defined it more clearly for me. I had believed that introverts’ defining characteristics were that they were perhaps less social or more awkward around people, while extroverts were more comfortable in public—the “life of the party” folks.

However, I believe my friend nailed it when he explained that introverts lose energy around large groups and extroverts feel more energized around them. Conversely, introverts gain energy in solitude, while extroverts tend to pine away without lots of socialization.

While neither he nor I is an expert in psychology, I felt that his explanation at least fit well with my observations as I’ve watched the various interactions between personalities among family and friends, and it certainly fits my own experience.

Which is why when I (finally) go on vacation, I tend to want to avoid conversations or at least limit my interactions with people (and downplay my role as a public speaker), as I would rather not have to go into “work mode” when trying to unwind. (I understand this likely sounds selfish, but I’m just being honest.)

So, How Do You Explain Dinosaurs?

Of course, things don’t always go as planned. Case in point, while attending a Sunday service in a small town on our recent visit to Nova Scotia, my wife and I were welcomed by an enthusiastic greeter who brought us coffee and snacks and proceeded to sit down and chat with us before the service began.

We explained we were visiting from Ontario, and when this older saint asked, “What do you do?” I simply responded that I was in ministry. “Oh, what ministry?” she asked. After I explained I was the Director for Answers in Genesis–CA, the first thing that came out of her mouth (accompanied by a more serious and quieted tone as she glanced side to side and then leaned towards us) was the question, “So, how do you explain dinosaurs?” And, quietly accepting my fate, I smiled then began a brief apologetic on dinosaurs and the Bible.

Despite my human weakness in the moment, she seemed quite encouraged, and I was glad the Lord had used me—even if my participation had been somewhat reluctant.

Dinosaur Deja-vu

Afterwards, I recalled a rather similar question being asked me, although from a non-believer in a very different setting. It’s a story I often share with church audiences as it highlights the connection between topics like dinosaurs and the gospel message—a connection far too few Christians have considered, in my estimation.

It occurred while I was participating in street evangelism in London, ON (CA), with a GO (gospel outreach) Team from my local church. While passing out tracts, we met two young men waiting for a bus, which provided an opportunity to share the gospel as they had to wait there (or else miss their ride).

As our team leader began sharing the gospel, one fellow “tuned out” immediately—looking in the opposite direction with a blank look on his face—while the other listened impatiently, constantly attempting to interject.

Unfortunately (for him) the preacher didn’t really offer a chance for him to interrupt; however, immediately upon the gospel presentation’s completion, he took a few steps back, saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” then blurted out, “OK! What do you Christians believe about dinosaurs?” As the team leader knew that I was involved in creation apologetics, he looked at the fellow and pointed at me saying, “Talk to him!”

So, I proceeded to give an explanation similar to the one I gave to our greeter at the church we visited. I touched on things such as the discovery of soft tissue, red blood cells, and even fragments of DNA found in dinosaur bones—strong evidence that they died just a short while ago, not millions of years ago.

We’ve All Been Taught the Same Thing

So why is it the twentysomething secular gentlemen and the 60-ish Christian lady had the same question? Because they were both taught from the same great fount of knowledge—the secular state’s education system and media, which work in lockstep to deliver the same meta-narrative about the so-called history of life on earth—the story of evolution.

They have both been exposed to the story that dinosaurs supposedly evolved into birds over millions of years, which meant, in his mind, creation wasn’t true and, in her mind, there was doubt whether the creation account should be taken as plainly written (both an attack on biblical authority). To him, it meant the Bible couldn’t be trusted whatsoever; whereas to her—brought up to believe the Bible—the apparent contradiction between the evolutionary story and the plain reading of Genesis was difficult to reconcile (causing doubt about whether the Bible is entirely trustworthy).

To him it was an easy equation—if one part of the Bible (the creation account in Genesis) is obviously false because science has disproven it, so is the story about a dead person coming back to life to save me from my sin (obviously taken from a different part of the same book). He clearly understood that, if true, the story of evolution completely removed the believability of the biblical Creator God and the reliability of the Bible, so why believe any of it? Our greeter was obviously living with the supposed contradiction between “science and the Bible,” not understanding how to reconcile the two.

Pastors, Creation Isn’t a Side Issue

This vacation encounter also brought back another memory directly related to the intersection between the topic of dinosaurs and faith in God’s Word. This instance had to do with an experience I had while manning an Answers in Genesis booth at a pastors conference in British Columbia.

The Canadian ministry had just launched, and I had travelled to this national gathering (representing a very large Canadian denomination) where hundreds of pastors and church staff members attended, so I could promote the ministry and AiG resources there.

With the AiG banner behind me, I engaged many pastors that wandered into the vendor area between sessions, answered any questions they had, and gave them literature to contact us. As the ministry is known far less here in Canada than the USA, I had many of them ask me outright, “So what do you do?”

Dinosaur Dialogue

By the second day, I had delivered my spiel that we were an apologetics ministry dedicated to helping Christians give answers for their faith, helping Christians in their walk and witness, etc. so many times that when a (somewhat less-than-cordial) pastor rather dismissively asked the same question, I decided to take a different tack.

I said, “Pastor, let’s say I am a 15-year-old in your church’s youth group. It’s Sunday morning, and the youngster comes up to you and says, ‘How do you explain dinosaurs and the Bible?’”

He looked at me and said, “Oh, I see,” and looked around and nodded pensively.

I continued. “No, go ahead and roleplay with me here. What would you say to them to help them with their faith?”

He looked at me without speaking for a moment, and then as I continued to simply look back at him expectantly, he began stammering but couldn’t give a reply.

So I said, “That’s what we do. We give answers to the questions that the world is posing against the authority of the Word of God, because if our churches can’t give them answers then the world surely will, but they won’t honor God when they do.”

This seemed to strike a chord in him, and he eagerly took some literature and my card to check out our resources more thoroughly. But this illustrates the point at an even more foundational level.

Christians might think a question like, “How do you explain dinosaurs and the Bible?” is a side issue, but the world doesn’t. They use it to promote the story of evolution, which is completely antithetical to the Word of God.

And for the most part, Christian churches, leaders, and laypersons aren’t answering this or most of the other naturalistically based questions that Bible skeptics pose, which is why the world’s answers are dominating and shaping the cultural landscape.

That’s why we’ve seen such a massive change in Western culture in the past few generations from its former biblically based ethos and outlook into a progressive, Marxist-based mindset based on the overarching belief that God doesn’t exist and founded on the story of evolution as a way to explain everything naturalistically, without God.

Always Have a Reason for the Hope That You Have

So, whether in season or out of season (2 Timothy 4:2), introvert or extrovert (I’m preaching to myself here), or whether apologetics is your “thing” or not—1 Peter 3:15 reminds us that we are to have answers for the hope that we have in Christ to give those who challenge our faith, and that includes on the topic of dinosaurs.

Imagine yourself in any of the three scenarios I described and ask yourself, could I give an answer? If not, no big deal—you can’t know everything. However, if you get asked the same question twice and still can’t give an answer, perhaps it’s because you weren’t as diligent as Scripture asks us to be in representing the faith.

The good news is there are some amazing resources available on our site to help you answer questions about dinosaurs, including a trove of free articles as well as a bunch of books and media content sure to grow your confidence in biblical authority and, more importantly, your ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ!

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)