I can still remember the first time I heard him speak. It was at a Christian & Missionary Alliance Conference Center (Delta Lake) just a year or two into married life. I can even remember the title of his message: “The Crumbling Pillars of Atheism”. The message was so engaging that when I next looked at my watch, I realized the evening speaker, Ravi Zacharias, had been speaking for 1h15 and I had not even noticed the time go by. Ever had an experience like that?
What shaped the work to which God called him was the principle he shared at the gathering of itinerant evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983: “We sometimes think it is necessary to so humiliate someone of a different worldview that we think unless we destroy everything he holds valuable, we cannot preach to him the gospel of Christ…what I am saying is this, when you are trying to reach someone, please be sensitive to what he holds valuable.” The direction of apologetics would be changed from that point on. He sought to bring others to the knowledge of Christ by compassion, sensitivity and a thorough going understanding of the truth of God’s Word.
Two events or historical notes from Ravi’s life provide a small glimpse into what fueled this commitment to Christ.
“On one trip across remote land, Zacharias and his travel companions’ car broke down. The lone jeep that passed ignored their roadside waves. They finally cranked the engine to life and set off, only to come across the same jeep a few miles on, overturned and riddled with bullets, all four passengers dead. He later said of this moment, “God will stop our steps when it is not our time, and He will lead us when it is.” Days later, Zacharias and his translator stood at the graves of six missionaries, killed unarmed when soldiers stormed their compound. Zacharias knew some of their children. It was that level of trust in God, and the desire to stand beside those who minister in areas of great risk, that is a hallmark of the ministry he started.”
“In 2018, Zacharias told the story of standing with his successor, Michael Ramsden, in front of Lazarus’s grave in Cyprus. The stone simply reads, “Lazarus, four days dead, friend of Christ.” Zacharias turned to Ramsden and said if he was remembered as “a friend of Christ that would be all I want.”
Ravi Zacharias entered into the presence of Christ earlier this week.
May we worship and serve the living Savior with such joy and passion: “To love and serve Thee is my share, and this Thy grace must give.” (Richard Baxter)
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