Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions

This week I received my copy of Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl. I was anxious to have a look at the book, as I have been following Greg Koukl's ministry of Stand to Reason for a number of years. On one hand, I was excited to see in book form what I have heard Koukl demonstrate so many times on his live radio program: an effective and gracious way to communicate one's faith in an articulate and winsome way. On the other hand, my familiarity with Koukl's Tactics audio program made me wonder if this was just a repackaging of the same material. I was thoroughly surprised. I'm a reader - but it's been a while since I have devoured a book.Tactics is an immediately practical book. The author's heart is that Christians be equipped to be good ambassadors. An ambassador has three skills: "knowledge, an accurately informed mind; wisdom, an artful method; and character, an attractive manner." Koukl describes the goal of a tactical approach - one that seeks to converse more persuasively by being thoughtful and reasonable, rather than emotional, about one's convictions.In a very balanced way, Koukl carefully introduces this approach and neutralizes some of the negative connotations that come with sharing and defending the faith. Some people immediately object at the idea of argumentation or "methods." However, Koukl summarizes a more biblical approach:"Here's the key principle: Without God's work, nothing else works; but with God's work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods."Now Koukl dives into the meat of the book. He presents about a half dozen "tactics," as he calls them - each with a memorable name, such as, "Columbo," "Suicide," and, "Taking the Roof Off," among others. As he teaches you these tactics, Koukl's experience and mastery in this area immediately become evident. He is not a theorist presenting untested ideas. Instead, he is a veteran, discussing situation after situation gleaned from countless personal encounters, public debates, radio interviews, and friendly conversations. The phenomenal part is that these approaches are simple and the applications are immediately accessible to the reader.One particular insight Koukl shares should bring relief to those who feel fear come over them at even the thought of discussing their faith: you don't have to hit home runs. In fact, Koukl stresses that you don't even have to get on base. The goal is to leave them with something to think about. His advice: simply leave them with "a stone in their shoe."Navigating through the book, you will find gem after gem of wisdom. So many of the common objections that the Christian encounters are found here - but with answers that are actually useful in conversation. Although much of the substance is philosophical in nature, Koukl drops the jargon and replaces it with practical expressions. This is a handbook suitable for the layman and professional apologist alike.After passing the halfway point in the book, you will realize that you are not just learning how to steer safely through a conversation - you are learning how to think. Koukl will sharpen your thinking skills and your ability to spot fuzzy logic and faulty arguments. You will realize that this is a book about truth. By the time you reach the end (it's about 200 pages), you will be amazed at the amount of wisdom, insight, and courage you have gleaned. A second reading is definitely in order.Koukl's Tactics is endorsed by a long list of notable apologists and Christian thinkers: Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Hank Hanegraaff, Jay Wesley Richards, David Noebel, Justin Taylor, Paul Copan, Sean McDowell, Frank Turek, and Craig Hazen.For those familiar with Koukl's Tactics audio program, many of the same personal encounters are cited. However, this is not a repackaging of old material. I found the book to be immensely helpful even after recently re-listening to Greg Koukl's Tactics in Defending the Faith audio program. In addition to the expanded and fresh material, I found the summaries at the end of each chapter to be particularly helpful.Greg Koukl's Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions is not designed to give you pat answers or lists of facts to bring to your conversations. Far from being "another evangelism book," Tactics is a book that will challenge you to be a critical thinker, a logical communicator, and a gracious ambassador for Jesus Christ.

I love this book! So practical and well written! We are studing this in our small group at church and role playing it as well. A must read for any Christian interested in sharing your faith!

Greg Koukl’s "Tactics: A game plan for discussing your Christian convictions" is an excellent tool for anyone engaged in everyday conversations with unbelievers. With a mountain of attacks coming at Christians today, it can easily become overwhelming or even defeating for someone who wants to communicate his or her faith. What Koukl sets out to do in this book is to empower his readers to not only not be afraid, but be confident in what they believe, without feeling like the worlds questions are on their shoulders. The first half of this work deals with the game plan. In every day conversations, there are often a lot of claims about the Christian faith that are unfounded, so Koukl’s tactic is primarily a shifting in the burden of proof. He uses the show Columbo as his primary example, as the main character acts like a bumbling fool, but is really a brilliant detective. He will act like a fool to put off his suspect, but then asks incriminating questions to get his suspect to confess. In the same way, when a Christian is given a claim against his or her faith, they do not need to bear the weight of the claim, but can ask for more information and then allow them to defend their conclusions. It is not confrontational and helps the conversation gain some clarity. More often than not, in those moments, the baseless claims are exposed for what they really are, and the Christian is able to deal with the weightier matters of God and the individual.The second half of his book deals with the practicalities of how this tactic can play out. It is no longer an issue of steering the conversation, but of having the practical thinking skills to be a knowledgeable ambassador. A lot of these principles take practice and immersion for it to become a habitual thing, but that’s the first thing that Koukl encourages his readers to do: Try. You will never be able to become proficient at this if you are not entering into conversation with others. The first thing that he encourages us to look out for in this section is the self-refuting questions or objections, which he calls “suicide.” These are views that are inherently contradictory. He said, “When statements fail to meet their own criteria of validity, they are self-refuting.” The concept of truth as universally relative is a good example of this, since it is making the objective truth claim that all truth is subjectively relative. So, it commits suicide by its own assertions. The following chapter shows not only the logical inconsistencies with self-refuting claims, but also the fact that it cannot play out in reality. No one can live (at least consistently) with a worldview that is inherently contradictory. When someone tells you that you cannot judge or that you should not try and change the beliefs of other people, they are in fact doing the very thing that they claim is wrong.One aspect that I particularly enjoyed was his chapter on taking the roof off. This was a deliberate exposition on Francis Schaeffer’s use of reductio ad absurdum. “Whenever someone tries to deny the truth, reality ultimately betrays them.” When a person holds to a false worldview, oftentimes the reductio can help take them to the logical ends of their view. For instance, if someone holds to monism, where all is one and differences are an illusion, then the internal human drive for justice is equally an illusion, and thus a man loving his wife and family has no moral difference in the universe than a man walking into a kindergarten classroom and shooting everyone in sight. Most do not want to deal with the reality of what their worldview allows.But sometimes people, regardless of whether they are proven wrong, will not let you get a word in. His chapter on the steamroller is particularly helpful here. The Christian wants to be the most loving that he or she can possibly be in a conversation, and the steamroller personality will use that to their advantage, as they control the conversation and avoid dealing with their own claims. So, Koukl has the Christian simply stop the conversation, shame the person for being so overbearing, and if that does not work, simply leave. It does not good to try and have a conversation with someone who is not willing to have a conversation.The three things that he ultimately wants his readers to develop are Character, knowledge, and wisdom. With these three combined, the ambassador has enough in his or her arsenal to fight for the hearts and minds of the people he or she engages. Without knowledge, the Christian is ignorant, without wisdom, he or she is without direction in the conversation, and without character, the Christian runs the risk of being a jerk. Koukl said, “My goal… is to find clever ways to exploit someone’s bad thinking for the purpose of guiding her to truth, yet remaining as gracious and charitable at the same time. My aim is to manage not manipulate; to control, not coerce; to finesse, not fight.” He wants the reader to be the best Christian that the non-Christian has ever met. When the focus is on truth and compassion for the other person, it becomes more a matter of putting a stone in their shoe, to make them think, than a series of manipulating maneuvers to get them to convert. This makes room for friendships to develop, rather than confrontations that create an us/them mentality, and, God willing, these encounters will eventually be the means that God uses to save them.While this book is not a how to guide, it does offer some quality introductions to apologetic arguments and a great framework for discussing Christian convictions with those who do not hold to their worldview. Many who are new to apologetics will find a goldmine in this book, and those who are well versed will find an equal amount of value, since he gives a framework for discussion that is winsome and gets to the root of the issues to let the gospel shine. I reference this book often, since this model is the way I try to do apologetics with both Christians and non-Christians.