I was first exposed to Lee Strobel several years ago when I read his book The Case for Christ. In the book, Strobel shares how he came to faith in Christ while he was working as a legal editor for The Chicago Tribune. With the style and flair of an award winning journalist, Strobel relates how he investigated the evidence for belief in Christ by interviewing the world’s leading experts in archeology, medicine, Biblical scholarship, and other disciplines.

Now some five or six years after my introduction, Lee Strobel still holds my admiration as a stellar Christian thinker and writer. Therefore, it was with much anticipation that I attended the Lee Strobel event on March 22nd at Grace Baptist. Lee’s topics for the evening were The Case for Christ and If Jesus Lived in My House.

I was already very familiar with the apologetic content for Lee’s first talk as I have re-read The Case for Christ two times since my first read. So, as I listened to Lee in person, the personal aspect of his story stood out. Prior to coming to Christ, Lee was a committed atheist. He frequently drank too much and argued with his wife. Tears came to his eyes when he shared that his young daughter would go upstairs and seal herself in her room whenever he came home.

When his wife became a Christian, Lee thought that they were headed for a divorce. But, instead of divorcing, Lee witnessed his wife become more like Christ. The change Lee saw in his wife led him to set out on his investigation of the Christian faith. Almost a year later, Lee came home one day, locked himself in his room with all of his notes, and after wrestling with the evidence for one last time, he placed his faith in Christ.

Lee’s decision saved his marriage and his family, and continues to produce ever greater fruit to this day. He shared how his faith influenced his daughter. One day she told her mother she knew that Jesus was real because of what he has done for her daddy. He talked about his son accepting Christ and walking out his decision in his chosen career field.

For those closest to him, the changes Christ has brought about in Lee’s life appear to be the strongest apologetic of all. In his search for evidence, Lee came face-to-face with the one who has risen from the dead. Where there was once a drunken and abusive man, we see a new creation: a faithful and loving husband, a tender and compassionate father, a passionate and caring evangelist and an ardent defender of the faith.

Considering the kind of person that Christ has and is making Lee Strobel to be, he had the creditability necessary to speak on his second topic: If Jesus Lived in My House — How Christians can talk to others about Jesus. The basic theme of his talk was to live life in a fashion patterned after Jesus. And, when you do this, life will not be boring because you never know what will happen next as you serve God.

Among the things he talked about, these three impressions remain with me: 1) Be available for people. 2) Don’t give up on anyone. 3) Don’t be afraid of questions, and search out good answers.

1) Be available for people.
Jesus made himself available for people. Consider Jesus in his interactions with the disciples; Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; and the woman at the well. He made it a point to spend valuable time with these and other people. Lee shared how Christ’s example has inspired him to open up his home and invite non-believers for times of engaging the claims of Christianity. His comments inspired me to look for new ways to reach out to others and to cherish the opportunities that are already before me.

2) Don’t give up on anyone.
Lee shared the gospel with his father-in-law for many years without any signs of fruit. He was discouraged, but through the body of Christ, God inspired Lee to keep at it. Then one day his father-in-law was gravely ill and had to be hospitalized. Lee took the opportunity to talk with him for over an hour. In his hospital room, Lee pleaded and prayed with him until he finally accepted Christ.

Less than an hour after that conversation, Lee’s father-in-law suffered from a stroke which eventually robbed him of his mind. As they were wheeling him to the intensive care unit, he commented to Lee’s wife that the conversation he had just had with Lee was the most meaningful one of his life.

Lee’s passion for sharing the gospel stood out to me, and his stories are reminders to me to always “scatter seeds”.

3) Don’t be afraid of questions, and search out good answers.
Despite his credentials, Lee reminded me that we don’t have to be credentialed apologists and theologians in order to be effective witnesses for Christ. Rather, exercising good apologetics and good theology starts with taking the time to listen to the questions that non-believers are asking.

Listening is a lost art in our fast-paced culture. However, when we take the time to listen, amazing things start to happen: Trust is built in our relationships, and we find ourselves afforded with the conversational time to truly search out answers in a fashion that will bring about a change of heart and mind.

All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening I spent listening to Lee Strobel. I was able to observe first-hand a man whom I have admired for many years. And, from my vantage point, I saw a man who is being genuinely and authentically influenced by Christ.

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P.S. — If you would like to get an even more up-close and personal perspective on the evening, read the Lee Strobel Event Update posted by my friend, Mike Williams. He is the president of Feed Your Faith, the organization that brought Lee to Knoxville.