One of my favorite movies of all time is Remember the Titans. The team must overcome racism, injury, hate, and anger in order to work as a team and win ballgames. Perhaps, my favorite part of the movie is when Coach Boone takes the team to camp near Gettysburg. As the players are loading up on buses, Coach Boone hands his playbook to the coaching staff. One of the coaches remarks that the playbook appears to be a little small. Coach Boone says, “I run six plays, split veer. It’s like novocaine. Just give it time and it always works.”
That line has been burned into my mind since the first time I watched the movie. It’s a silly simple statement, but I think it applies to one of the goals of apologetics, evangelism. It’s easy to get caught up in deep theological and philosophical arguments with people, but the ultimate goal is to share the gospel.
The gospel should always be the center of apologetics. If you find yourself running in circles trying to convince someone of why they need Christ, the best thing you can do is find an opening to share the gospel. Why? Why would Coach Boone only run six plays? The answer is simple, it works. We can never save anyone, we could not even save ourselves, it is only by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ that salvation is possible. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Another reason I love Remember the Titans so much is because the team eventually comes together. Despite all the chaos and hate, they choose to work together for a bigger goal. Often when people hear the word apologetics, they begin to think of arguments and debates. They see different schools of thought within Christianity lined up on different sides of the battlefield, but that is not what apologetics should be.
If the gospel is at the center of your story, then issues outside of the realm of the gospel suddenly seem small. The gospel should unite believers. It should be the reason we wake up in the morning. It should bring so much joy to our lives that we can’t help, but share it with others. I love how Pastor Keahbone has drilled into our heads that the church should be, “Gospel Centered. Christ Led. Body Engaged.” It fits perfectly into a truly biblical apologetic model.
My second favorite line of the movie is at the very end. Sheryl Yoast, the young spunky girl throughout the movie, is now fully grown and at the funeral of one of the football players on the famous Titans football team. She is explaining how the team and community has continued to overcome racism and hate. In a moment of pure poetic brilliance she says, “We still have our disagreements, of course, but before we reach for hate, always, always, we remember the Titans.” My hope is that every believer at FBC Lawton learns the importance of apologetics, but even more so, my hope is that before we reach for a witty comeback, before we dust off the boxing gloves in a debate, before we decide to witness to a nonbeliever that we always, always, remember the gospel.
Brandon Thompson