What do you do when someone questions your deepest beliefs? How do you respond? What does it feel like to hear someone challenge core ideas that you not only believe are true, but you’ve built your life upon? For many of us, these doubts can cause us to question who we are and maybe make us wonder if we’ve wasted our time believing a lie.
On this episode of Where Ya From?, Rasool talks with Lisa Fields about her journey to becoming an apologist. She shares how a season of doubt played tricks with her mind and forced her to reevaluate what she believed, and how this journey even led Lisa to a career that would not just be difficult—but almost impossible—for a young, Black woman.
Bio of Guest:
Lisa Fields is one of the world’s most sought-after Christian apologists. She combines her passion for biblical literacy with her heart for sharing God’s love to all those she meets. Lisa is a graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and Religious Studies. She also graduated from Liberty University with a Master of Divinity and a focus in Theology. Her time in seminary propelled her into her calling as an apologist.
During her last year of seminary, her passion to teach others how to defend their faith became very clear. It was then that the Jude 3 Project was born. As founder and president, Lisa’s primary mission for the Jude 3 Project is to help the Black Christian community know what they believe and why they believe. Lisa speaks regularly at evangelism, apologetic, and biblical literacy events at various universities and churches across the country.
Notes and Quotes:
- “Jesus looked at Peter and said, ‘Will you also go?’ And Peter said, ‘How can I go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:67–68).
- “So I feel like a faith that can’t be tested, can’t be trusted. And so I continued to test it and put it under scrutiny because I believe that if it was truth, it will always be found to be true.”
- “At that moment, that really also taught me something about why people have their doubts fortified because God allowed something that is very difficult for them to process.”
- “I think if I was just stuck in that seminary bubble, and we’re all talking about theological ideas, we’re not really fleshing it out with the rest of the world.”
- “Relationship shows you what’s going on in people’s lives and people’s world, and it helps you not to have such a narrow view of concepts, I think. Because you’re like, ‘Okay, this is a great concept in theory. How does this flesh out in a person’s everyday life? What is this person experiencing?’ It helps you be able to speak to some of the issues differently and with a level of empathy, because you actually know people in these situations, and you’re not making these rigid kinds of statements that aren’t considerate of other people’s experience.”
- “You can’t be a great apologist if you’re not a great listener.”
- “I did a tweet that went viral some time ago that said, ‘Some parents are praying for their children to come to church,’ something like that, ‘but they don’t realize that they are their biggest obstacle to getting them back into faith because of the way they lived; as they were holy in church, but nasty at home.’”
- “Trauma doesn’t help you see reason clearly.”
- “The tendency for people that have bad experiences is to overcorrect; and when you overcorrect, you’re still not corrected.”
- “I think, relationally though, it is easier for people to receive hard truths from people they are in relationship with versus strangers. And so it doesn’t mean that I water down the message. It means that when I share the message, people trust me enough to believe that I’m not trying to do them harm with the message that I’m sharing.”
- “They conclude that because my life doesn’t matter to the majority culture, maybe my life doesn’t matter to God.”
- “I would tell any young woman listening: Don’t let people tell you, you can’t; and whatever you do, do it excellently. They may ignore you at first, but over time, you’re going to do it so well that they can’t ignore you.”
Links Mentioned in Show:
- Leave us a review here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346
- Subscribe to our email list to receive this free resource: Celebrate Hope: Looking Back, Stepping Up, a booklet from the Our Daily Bread VOICES Collection with reflections that empower us to learn from our history, find opportunities for healing, and gain the strength to build a better future.
- Learn more about Jude 3 Project: jude3project.org
- Follow Where Ya From? Podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast
- Visit our website to sign up for email: https://www.whereyafrom.org
Verses Mentioned in Show:
- John 6:68 (NIV): “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
- 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV): “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
- Jude 3
From Our Daily Bread Ministries in partnership with Christianity Today
