Ravi Zacharias left for heaven on May 19th. While on earth, he graced the world with the fragrance of Christ. That legacy remains.
Ravi became a Christian after a suicide attempt at 17 landed him in a hospital in India. His conversion dramatically altered the trajectory of his life. He became a student of Christ, gaining multiple theological degrees and honorary doctorates. He wrote countless articles and dozens of books. One year he spoke over 600 times in locations around the globe.
Ravi’s passion, “to help the thinker believe, and the believer think,” ran like an unstoppable stream through all he did. His radio program, appropriately titled, “Let my people think,” did exactly that. So did his teaching engagements on university campuses, conferences, and global events.
Among Christ-followers who knew his work, the name Ravi Zacharias evoked something akin to awe. Other than the Apostle Paul, few, if any, have ever made Christ known to others as well. As a Christian apologist (someone who explains and convinces of a particular belief or point of view), he was always humble, gracious and loving. Listening to him on YouTube and elsewhere, I often felt God must surely have made his mind superior to most of the rest of ours.
In 1984, Ravi formed Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Its goal is “to touch both the heart and the intellect of the thinkers and influencers in society by tackling some of the toughest questions about faith and providing thoughtful answers.”
Through it, many others have trained to present Christ in winsome, intelligent and respectful ways.
Ravi spent no time coddling believers or making excuses for our inattention to Jesus’ clear call to invite others to a Christian faith. In 1983, evangelist Billy Graham invited Ravi to speak at the first International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam, attended that year by 3,800 evangelists from 133 countries. In his address, he remarked that religions, 20th-century cultures and philosophies had formed “vast chasms between the message of Christ and the mind of man.” He noted that some evangelicals “feel that sharing Christ with others of different worldviews means humiliating them and destroying everything they hold valuable.” He pled for sensitivity. Halfway into his message, he received a standing ovation.
In his last speaking engagement, just months before he succumbed to rapidly spreading cancer on May 19th, Ravi spoke to a crowd of over 7,000 at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center. His topic was “Does God Exist?”
Inmates at the largest maximum-security prison in the US, Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola Prison), ask that same question. Ravi visited there three times during his life, praying with prisoners on Death Row. He believed that Christ’s gospel “shined with grace and power, especially in the darkest places.” Inmates at Angola, sensing the love of Christ, esteemed him so highly they handcrafted his coffin.
“If I’m remembered as a friend of Christ,” Ravi once remarked, “that would be all I want.” Those words will mark his grave.
Find out more about Ravi and his ministry at RZIM.org, from where I gleaned much of the above information.
