"Think fast!" These were words I heard shortly before the ball smashed into my body. I was never good at thinking fast as a child nor am I good at it now. When I am put on the spot and asked to give a defense of what I believe my brain stutters and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. Why? Maybe it's because sharing my faith and what I believe is about more than just quickly spewing words.
In a class on apologetics the teacher helped me a great deal. He did it by giving directions on how to share what you believe using a pattern found in 1 Peter 3: 15,16. Looking at my problem through the corrective lens of God's word somethings became clearer to me.
As I meditated on these verses I saw the place to begin was in my own heart. I was to, "regard Christ the Lord as holy". Jesus said of himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me." In this statement Jesus proclaimed his holiness. If in my heart I regard him as Lord and as holy it means I place myself under the authority of his word.
"Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." Hope is an anchor for the soul. It is a confident expectation of good. Hope often becomes evident to others when we go through suffering. Hope in Christ causes us to endure. Endurance changes our character to be more like the one we've put our trust in. When people see joy in the midst of suffering they want to know it's source.
There is more to it. The teaching of the Bible often clashes with our culture. We are told to share what we believe with gentleness and respect. I remember as a child being bludgeoned with the knowledge of children older than I was. The result wasn't that I leaned what they knew. The result was that my ignorance became a spectacle. To share what I believe with gentleness is to be respectful of the one with whom I am speaking. Respect also means I am not doing all the talking. I have often shared what I believe with others as if I'm shooting at them with a machine gun, never giving them a chance to say a word.
If I just stop with these thoughts I would be taking these verses out of context. I think the context of these verses help explain why I get nervous when I share the things I believe that are politically incorrect. The next verse says, "when you are slandered". It doesn't say "if" it says "when". I don't really want to be slandered. I want people to like me I want people to think I'm smart. Yet being slandered in this passage of 1 Peter 3 goes with being zealous for what is good and regarding Christ in my heart as holy.
Lord Jesus, you came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. You came that I might have life and have it abundantly. You gave me this great gift this anchor that holds my soul secure during the greatest storms of life. You also commissioned me to go into a hurting dying world with words of truth, comfort and salvation. You also said that no servant was greater than his master and if they persecuted you I should not expect to be treated differently. Jesus, grant me the grace to love you more that I love myself and share what I believe with gentleness and respect.
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