Reason for the Hope - part 2

"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15 ESV)."  

            The first step in effective evangelism is this: "Have no fear of them, not be troubled."  Peter was actually speaking of those who sought to kill believers, but how often are we troubled for far lesser reasons?  Paul exhorts us, "Let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts."  We're called to contend for the faith, but we do so with the peaceful confidence that God is in control and his Spirit is at work.

            Most people skip to the part about "being prepared to make a defense," but no meaningful defense can be made until we first honor Christ in our hearts and regard him as holy. This is a purely private matter, but our private habit of honoring Christ will determine our effectiveness as an evangelist for God. So before we speak to anyone about Christ, we must worship him and taste of his goodness, because as John Piper said, "You can't commend what you don't cherish." If we have no taste for the goodness of Christ, we won't really be qualified to speak of him to others, and frankly, our "good news" won't be that good. The Great Commandment existed long before the Great Commission, so only when we make it our aim to "Love the Lord" with everything we have will our faith be the least bit attractive.

            When we finally do give a defense, it's not of our beliefs.  We're not called to memorize historical proofs for Christ's resurrection or regurgitate the latest archeological evidence.  Nor are we called to defend ourselves or contend for our denomination or discredit false religions. Our primary calling as followers of Christ is to give a reason for the HOPE!  There are days when the hope of Christ in not fresh on our pallets, and this is why we struggle to take the Gospel to our neighbors - because we're not personally convinced of its worth and goodness. It's critical that we daily honor Christ, so that our hope can become tangible again. People don't care about historical facts.  They want life!  The real hope that Jesus offers is what men long for and what they need.         

            Finally, the command to offer a defense "with gentleness and respect" forever negates our excuses for being contentious and harsh in our conversations.  Jesus was a man "full of grace and truth."  He didn't let diplomacy compromise the integrity of his message and he didn't allow abrasiveness to undermine the grace of his gospel.  Truth can speak for itself, so anytime we try to add emphasis by our forceful methods, we only detract from the glory and grace of Christ.

Reason for the Hope - part 1

I was at home last Friday afternoon, waiting for some Mormons to arrive. They had tried to visit the previous week but I wasn't home. Instead of looking forward to the opportunity to speak with them, I dreaded their arrival. My stomach churned as I nervously watched the door, rehearsing what I would say.  I know we're called to "contend for the faith" (Jude 1:3), but we're also commanded to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15).  Both of these verses are God's will, so both must be simultaneously achievable.  In other words, I should be able to engage unbelievers without falling into a state of inner turmoil. On the psychological spectrum of "fight vs. flight," some of us like to argue until we've won every debate while others of us prefer to avoid every potentially controversial situation. Whatever your personality type though, you should know that there's a more Biblical (and rare) response.  This response, according to 1 Peter 3:15, is to "Be ready to make a defense... yet do it with gentleness and respect."  I'll address this more next week, but for now I want to explore three reasons why we often find ourselves fretting over evangelistic encounters:

1) We rehearse what we'll say and how we'll say it.  Besides being highly unrealistic since there's no way to predict the direction a conversation will take, our "rehearsing" is often just worrying. Jesus said, "Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say" (Matt 10:19)  

2) Our focus is on the product of conversion rather than the process of conversation.  First of all, only God can convert a sinner, and second of all, the frantic push toward conversion causes us to reduce people to projects rather than honoring them as needy souls, created in God's image.      

3) We see evangelism as a debate over religion rather than an opportunity to a celebrate Christ and show his love.  What keeps people from believing is not a shortage of information or a lack of intellectual aptitude but a pervasive spiritual blindness.  "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." Only the love of Christ and the light of the gospel can illuminate blind eyes, so rather than approaching conversations like we're dragging ourselves to a religious debate, we must realize that we have the opportunity to hold up the brilliant gospel of the glorious Christ, the Son of the one true God!  What we're talking about is life-giving truth versus legalistic lies. There's really no debate between the liberating good news of humble Jesus and the debilitating shackles of corrupt, arrogant men.

Next week, we'll explore 1 Peter 3:14-15 and hopefully gain some insights into actively engaging the lost while maintaining the humility and gentleness of Christ.