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.