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24th October 2024
ThursdayReflection
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'Apologetics Guy'
'Dr. Mikel Del Rosario'
"What Every Apologist Needs to Know About 1 Peter 3:15"
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Rules of Engagement
1 Peter 3 is about Apologetics and Cultural Engagement
What should our interactions with people look like as ambassadors of Jesus?
Peter talks about both apologetics and cultural engagement in 1 Peter 3 -
the chapter where you find that famous apologetics memory verse,
But in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence 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
We need to know what we believe and be prepared to respectfully explain our faith and the hope that we have in Jesus.
Peter says this because our faith isn't just about philosophical ideas.
It's about hope.
What's this hope about?
It's about how people can discover a loving relationship with the God who made everything that exists.
This is where 1 Peter 3:15 comes in.
We need to be prepared to engage the culture, make the case for Christianity, and defend the faith.
Our ultimate message is a positive one about our hope in Jesus.
But there's a tension between how the gospel challenges our beliefs and actions on the one hand, and the invitation to know and experience God on the other.
Unfortunately, sometimes the "hope" part gets lost in the "challenge" part.
New apologists can tend to emphasize what is wrong with society or various belief systems to the virtual exclusion of our hope in Christ.
Others seem to portray our hope as only a future thing rather than explaining how that hope can be present in our lives today.
Let's never lose the message of hope in the midst of defending the faith.
After all, the faith we defend is good news.
And yes, truth matters. But tone matters, too.
The rest of Peter's command tells us how we must defend the faith: "with gentleness and respect."
Not with fear, anger, or resentment.
Part of the evidence for our hope should be the way we engage - not like people who feel threatened or get all defensive.
There's a good kind of meekness and humility that goes along with actually loving the people we challenge with Christian truth claims.
Before walking into a spiritual conversation, ask God to help you care about the person and minister to them.
Peter goes on to say,
".. having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame"
(1 Peter 3:16).
It's no surprise that good behaviour bolsters our case, while behaving badly undermines it.
This is why holy living is key.
Even when we engage with a clear conscience, though, we're still going to get push-back.
People don't like to question their beliefs.
But the challenge is an unavoidable part of our message.
Still, the challenge should never drown out the very message of hope we are trying to defend.
When they are rude to us, God sees it.
When we respond with kindness, God see it, too.
And this is one reason we don't need to be afraid.
In verse 17, Peter says:
"For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil."
The character we display when we are being treated unfairly matters.
Spiritual conversations aren't very productive when either participant gets mad.
Rather than harbour evil thoughts or respond in anger, Christian apologists must rise above evil and show a different way of relating to people who reject our message.
All of these lessons are based on the example Jesus gave us.
Peter says,
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."
When we suffer, let's suffer with Jesus' example in mind.
Don't ever forget how God took the initiative to reach out to us while we had our backs turned to him.
Even in this verse, Peter alludes to the resurrection of Jesus who is our Living Hope.
What every apologist needs to know about
1 Peter 3:15 is that it appears in a text that is not only about defending the faith.
1 Peter 3 is an important cultural engagement text, too.
Let's engage the culture, make the case for Christianity, and defend the faith while remembering the gracious way God treated us before we embraced him and his message.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'Dr. Mikel Del Rosario
M.A., Th.M, Ph.D'
I teach Apologetics, Philosophy, and Bible classes as an Associate Professor of Bible and Theology at Moody Bible Institute.
For over 25 years, I've helped students from the West Coast to the Far East learn to think deeply about spiritual things, find real answers to tough questions, and navigate difficult spiritual conversations
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