Equipped: Prepared to Answer
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Are You Ready?
Are You Ready?
How many of you watched some college football yesterday? I know we have some fans in here and It’s that time of year… this past week was full of fantasy football invites.... I’m actually auto drafting RIGHT NOW! Yesterday my neighbor was happy because “his boys” won! Everyone seems ready to talk about THEIR TEAM!!!! But, are we ready to talk about the gospel?
15 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,
This is an interesting challenge because you don’t always know WHO in particular is going to question you about your faith and hope in Christ, or WHEN they are going to ask you, or specifically WHAT they might ask you, or WHY they are asking — what their motives are.
Be Prepared
Be Prepared
Here in FL we know something about preparedness! We also know what happens if you try to go to Walmart the day before a storm hits.... But, are we prepared to answer those who question our faith?
It could be your best friend or your worst enemy, a family member or a complete stranger. You may be given ample warning or caught completely off guard by the timing or the nature of the questioning — and not everyone will be asking you questions in an honest way.
Peter commands that we “be prepared” (1Pe 3:15) to make a defense or a proper answer, not evading the question, to everyone who asks. To do this we must be adequately prepared beforehand with a sound knowledge and understanding about our hope in Christ.
As Paul said in 2 Tim 2:15
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
This is our first challenge, to be prepared. Now let’s look at our second challenge, to have the right attitude...
Attitude
Attitude
It is fundamental that we follow Peter’s initial exhortation to
“honor Christ the Lord as holy"
“honor Christ the Lord as holy"
Commitment and dedication to the Lord should be our primary attitude.
Peter further describes the proper attitude as
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
“gentleness and respect”
“gentleness and respect”
This is a challenge, because, as Peter says, the same people who ask you about your faith are often likely to turn against you and put you down because of your defense of your faith. Look at 1 Pe 3.16
16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Remember that Jesus says… Mt 7.6
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
We need to recognize that with certain types of people, some things are better left unsaid, because they are incapable of recognizing their true value.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Paul gives us a guideline to our attitude in Eph 4.29
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
If we take on this attitude as we give our answer we cannot go wrong.
Thirdly, let’s look at the challenge of the answer itself.
The Answer
The Answer
We must be prepared to DEFEND our hope in Christ from those who would oppose God’s truth. Phil 1.7 Our DEFENSE of our hope is actually confirmation of the gospel.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
It is also a necessary part of giving a reason for our hope in a world that is growing more and more hostile to Christianity.
The basic underlying question is “WHY are you a Christian?”
18 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, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Through Christ’s sacrifice we have the hope of eternal life and joy in heaven. People however need this hope explained, and they need to be given the evidence on which our hope is based (this is why we study the Bible with people).
The answer we give is quite challenging, not necessarily from a comprehension standpoint, but application is a constant fight against our human nature. Many will fight you on it
But we do not need to be ashamed to keep putting our hope out there. If we stick to presenting the gospel we cannot go wrong!
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So this is our threefold challenge:
Be Ready
Have the Right Attitude
Give the Right Answer
I hope you will take this challenge and commit to equipping yourself and others!