"Apologetics" is a fancy word that means "defending the faith". I'm taking Apologetics 101 at Westminster, and God has been teaching me a lot. Over the years, my apologetics has been geared at reaching the mind- coming up with good, logical reasons why someone should consider the Christian faith. Some people might even consider me an expert in this, which is not a good thing. What I mean is that all Christians (not just seminary students, pastors, or other experts) are given the joy and responsibility of being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have.
"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)
The challenge of course, is learning to speak the truth in love by sharing the truth of the gospel with gentleness and respect.
To fully appreciate this verse, our professor did an excellent job of giving us some background info. Peter is writing to a group of Christians who are suffering intense persecution. He reminds the persecuted believers that Heaven, and not earth, is their home. God has caused them to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead (1 Pet 1:3) and given an everlasting inheritance kept in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4). The joys of heaven will sustain them as they are "grieved by various trials" (1 Pet. 1:6). "For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly" (1 Pet 2:19).
Church history tells us that Nero was the emperor at the time. He despised Christians and would have his soldiers burn them alive. Simply naming the name of Christ would bring the sentence of death.
When the soldiers would come, the temptation was for a Christian to think that those with the power over life and death (Caesar or his soldiers) were ultimately Lord. If a Christian would give up faith in Christ, he and his family would be spared. If not, they would die. That kind of power is not something we experience in the USA, but it would be fearful. Peter tells them:
"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy...." (1 Pet 3:14).
Peter reminds them that neither Caesar nor his soldiers run the universe. Christ is still Lord. Christ ultimately has power over life and death. Christ ultimately will raise us from the dead. Unless we're fully convinced of these facts, we're not ready to give an answer for our hope.
How about today? We don't have Roman soldiers coming at night. Yet, how will you and I respond if cancer comes? Loss of a job? Loss of a family member? Loss of health? Are we fully convinced that Christ is Lord over all?
When the soldiers came in the night for Christians, they undoubtedly asked, "Why are you willing to die for your Christ? Give him up and live!"
At that moment, they were "to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15). Who is Christ and why would you die for him? What are you placing your hope in?
Christians have hope beyond this life. A few weeks ago, our professor shared about his mother, who was nearing death. He was calling credit card companies to close accounts. He could always tell who was a Christian on the other end of the phone and who wasn't. Christians could offer words of hope in this trial. Others could not. One who tried to come up with something simply stopped mid-sentence: "I hope...ummm I hope...." There was simply nothing she could offer to someone whose mother was about to die. What a tragedy to go through life without Christ!
The next few posts, I'll go into detail on
- What is the faith that we defend?
- What is the method for doing this?
The sovereignty of God means that God works everything according to His purpose and plan. Nothing surprises God or is outside His control. Ephesians 1:11 describes God as one "who works all things according to the counsel of his will." If everything (with regard to man and creation) is not under God's ultimate control, that means chance is ultimately under control. R.C. Sproul remarked, “there is not a stray molecule in the universe". This means that all who have a relationship with God as our Father through His Son Jesus Christ can rejoice in all situations. God didn't spare His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, so how will He not also graciously give us all things?
This is a great idea in theory, but it was put to the test this a few weeks ago when Teresa and I traveled to Harrisburg, PA to attend a weekend marriage conference. We were in a hurry to leave Friday afternoon after class. On our way out, Teresa had Beni's leash in one hand, was carrying a bag or two, and also had her keys in the other hand. She stopped by the mailbox to check our mail. We then packed our car, dropped off Beni at a friend's house, and started our 2-hr drive from Philly to Harrisburg. Everything good so far....then we get a phone call.
We missed the call, but it turned out to be the apartment management. The guy sounded somewhat frustrated. It turns out that Teresa had left all her keys on the mailbox, and someone in one of our other apartments had picked them up and called the apartment management. A part of me wanted to panic and start worrying about our mail, our apartment, etc...By God's grace, I didn't get angry at Teresa and I realized that it was an honest mistake that anyone could have made. We decided to trust God with the whole thing. We didn't think about it the whole weekend.
When we got back, the guy who picked up our keys met us in the parking lot. He was somewhat distressed as he wasn't sure what had happened to us. He thought we might have been attacked, robbed, or something. He thought we had gone out of town, but wasn't sure. All he knew was that our keys were left behind, the apartment was locked, nobody was answering (not even our dog). He came really close to calling the police to report the situation. But, he was glad to see us.
We were glad he picked up our keys. It was cool to know that he was watching out for us, kind of like a distressed parent waiting for a teen who hasn't come home yet. And by God's plan, I had met this neighbor earlier when he was trying to revive his car battery. I offered to give him a jump start if he ever needed it. And through this previous encounter, we got to meet and establish friendly relations.
As we were talking in the parking lot and reflecting on the first time we met, other neighbors stopped by and joined the conversation. When one neighbor saw that a crowd had gathered, she jokingly wondered if it was a block party!
A prayer and desire of ours has been to meet our neighbors, get to know them, and share Christ through our words and our lives. God answered this desire through Teresa leaving her keys dangling outside the mailbox! This is the kind of thing that could have led me to anger and frustration at Teresa. But, God did something wonderful with it.
God truly is sovereign and works all things for our good and ultimately His glory.
