Are You Ready To Answer?

There are Christians around the world who will read this post.  In each culture and society there are different questions and objections against the Gospel.  In each of these cultural and religious contexts we need to be able to give a reason or make a defense to anyone who asks us why we believe what we believe.

That means people will have questions or they will even make statements against what we believe.  And in the context of their culture and their statements, we are called upon by the Lord, in the words of the apostle Peter, to give them a defense or a reason why.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks of you a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

In Muslim society there are certain questions that they ask, in Hindu society there are questions they ask, in Communist society there are questions they ask, and in American culture there are questions they ask.  We should be ready to answer these questions.  Part of the work of the pastor and the teacher is to equip (Ephesians 4:11-12) believers with the answers to these questions.

Are you able to answer the person residing in the United States or residing in Western Europe who makes the statement, for example, that all paths lead to God and heaven?  I do not mean just quoting a Bible verse to them, but giving them a reason, in their mind, to understand the hope you have.  Can you relay or share something with them that makes them sense your faith?  Or if they say they do not believe in God at all or they do not believe that the Bible is true, can you provide an answer as to why you believe it is true?

For the Muslim world, are you able to give a reason why that Muslim person should believe? Can you answer that we do not believe in three gods and that the Bible is not corrupt and perverted?

This article is not meant to give the answers to these questions but to create a thirst and a hunger in you to find those answers for the hope that lies within you.  Can we not only find these answers but teach them to our children before we lose them to this corrupt society?

If we want to reach the people around us, we need to be in a position to give an answer to them.  And we need to do it as the apostle Peter said, “with gentleness and respect.”  It is not a matter of giving an answer to them about the hope that we have with rudeness and anger. To give a proper answer it must be done with love.  The message we are bringing is the love of God.  Can we do that if we do not love and respect the people we bring the message to?