I have always found 1 Peter 3:15 (But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect) a little intimidating and very challenging.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been in conversations and people have asked me questions about my faith, and my mind just goes completely blank, or I don’t know how to answer or it just seems to be a disaster. How am I supposed to have answers for all the questions out there? Evolution vs Creation, suffering, people who have never heard the gospel… the list goes on.
Whilst the obvious answer is that we just need to trust God in these situations, it is also worth having a think about how we respond to difficult questions. It seems to me this verse suggests apologetics shouldn’t be beyond any of us, and so maybe I should be more positive.
If you have had any similar experiences, or just want to investigate apologetics a bit further, I can highly recommend a talk by Michael Ramsden, the European Director of the RZIM Zacharias Trust, entitled Conversational Apologetics. It was recorded in a couple of chunks at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It is free to download, easy to listen to and really encouraging.
The link to download it is here . It’s a great listen and well worth it!
I think you need to be willing to explain the hope you have, your walk of faith and experience of following Jesus – rather than necessarily having answers to all the tough questions out there. Thanks for the link. Will follow it when I don’t have a sermon to write…..
Posted by Jenny | November 11, 2011, 1:00 pmIf I remember the talk correctly he says that exactly not what this verse is talking about! He says if someone asks you a direct question about science vs the bible (or whatever) we should engage with the question and not just tell them about our experiences. He argues (and I am definitely paraphrasing here!) that the greek work for ‘giving an answer’/give the reason suggests persuading people in terms of debate, evidences etc beyond personal experiences. Naturally there are caveats- we need to look for the question and motivation behind the question, that we can’t have answers for everything etc. He suggests we can work at developing answers for difficult topics and things we know we are unsure about which sounds reasonable to me!
What’s your sermon on? When are you giving it?
Posted by Graham | November 11, 2011, 5:51 pmHave you seen the upheaval that is going on within SGM? Did you see the documents that were posted online that showed all the problems that existed for a while within SGM. This included Mahaney not practicing what he taught and imposed on others. The documents also showed that Mahaney blackmailed Larry Tomczak. Some interesting sites are:
http://www.sgmsurvivors.com
http://www.sgmrefuge.com
http://www.brentdetwiler.com
Posted by Steve240 | November 11, 2011, 4:38 pmI have, I read a number of blogs and the ‘official’ posts on the SGM site with great sadness. Can I ask what you are trying to achieve by posting those blogs?
The present difficulties the church is having doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the teaching in this talk- In fact there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to learn from other SGM publications and content. Every preacher and teacher sins, doesn’t mean God can’t speak through them or we should dismiss what they say. Even if you are boycotting SGM stuff, Michael Ramsden was just a visiting speaker and RZIM Zacharias Trust are a brilliant organisation.
Secondly, as Christians we should be looking for forgiveness, grace and restoration for those who repent, and it does seem that is beginning to happen at SGM from what I read. Just look at the incident between Peter and Paul mentioned in Galatians 2 for some Biblical precedence….
Posted by Graham | November 11, 2011, 5:54 pmI’m preaching at Ainon, Bryncoch tonight on Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 21:1-17).
I must listen to that talk this week. We certainly need to engage with what people actually say to us, rather than talk across them. Even when it takes us outside our comfort zone.
Posted by Jenny | November 13, 2011, 3:13 pmHow did it go? Sounds like an interesting topic!
Posted by Graham | November 14, 2011, 4:42 pm