It’s a strange thing: the book has never been so accessible. According to Guinness Book of Records, L. Ron Hubbard’s writings of Scientology have been translated into 65 languages; the Koran is supposed to be read in Arabic, so it hasn’t been translated as much; the Book of Mormon is in about 100 languages. But 2,656 languages have all or some of the Bible. Some 65 million copies of the Bible are bought or distributed in the U.S. every year–nothing else is a close second. The average house has at least three. People cheer the Bible, buy the Bible, give the Bible, own the Bible-they just don’t actually read the Bible. According to George Gallup: One-Third of those surveyed know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Fewer than half can name the first book of the Bible; 80 percent of born-again Christians believe the phrase ‘God helps those who cannot help themselves’ is in the Bible (it’s Ben Franklin if you’re curious). So I’m thinking a lot these days about how to help the people that God brings my way to know and love the book” (John Ortberg)
If I were to ask you, “What is the meaning of life?” What would be your answer? Ravi Zacharias asks this question to college students when he speaks, and they are usually dumbfounded and stumped to answer. I don’t think that it is because they are ignorant or simpleminded; I believe it is that they have never considered the question. I would go as far as to say that perhaps they have never felt to answer the question because the question itself cannot be answered from within oneself.
That is what we are taught today, aren’t we? The answer is within you; you need to channel your inner energies; focus yourself, concentrate your power, channel your positive energies. These are the mantras of the world. The problem is they not only fail to answer the question; they never really identify what exactly is the question. How does one determine the meaning of something they can’t define?
Is it possible to find the meaning of life apart from God? Can we live in an undefined time with an unclear purpose and make it meaningful? Let me put it this way: If I invite you to play a sport with me, but I don’t tell you when the game begins, when it ends, or explain the rules of the game to you, how are you going to play the game? That is what the atheist cannot answer, the humanist can’t explain, and of all the religions of the world, only Christ does answer. Without God, we lose the meaning of life. This was the very conclusion the poet in Ecclesiastes reached.
Unfortunately, we do not do well articulating or knowing the message of the Gospel. Joel Osteen, the so-called pastor of one of the largest churches in America, regularly makes statements like, “It’s God’s will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It’s God’s will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. It’s God’s will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life.” This isn’t the gospel; this is humanism cloaked in Christianity. This doesn’t provide meaning to life; it waters it down.
I want you to know what you believe, why you think it, and how to answer questions or have conversations with others what you believe. We want to be contagious in our faith. We want to make a difference, but most Christians understand little our faith and what the Bible says, much less how to share those things with other people. For the next six weeks, we’re going to talk about our faith and view it in light of different secular beliefs. The goal is to help you have conversations with others.
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:14-16)
I. Explain the Biblical Principle
I think the first thing we need to understand is that talking with others about our faith is not something we should fear. Nor is it to be a confrontation. Most people naturally avoid confrontation and are uncomfortable talking about subjects we don’t have commanding knowledge about. This is why Peter told the early church to “Be prepared” Be prepared to make a defense, an “apologia.”
We’re not called by God to win arguments; we are called to make disciples. We want our faith to be attractive, contagious, and likable. But we also have a responsibility to make us remain faithful to the teaching. That means that the Gospel is different and distinctive from anything else in the world because it alone offers to say. This claim of exclusivity can bring criticism
Peter was writing to a church who was being persecuted and suffering their faith, and so he is writing to Christians who are living in a world that his hostile to them. And so here in chapter 3, Peter is telling them not to back down, or make it easier for people to like them. He’s telling them to be sure about themselves and their faith in God.
So in verse 14, Peter is quoting from Isaiah: 12 Do not call conspiracy all that these people call a plot, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread. (Isaiah 8:12-13)
Peter says, “In your hearts honor Christ, the Lord as holy.” To make something hold to reserve something for unique and notable use. It is to be set apart from the ordinary. In the Old Testament, the Jews set apart special utensils for eating, animals for sacrificing, and even days for God. In our hearts, Christ is to be set apart from the rest of our lives. He is different and unique. Does Christ have a special and honored place in your own heart and life?
Emily Post was an etiquette expert and was once asked, “What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House but has a previous engagement?” She answered, “An invitation to dine at the White House is a command, and it automatically cancels every other engagement.”
Our attitude toward evangelism reflects our understanding of Christ. If we are fully convinced that Christ is the answer, the meaning to live, and hope for the lost, then evangelism becomes something as crucial as delivering an invitation to the White House. As Christ is seated holy – set apart above all things – then evangelism is taking place in how we live our lives before a word is even spoken. Christ brings meaning to our lives that extend beyond health and wealth, and that is meaning no other can also remotely offer.
Consider Objections
Not all atheists are hostile to Christians, but some, like Richard Dawkins,? are militantly hostile toward Christianity. Dawkins wrote, “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is a belief in spite of even perhaps because of the lack of evidence.”
The message here is that if you have faith in God, it lacks any kind of intelligent decision based on any evidence. You are just following a fairy-tale. But that’s not what the Bible teaches, is it? Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)
But it is not just philosophical hostility. We are witnessing in our culture. It is political and cultural. The LGBTQ is openly aggressive to the Christian faith, in some countries and areas here in the US LGBTQ indoctrination is mandatory in classrooms as young as kindergarten. There is a continual agenda to display this lifestyle choice as ‘normal.’ Hollywood’s destructive messages are seen and heard daily. The abortion propaganda is militantly pushing their murderous agenda as healthcare, and liberal agendas continue to promote a drug-addicted country to normalize recreational drug use as acceptable. Places like Canada, Germany, and Great Britan have separated children from their parents because of the family’s religious convictions.
The highest and best defense we have is our testimony. You cannot argue with our changed life. Look around you. As the world around us continues toward liberal secularism and humanistic precepts, where is the hope. The truth is, hopelessness is everywhere and increasing. This is why, as Christians, we must not just be religious, we must be leaders with Christ. When people see the difference and peace in our lives, they will be naturally curious, and they will want some answers as to why there is a difference. That is when we must be ready to provide a defense. There is no need for arguments now; THEY are the ones that will be curious because YOU have the meaning they are searching for in life.
Offer A Defense
People are discovering, as we have more information, and we experience more, that you can’t fake your meaning. At the same time, people are assuming there is no God in the picture. So no one to ask the question of meaning. The result is that people are crumbling under the weight of supplying their own meaning. This is why Christ is so important. He supplies our meaning. He is the giver of life and the meaning of why we live.
God made you, given life by God, and therefore? since He is the Giver of your life, He also supplies your life with meaning. The Westminster Catechism asks the question, “What is the chief end of man?” Everyone assumes it is something like, glorifying God, or leaving the earth in better shape than what you found it. Something noble like that. but what does Jesus say?
John 17:3. “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” And it’s interesting to me that even people who seem to know God really well in the New Testament, like Paul, the prayer of his heart in Philippians 3 is still, “I want to know Christ.”
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
The more people know Christ, the more they want to know Christ even more. When someone chooses to put their faith in Christ, they begin to see how significant and meaningful life really is. Everything is different. The value of life, our sexuality, how we look at or spend our money and finances, how we relate to our husbands or wives, how we raise our children, and especially why we come to church. This why Paul said that everything he has gained before coming to Christ was worthless.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,(Philippians 3:8-10)
Application
The discovery that there truly is a God changes everything. God does not add meaning; He brings meaning entirely. The hinderances in evangelism today isn't a method, but rather it is the poverty of our own experience. We want to disconnect ourselves from the testimony of Christ.
As we live out our faith in real and meaningful ways, others will be curious. It is at this point that we must be prepared to provide an answer and to why. If someone were to ask you, "why are you a Christian?" Would you be able to answer them?
1. Ask God to turn your fear of evangelism into a ministry of compassion and grace toward the people you know.
2. Practice telling your story, your testimony. I included a great guide to help you think about what your testimony is and to put it in your own words.
3. Pray for God to help you live out the faith to proclaim. If you've never submitted yourself to the Lordship of Christ, make today the day that you do just that. Live only to please him.
Take it to the Cross
