As I wrote yesterday, we cannot let the current climate of hate, violence and fear overrule the commands of God to speak the truth of the LORD. However, we must be careful in our responses.
“You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” [1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT]
I have always found Peter’s words in these verses to be challenging. First, we are exhorted to always be ready, be prepared to respond to people who ask us why we can be hopeful when so many are not. That is especially challenging because you actually must HAVE hope before people will ask you about it! If you are as hopeless as they are, you won’t need to be ready for anything.
The second thing of note is that our response must be gentle and kind. It must be respectful. We live in a Democratic Republic. Our constitution grants people certain rights to live and worship in ways with which we may not always agree. Our job is to love people and through that love point them to Christ, who also loves them. Our job is not to condemn nor justify – when we do that, we usurp God’s prerogative as Creator and Savior.
The last thing to note? It may be the most difficult of all. We must keep a clear conscience. We must have “a good life” in Christ. Our behavior needs to be above reproach and when it’s not, there needs to be repentance.