QT 3 Oct 16, 1 Pet 3:13-15, Defending the faith with kindness and respect

1 Peter 3:13–15 (ESV) — 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 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,

NOTE: Peter's opening argument is that, for the most part, if you are zealous to do what is right, there is little chance of harm, either from an employee or another person. But, in fact, there are people who, for reasons of sin, do want to harm you to make themselves feel better or more important. But the promise of God, is that if you do what is right and suffer for it, you WILL BE blessed. And so, we don't need to fear the person or worry about what that person might be doing. In fact, our actions should lead to opportunities to defend the faith. But not in an emotional argument--that is not the way believers defend our faith. That is the way the world argues religion and politics with sharply heated emotional debates. For the believer, first, be prepared. We can't answer every argument and we don't have to. We can calmly say, "that is an interesting point; I am not an expert in that area and I would need to do further research to answer your statement. What sounds good, is often not as good as it might sound." Second, and if we do have the answer, then we give our reasons, but we do it with gentleness (calm and kind) and respect (absolutely no derogatory or accusative speech). Let's reason biblically and not as the word argues.