“But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect.” – 1 PETER 3:15-16a NET 

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CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

By WARD PIMLEY

Pastor, Journalist, Author

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LET’S CREATE a little story together. Everyone loves a good story — right? — and God gives us the ability to craft our own.

Part 1 of 4. “Sharing Our Faith”

S0, LET’S ASSUME you’re talking with a good friend, maybe sharing coffee and some catching up, when your friend turns serious and asks you a sensitive question.

“Say, if you don’t mind my asking, there’s something different about you. I mean, you’ve always been friendly and joke around a lot, but there’s a peace about you I didn’t see before. Is there something going on I should know about?”

NARRATOR: That’s a nice comment, isn’t it? It’s so much better than, “What’s gotten under your skin? You’re so jumpy, so judgmental, so, I don’t know, angry or something.” 

We pick up here: What do you do? Your friend has just teed up a nice compliment and wants to know how come you’re so relaxed, at peace with yourself, content – even while you’re facing some of the same battles you were before – lingering issues with your mother, a tense relationship at work, your oldest child struggling at school, your lawn turning into a weed factory. 

Well, our text source gives us an answer, one we as believers and followers of Christ should look for and even ask God for: an opportunity to share our faith. 

Do you do that? Do you ask for an opportunity to share your faith, or would you rather nobody ask you and just leave you alone?

In our text source, God is telling us through the apostle Peter to dedicate our lives to the Lord and be ready, at all times, to tell others “what God has done for us,” especially, he says, when we’re asked.

In other words, we should be living out the Gospel to earn the right to share the Gospel when given the opportunity.

One commentary tells us: “We must be ready to tell them with gentleness and respect, the story of how we came to be redeemed by God through faith in Christ. [I]t matters that we continue to do good so that even those who accuse us of wrongdoing will be ashamed.” – BibleRef.com (Got Questions Ministries)

Another commentary says: “Christians must be a strong witness for Jesus with their lives so that they have opportunity to be a strong witness for Jesus with their words.” – Pastor Tony Evans

That means our lives and our words should be in synch; they should back each other up. We don’t want to preach to others the love and forgiveness that Christ offers us when our own lives don’t reflect that same commitment. 

Also, we don’t want our words of sarcasm, nit-picking, and complaint to prevent an opportunity to testify to God’s goodness. 

Peter was writing to a population being persecuted for following Jesus, so their witness placed their physical safety in question.

We, fortunately, do not now face that same persecution, even while we might well face our own personal life battles. 

Even so, our attitude, as we experience life and as people watch us, either gives a favorable witness for the Lord or detracts from it.

Part 2 of 4. “Everyone Suffers”

WE ALL SUFFER in some way. No one gets through life without some sorrow. 

There’s another verse in 1 Peter 3 I want to draw to your attention: 

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. – 1 Peter 3:18 NKJV

Once again, Jesus gives us the perfect model for how to face our life journey. 

Who hasn’t said, at some point, “Was it fair for us that Adam’s sin has caused us to be born with sinful hearts,” even though the Bible clearly states that if we were in the place of Adam and Eve, we would have acted the same way. 

In fact, we do. We willingly create our own diversion from God.

But let’s ask ourselves whether the redemption part of God’s story is unfair.

“Was it fair to Jesus that God had to send Him to leave the throne of Heaven, be born of a woman and placed in an animals’ feeding trough, live a sinless life, be harassed by religious and civic leaders, and then be sacrificed on the cross for our sins, not His own?”

God righted the scales, as it were, giving us Jesus to succeed where our forebear Adam failed. So, fairness has nothing to do with it. 

Life isn’t fair. We know that. Some of us suffer more than do others; some of us suffer more earlier in our lives; others suffer more later in life.

Some of our suffering results from our own doing, our own (youthful) stupidity. Some of our suffering lingers; some of it is temporary. We may suffer more than once. 

Pastor Rick Warren said we’re either going into trials, are in trials now, or are just emerging from trials, such that trials and tribulations are a common part of our lives. 

They are the norm in life, not the exception. 

That is why it is so important for us as Christ followers to live bathed in Christ’s grace. 

One pastor I was privileged to know quite well exhibited tremendous grace while suffering from a fatal nerve condition that recently claimed his earthly life. He demonstrated the grace of God that marked his life and testimony. “God’s grace is sufficient for the day.”

That’s the kind of witness we should exhibit so that we might earn the right to share the gospel with someone. When that opportunity comes, we need to be ready to pounce.

Part 3 of 4. “Sharing Techniques”

HOW DO WE do it? How do we share the Gospel when God presents us with the opportunity? (What holds us back?)

What are the magic words we can use to share our personal life journey, from sinner to saint, brought about solely through the blood and grace of Jesus Christ?

Do you have a testimony? Do you have a before Christ to go with your after Christ experience? I sure do. 

>This is how I lived before Christ entered my life; this is how He entered my life; these are the changes He has made in me. I’m not the man (or woman) I want to be, but I’m not the man (or woman) I used to be.<

Unless you were led by your parents to turn your life over to God before you entered the first grade, you have a before that wasn’t very pleasant. Jesus has remade you. 

If you did turn your life over to God before first grade, then your testimony is one of praise, yet you might have some “Jonah moments” you could share.

If you’ve lived a pristine life, and believe you have nothing dramatic to share, then your testimony is to praise God Almighty! You could share how He kept you from falling away.

IMPORTANT: YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW ONE MORE BIBLE VERSE OR DOCTRINAL PRINCIPAL OR WORD OF WISDOM TO TESTIFY OF YOUR FAITH THAN YOU KNEW THE DAY YOU TURNED YOUR LIFE OVER TO JESUS CHRIST. 

My sense, though, is that in this case you would not have the conversation we noted at the beginning, where a friend notices a profound change in your life.

Yes, God is not done with you yet, and He will not be until you enter Glory with Him, but He has been growing you and molding you from the mess your life was in when you turned it over to Him.

Part 4 of 4. “Explaining Prayer”

LET’S RETURN TO our story and take a lesson from our text source, that we should be ready to give a testimony whenever someone gives us the opportunity. 

Our friend points out how different we are: more relaxed, more confident, more joyful. What do we say? What do you say? 

This is the opportunity we should be praying for, and it should not fill us with dread. Instead, we ought to be able to relate something very simple, something like this:

“I turned my life over to Jesus Christ. I just admitted to Him what He knew already – that I am a sinner in need of God’s grace. I just poured out my heart to Him and sought His forgiveness.”

“I told Him I believe He is the Messiah, the Son of God and that He died on the cross to pay for my sins. I asked Him to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.“

[Doctrinally, we *receive* Him, not ask Him, but *receive* is a passive tense verb; it does not require an action on our part; while *ask* does.] 

“Basically, that was it! When I prayed that simple prayer, I felt a burden lifted from my shoulders, and I was filled with a peace and joy I had never known before.“

[God is the acting agent who lifted the burden from my shoulders and filled my heart with a peace and joy I had not known before.]

“I don’t know why I waited as long as I did to seek God’s favor, but now I am grateful I did it. In fact, I am eternally grateful.“

At this point, you might want to add a concluding flourish, something like,

“If you ever want to discuss this further, just let me know. I’d love to share my faith with you. I’m just not going to push you.”

Or, you could say,

“What I did, you could, too. Of course, when you’re ready. If you’d like me to pray with you about this, I’d be more than happy to do so.”

You can see that in each of our examples we made it clear that any further discussion of this topic will be at the instigation and will of the other party.

Not us.

We are not going to push our faith onto someone, just as God does not push Himself onto us. He lets us come to the decision on our own.

The second point to emphasize in this verse is that our discussion of faith issues with our friend must be done with love and gentleness; our text source says *courtesy and respect*. Other translations say *meekness and fear*, *gentleness and reverence*, and *courteously and respectfully*.

Regardless of the exact words your translation uses, we are to share the truth with love and grace – not highhanded, not judgmental, not condemning – just loving acceptance of our friend’s question.

Let’s close where we started, repeating our text source, but this time with a different translation, the Berean Standard Bible:

“But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect.” – 1 Peter 3:15 BSB

FINAL WORDS

HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY to share your faith – and praying that God will give you those opportunities – should be a way of life for each of us.

CLOSING QUESTION: I ask myself, “Is sharing my faith a way of life for me? Let me ask you: Is sharing your faith a way of life for you?

Living out the Gospel is not enough. Being a good person is not enough. Smiling often is not enough. Neither is saying “please” and “thank you,” although those are desirable traits.

We need to back up our actions, our lives, with words of affirmation; otherwise, we are stealing God’s glory and claiming it for our own.

Here’s how God says it:

“How then will they call on him in who they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” – Romans 10:14-15 ESV

Instead of the word “preach,” we can easily substitute the word “share.” So, how will someone believe without hearing, and how will someone hear without someone sharing?

That person who shares could be you.

That someone that God has placed in your life could be waiting for you to share your testimony, your defense (or apologia) for the hope and joy you feel in your heart.

Just remember, when you do, share the Word with love and gentleness.

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PRAYER

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, our Abba, our Daddy – We are so grateful for the blessings you shower on us. We want to share our faith with others, as they express an interest in listening, so please help us prepare to share a brief testimony about our lives, to tell others what God has done for us. Then, mighty Lord and Savior, please give us the opportunity to share what God has done for us. Once we’ve prepared, give us the opening. In Jesus’ name. AMEN