Articles
“Painful Evangelism”
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
1 Peter 3:15
What does it mean to “give an answer” (NIV) or “make a defense” (NASB/ESV) for the hope within us? The word “answer/defense” comes from a Greek word from which our English “apologetic” is derived. But giving one's apologetic does not mean apologizing for one’s faith. An apologetic is a verbal a defense (Acts 22:1; 25:16; 2 Tim. 4:16), a reasoned argument (1 Pet. 3:15) or a legitimate excuse (Rom. 1:20). It entails explaining the reason we have hope within us. But even more than this, the aim of our apologetic is to persuade others to seize that hope for themselves.
For example, when Paul was in custody at Caesarea, he said, “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews” (Acts 26:2). Now notice Agrippa’s response after he had heard Paul’s “defense”: “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28) He understood that the goal of Paul’s “defense” was not merely to exonerate himself from the spurious accusations of the unbelieving Jews, but to persuade Agrippa to turn to Christ. This is the command that Peter is giving us. We are to be ready to explain the “reason” for our hope and persuade others to lay hold of it too.
Peter not only expects every Christian to be equipped to answer the question, “Why are you a Christian?” but he also assumes unbelievers will ask. On the surface, that sounds pretty easy. We just follow Jesus and get ready for people to walk up to us and say, “You have such hope within you. I want to have that hope too! Can you please sit down with me and explain it?”
While this scenario is possible, this is not at all what Peter is talking about. Peter wrote to an exiled people (1:1, 17) who had “been grieved by various trials” (1:6). Like Jesus, they had been “rejected by men” (2:4), spoken of against by “evildoers” (2:12), and suffered unjustly (2:19) sharing in the Lord’s “sufferings” (4:13).
Even the immediate context of verse 15 won’t allow a painless evangelism. The previous verse (14) speaks of suffering “for righteousness’ sake” and the following verse (16) mentions being “slandered” and “reviled” for Jesus' sake. Therefore, Peter is teaching us to be ready to defend our hope in the face of hostile, unbelieving, incredulous people. We must be ready to explain our hope when we are attacked for what we believe or how we live. We must be willing to risk rejection, loss of reputation, and persecution.
Instead of hearing, “Wow, you are such a hopeful person. What makes you so different?” it is much more likely to hear, “The way you live offends me, and your beliefs are ridiculous. Why would anyone believe the Bible? You Christians are so intolerant!” In the face of such hostility we will be tempted to stay quiet or alter the message to avoid the pain or even to strike back. But Peter teaches us to be ready to respond clearly, gently, and respectfully.
Jesus sent out his disciples as sheep among wolves (Mt. 10:16). Have we forgotten that? Evangelism isn’t easy. Evangelism means knocks. But those knocks just make us look more like our King and give others a chance to hear the saving gospel. The costs of evangelism are relatively “light and momentary” compared with the “eternal weight of glory” laid up for us (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
How do we persevere when evangelism is painful? “In you hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,” that is, allow Jesus to rule unconditionally on the throne of your heart. Only when Jesus is given complete control of our lives, can we truly be free to give our defense of the gospel without any fear (1 Pet. 3:14).
