09 Mar “I Can’t Prove it”

Samaritan’s Heart recently started a new Monday night Bible study, and it has been amazing. We have more than a dozen people taking part and the Spirit is active in leading the discussion. Recently, we studied 1 Peter 3:15. It’s helpful to take a look at the verses around it:

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1 Peter 3:13-16 (NIV)

Our discussion focused on what a daunting task verse 15 can be. When you are mocked or ridiculed because of your belief in Christ, or someone wants to get into an argument with you over it, how do you respond? How should we respond? One person in the group, Mike, shared some common defenses:

1. That’s how I was raised.
2. I tried it and it worked for me.

As Mike pointed out, people are raised to believe all kinds of things that aren’t true and people try all kinds of things that work for them. Pastor Voddie Baucham offers several defenses in his YouTube Video: “Why you can believe the Bible:”

• 66 books written by 40 authors in three different languages over a period of 1,500 years. (I would add that all those books and authors construct a single story arc. Jesus is on every page of the Bible.)
• Written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.
• Reporting supernatural events
• In fulfillment of specific prophecies

I have used all of those defenses. My experience is that those who resist belief will find a way to dismiss all of them. What God gave me recently was this: I wasn’t just born on purpose for a purpose. I was reborn for a purpose. It’s not that belief in Jesus “worked for me.” It works in me and through me. Jesus is real to me. What used to own me doesn’t. To borrow a line from the streaming series “The Chosen,” I was one way, then I was another way.”

First, I allow people to see that in me, then, when God says the time is right, I tell them with words. “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words” is a quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but there is no evidence that he said it. I agree with most of it.

Words are always necessary. The key is knowing when God is calling on you to use them. To paraphrase Pastor Greg Laurie, when the Holy Spirit is ready to move in someone’s life, there is nothing I can do to mess it up.

So, the next time someone challenges your faith, don’t make the mistake of trying to “prove” that God is real with facts and figures. Seeing the Jesus in you, not debating with them, simply loving them, is your best defense. It’s the purpose for which you were reborn!

Pastor Jerry Bader