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. 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)
This Bible text is interesting. “If someone asks you about your hope as a believer.” When was the last time that happened to you? I’m not talking about when we go up to people and try to tell them that we believe in Jesus. I’m talking about when someone comes up and because of the life we live asks us sincerely, why are we different.
You know why I don’t think people ask? Because we, as Christians, don’t look and act differently than everyone else around us. We don’t stand out.
We buy similar houses.
We do our jobs the same way everyone else does.
We drive similar cars and do the same things as all the other people.
We donate to charities and serve in the community the same way as folks who don’t believe in Jesus.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with these things but I do think we are called to be different. Not separate, different. We are supposed to be part of the world we live in but when people look at our lives, there is supposed to be something that stands out.
Something that would make them ask questions about what motivates us.
The early church did weird things for their day. They fed strangers, helped people they didn’t know, they shared their resources with others. This made other people ask “What is it with those people?” And when folks asked, they could tell them about Jesus. And more and more people learned of Jesus’ love.
Today, let’s live our lives differently. Let’s live lives that are questionable so then we can (gently and respectfully) tell others about who motivates us to be different..