Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 3:8-17 (day seven)
always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. vs 15
Apologists have adopted this verse as a defense to why we should study apologetics. We should know what we believe and why we believe it, these things are true. However, I think we can become overzealous to the defense and lose track of the very thing we were called to defend, the hope that is in you, as well as how we are supposed to defend it, with gentleness and reverence.
I recently encountered a professional apologist who was so well trained to debate that even his small talk came across as combative. Within five minutes of meeting this person, I began to ask myself this question: If I were an unbeliever, would I be more persuaded by logic or by love? If the people we are sending into the front lines are more concerned with winning an argument than displaying the hope we have in Jesus Christ, then our logic was flawed to begin with. Our society doesn’t need more divisiveness, we need more hope. Defend your hope!
Amen! Great point, Rick. Speak the truth in love bathed in prayer.