Misreading 1 Peter 3:15

Thanks to Joey Turner and Nick Boucher for their posts while I was gone: “Let’s Be Easily Edified” (Joey, April 25) and “Knowing Our Inability is Freedom” (Nick, April 18).

I’ve been studying and journaling through 1 Peter along with our sermon series. The following is expanded from my journal entry about 1 Peter 3:13-17.

1 Peter 3:15 is the classic apologetics text: “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason…”

What most people mean by that is a readiness to discuss issues like creation v. evolution or the historicity of the Bible or the problem of evil in a world ruled by a wise and good God. These are important questions, and Christians sometimes need to be able to have intelligent conversations about them.

To prepare for such conversations I should read books like Lee Strobel’s Case for Christ, Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter, and CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity. Popular Christian thinkers like these have built a vast library of resources for defending the Christian worldview in the marketplace of ideas.

But that purely intellectual interpretation of Peter’s exhortation ignores the context (believers suffering for their faith), so it misses the point. This verse is about being prepared to explain why I’m not falling apart when I’m suffering unjustly: “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

In other words, the question we must be prepared to answer is not “How does Christianity make sense?” It’s far more personal than that, and more pointed: “Why do you still hold onto your faith when your world is crumbling down around you?”

And in our answering questions about the unaccountable nature of our continued hope, Peter adds several essential details:

1. Don’t let your fear carry you away: “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.” (v. 14)

2. Watch your tone: “Yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (v. 16-17)

3. Maintain your integrity: “…having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” (v. 16-17)

The unjust suffering of a believer, then, can be a powerful platform for Gospel proclamation. A man who is suffering unjustly and still holds on to his hope, his courage, his gentleness, and his integrity – that man gains a hearing among the watchful outsiders.

Suffering well – suffering without complaining or retaliating or giving into despair – this is a remarkable and curious thing, and onlookers will be prompted to ask questions that can open the door to Gospel conversations.

Let’s read 1 Peter 3:15 in its context.

Better yet, when we are called on to suffer for our faith, let’s live out that verse before the watching world.

And then, when they ask, let’s have fruitful Gospel conversations with our friends.

Persevere, Paul Pyle Pastor of Discipleship