Week 11, Day 5: Give a Defense!

Today’s Reading:  1 Peter 5:1-2 Peter 1:21

Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…

We often quote 1 Peter 3:15, and talk about the need to be ready to give a defense for the things that we believe.  That is, I believe a good use of the verse, but it does not get to the heart of what Peter was warning of in the context.  You have probably noticed that much of what Peter writes about has to do with bearing up under tribulation.  This passage is no different.  Peter is writing about those who would suffer for the sake of  righteousness.  He was writing to people who were being “strong armed” by others who were trying to keep them from preaching the gospel message.  Peter’s message in these verses does not have to do so much with having the intellectual skills to defend your beliefs (that is, understanding what you believe, and why you believe it) as much as it has to do with courage!

These Christians were going to need courage to defend their beliefs, knowing that they were going to suffer persecution for them.  Peter was encouraging them to stand strong, and not back down, even if bad things were going to happen to them.  This should certainly make us stop and think about our own willingness to give a defense.  Often, we use the “excuse” that we don’t know enough to give a defense for our beliefs to others around us.  How often is it really that we lack the courage that it takes to take a stand for what is right?  It doesn’t take a lot of knowledge to express to our co-workers or friends why we aren’t going to participate in their sinful activities.  But, it takes a whole lot of courage to stand up to them when they are trying to get us to do something that we know that we shouldn’t!

We need to be ready (with knowledge) to give a defense, but we also must have the courage that is necessary to stand up against evil and teach truth.  That is not going to be an easy thing to do in most cases.  If we are armed with the right message, we should have faith and confidence in Christ to allow us to do the hard thing, and teach the truth.  So what if we are ridiculed, persecuted, or even (in the extreme case) killed?  We must be ready to give a defense of what we believe.  That is what we see in the example of Stephen.  He knew what was going to happen to him, and he still had the courage to preach the gospel.  We should follow his example!

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