Give a Defense

 

1 Peter 3:14-16 “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.

And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”

 

Through the Saturate USA national program (https://www.saturateusa.org), our church has partnered with another local church in our area to go out into the neighborhoods and distribute door hangers on each residence that includes a Gospel Tract, a DVD of “the Jesus Movie” with a code for streaming on electronic devices, and an invite to both of the respective Christian houses of Worship. For the past two weeks, a party of the combined church has gone out by two or three within a designated sector of our immediate Zip Code, in prayer and with the love of God to reach out to our community. It has been a great experience for the evangelism team, with wonderful encounters.

 

This last Saturday, my wife and I teams up with the pastor and his wife in order to distribute the material and talk to everyone that we came upon. While checking on access into a Senior-living apartment complex, one resident came out of his back, sliding door and confronted us in a combative manner, asking why we were harassing him. I asked him to explain what he meant because I wanted to hear what his thoughts were and understand where he was coming from. In the next thirty plus minutes, we discussed the issues of our culture today and the general decline of the nation in morality, ethics, honesty and integrity, finding that they were in agreement in the societal matters that affected the common good. Staying away from the distraction of political agendas and social causes, the conversation focused on standards for peace and tranquility in this chaotic world.  

 

He did not understand why people did not put in a fair day’s worth of labor for a fair day’s pay, while taking care of the customer fairly and honestly today. He asked why people slack off and do not industriously work hard at their vocation and look to cheat the employer and customer? Why people selfishly seek to better themselves by any and every means, instead of being a part of the common good of society and the community. He saw the problem as the evangelism team did, that it was heart issue and there was a moral compass missing in our culture. We were on the same page, and he then saw that the church team cared enough to walk the neighborhoods on our community with a message that this nation needs to find common ground in God for the good of all mankind. He believed in the Ten Commandments (the decalogue) as that moral compass. Are we on God's side?

 

This chance meeting started confrontationally, but we found common ground in which we agreed and parted agreeing with what the church was doing in getting out and trying to make a difference in the community to bring peace and harmony for the common good. He said: “Get out there and reach people.” We are, and will  be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in us.

In God We Trust

In Christ, Brian