| “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” |
| —1 Peter 3:15 |
Please let me share an encounter I had a number of years ago:
“By any chance, are you a Christian?”
The gentleman asking me that question was a student in one of my fire protection systems seminars. It was break time. In order to maximize the effectiveness of adult learning, we always based our classes on the so-called “50-minute Hour.” So each hour, we lectured, demonstrated, or had group projects for 50 minutes and then gave the attendees a ten-minute break. Since this was only the third morning hour of the first day of a five-day seminar, the question surprised me.
“Yes, I am,” I responded. “I’m curious why you asked that particular question.”
“There’s something different about you. I tried to figure out what it was. Then, I remembered who you reminded me of—my sister. You see, she became one of those born-again Christians about six months ago. Her life really changed. Even the way she looked: the smile on her face, the glow about her, a sense of peace. Looking at you reminded me of the way she looked after she became a Christian.”
Now I know that I am, in fact, a horrible, awful, terrible sinner. Yet, I am a sinner saved by God’s grace. Apart from God’s hand on my life, there is absolutely nothing special about me. In fact, many people who know me would be very quick to say what a very unappealing person I am. But, here’s this stranger, responding to something that must clearly have come from the Holy Spirit.
Over the course of the next four days, this gentleman kept seeking me out for conversations. He had lots of questions about what it meant to be a Christian. I gave him as many answers as I could. It was obvious to me that his sister had been witnessing to him about what Jesus meant to her. I was simply another Christian with whom God chose to connect him.
It would make a nicer story if I could tell you I led this dear man to Christ. But, when I asked Him if he thought he was ready to take that step, he indicated he needed to think about it some more. He did tell me he was reading through Luke’s gospel, as his sister had suggested. I told him to keep reading and to keep asking his sister questions.
Why do I share this story with you? Because in the daily, common life of one who follows Jesus, this is the kind of thing that will and should happen over and over again. We don’t need to go out of our way to do anything other than remain open to the fact that, from time to time, the Holy Spirit will bring someone across our pathway who needs a word of encouragement, or prayer, or just a listening ear. The Apostle Peter said it best when he wrote these words recorded in 1 Peter 3:15:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…
Because we revere Christ as our Savior, Lord, and King, He will use us to give testimony to the changes He has brought about in our lives. No, were not perfect. In fact, we’re far from perfect. After all, we’re still sinners, even though we know our sins are forgiven. The sin nature resides within us.
But, because we are “real” people, God can use us to touch the lives of others. In fact, He will often use us in combination with other believers, as He did in the case I cited above.
Let’s rejoice this day that we have the opportunity to be ones who, as it states in 1 Peter 3:15:
“…give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
What a truly blessed opportunity God has given us to represent Him, in the most gentle and respectful way.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, June 23, 2017
