But in your hearts set apart 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, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3: 15-18)
This past weekend, Andrew from
Redwood Baptist Church knocked on my door and asked me whether I would like to know Christ. I failed 1 Peter 3: 15-18, stammering something about being baptized and going to church already, as I tried to ease out the front door. Trapping me in the corner of the porch, I could tell he was a little doubtful about my faith, based on my answer.
"Would you like to take 30 seconds to hear the gospel?"
For a second, I felt a little indignant, thinking why? Go tell to someone who really needs to hear, not me! Then I felt a bit of arrogance, thinking, alright, let's hear what this fellow has got to say and whether it's even biblical, ha!
As he shared, I was humbled. Not that I heard anything new, but here was a guy, not even a "pastor", who was so sold out for Christ that he would take a Saturday morning to walk around the neighborhood and share the good news. How often am I willing to rise up from my laziness and step out of my comfort zone for the sake of Christ? If I truly believe that everyone NEEDS the good news, shouldn't I be more passionate and urgent about telling others about the gospel?
And even though it's not NEW news to me, it's certainly news that I need to hear every day.