Nena Arias | April 20, 2020
“Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15)This world is always an arena of ideas. These ideas are always aiming for relevance in life when they want to get away from God’s ideas, which are already established, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel on anything. In their delirium of “escaping” God’s ways they never give up and think at some “evolved” point they may be able to win the war against God. But reality is that human ideas always come up short or are totally inadequate, they keep going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new combination of the same old, same old. It’s a vicious cycle of failure after failure because the human finite (limited) mind will never be able to outdo the infinite (limitless) mind of God. That is the bottom line. Yet we all have to enter into this arena of ideas to defend truth so we can benefit by it and leave a lasting and true heritage for future generations.
The other side of the human agenda is to gain the prize of the heart and mind of the human race to do with as these schemers wish. But worldviews must be held up to the test of life, critical thinking, common sense, logic and, above all, the actual experience of life itself. What good is an idea if it doesn’t stand up to its test for veracity? Even if it sounds good, the “proof is in the pudding”. If it doesn’t pan out in real life and eternity, it is only good for the trash heap.
We must have true answers, not wishful thinking or emotional tendencies toward the difficult things like evil; where does it come from and how can we eradicate it. People yearn and proclaim messages of world peace, but we seem to be getting farther and farther from achieving any degree of world peace. On the contrary, our world gets more chaotic and dangerous for all.
Rather than be honest and humble themselves to even give God’s order a chance, the God-haters proceed to ridicule, mock and discard the historical biblical facts of why God’s ways work like nothing else. They are not familiar with God’s structure least of all have given it a try, yet, they make assertions without support or good reason. Of course, God’s ways require obedience to God and that is what those people who are trying to find their way around it vehemently reject.
The biblical worldview is the soundest and urges us to equip ourselves with God’s superior wisdom, which he has given us freely. We should not become religious fanatics who just rattle off things we ourselves don’t fully understand. We must know how to explain our faith to ourselves first and then to defend it on that battlefield of ideas with sound reasoning that is also corroborated by life and history. It is strange reasoning when you hear someone tell you that you always have an answer to everything in an argument. They make it seem like it’s a negative thing to know the reasoning behind how you see and understand life. Isn’t that the whole point of knowing how to live life right with tried and true principles?
The Bible teaches in 1 Peter 3:15, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
Peter gives the right advice. It is only fair to make a good defense of your biblical faith by demonstrating the strength and soundness of a Christian worldview. We must not only believe in God, but we must believe God. There is a world of difference.
Don’t be afraid or intimidated into keeping silent about what you believe and why you believe it, just make sure it is God’s truth you are basing your beliefs on and that you are corroborating them by applying them in your personal life. It is only right that people want the proof that what you are sharing with them is working for you first.
Ideas, concepts and principles are most proven in times of crises. Such is the time we are living. Now is the time to apply what you believe. God never fails. Believe him and trust him.