Your Greatest Testimony Will Likely Come From Your Greatest Suffering
Are you suffering today? This was a reality those in the early church knew well.
1 Peter 3-5
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
Are you suffering today?
This was a reality those in the early church knew well. During the time 1 Peter was written, many Christians were being persecuted for their faith. In Chapter 3, Peter moves “to the issue that is central for the rest of the letter: the issue of Christian suffering.”[1] In 1 Peter 3:13-17, he writes:
13 Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Peter makes several important points. First, believers shouldn’t fear those who persecute them. Instead, Christians are “expected to be prepared to speak at any moment about God’s salvation of his people through Jesus Christ and how that salvation will manifest itself at the end of history.”[2]
They are to “give a defense,” which is a translation of the Greek word apologia. This is where we get the word apologetics. However, this defense is rooted in the context of suffering. Peter is writing less about having a thorough understanding of the nuances of the Christian faith and more about mastering the essentials so that believers will speak boldly when even their lives are on the line. It's a defense not rooted merely in theory or academic excellence but in a confident encounter with a living Savior.
But notice the manner in which this defense should be given. Not with hostility or a sense of superiority. Instead, it’s to be presented with gentleness and reverence. As Daryl Charles writes, “Christians must learn to supply a defense of the faith without being ‘defensive’ in the way they present themselves.”[3]
