“Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:13
Imagine you are 16, and your very first job interview is for the position of Lifeguard at the local pool. You are incredibly excited to learn a brand-new skill as well as to earn money, with the hopes of saving enough money for a car!
However, when you finish the interview and are anticipating that they would ask for your Lifeguard certification, they don’t ask. Instead, you are told that no training is required. All you are expected to do is wear a shirt with “Lifeguard” printed in bold red letters, be adapt at twirling your whistle swiftly around your fingers, and appear intimidating– as if you own the pool.
This sounds pretty crush, right?! You get paid for sitting in chair and looking cool. And, you get to see your friends every day! Why wouldn’t all teenagers want that job?!
Then, the unthinkable happens— an adult, doing laps in the pool, grabs his chest and becomes unconscious. What do you do?
Stand and watch?
Twirl your whistle?
Ignore the situation?
Wait for someone else to run to his aid?
Why be a lifeguard if you are not trained for the various situations which could arise at this particular job? Makes reasonable sense, correct? A lifeguard’s purpose is to protect the lives of those at his or her pool. 🛟
The example of the lifeguard is somewhat akin to what Peter exhorts Christians to think upon when he writes:
“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense (apologia) 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
The hope that God has given us is not something that we twirl around our fingers while others are drowning in hopelessness around us. No way!
Jesus, God incarnate, put upon Himself humanity in order to life the perfect life we are unable to live, died the death that we desire, and raised bodily to provide a way back to God. Jesus did all of this for us! On our behalf! As pastor Michael Horton explains, “He suffered as God because only God had the power to save; He suffered as man because only man owed the debt.”
The hope God has given us is real. Not just real in a subjective sense (just real for you or for me). But truly real in an objective sense! To quote professor and author Nancy Pearcey from her book Finding Truth, “The central claim of Christianity is a stubborn historical fact, which was open to empirical investigation and knowable by ordinary means of historical verification” (p.55). Essentially, if Jesus didn’t raise bodily from the dead, we are still in our sins, without hope.
“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
Paul (1 Corinthians 15:17)
Why wouldn’t we follow Peter’s exhortation and through a lifeline out to someone drowning in their sins? Remember, this is biblical. This call to be prepared is not an option. Making a gentle and respectful case for the hope that we’ve with given is both a calling and a need (Christian apologetics)!
“The Bible commands it, the culture demands it, the Church needs it, and the results confirm it.”
Tim Barnett (click here)
In the 10-minute video shared above, former atheist and cold case detective J Warner Wallace joins professor and author Dr. Sean McDowell for a compelling discussion pertaining to the importance of training our youth in Christian apologetics. Both Wallace (TRAIN) and McDowell (TAB) provide both parents and youth ministry leaders instruction (how to prepare) and encouragement (why it matters) in how to train-up our youth for making a case for hope.
TRAIN:
T – Test (expose their need for apologetics)
R – Raise the bar (expect more from the students)
A – Arm with Truth (biblical literacy)
I – Involve (practice apologetics and plan together)
TAB
T: Theology – “the what”…train our children with accurate theology.
A: Apologetics – “the why”…why Christianity is true.
B: Behavior- our theology and apologetics should shape the way we live. Our theology and apologetics need to play out in real life.
Hold Fast Apologetics 