Keep Your Good Name

1 Verse....just one. What if I told you that in the face of Christian evangelism in 2020 often times I think of one that is missing from many evangelistic efforts. The verse is , and today we are going to look at it, break it apart, and study it to see what it may say to us as the people of God.

Let’s begin by understand some of the context of . The first letter of Peter was written around AD 112 by the Apostle Peter, who was most likely writing to a collection of Churches in Asia Minor at the time. Now, in 112 in Asia Minor there was a massive outbreak of persecution of Christians. Many Christians had been killed, martyred, and tortured for their faith, and Peter is writing to encourage these brothers and sisters.

Now, I contend that persecution is an abstract idea in the USA. We have never faced real persecution in this country. While many of us have been insulted, and perhaps treated unfairly because of our faith- we have not be persecuted. While there are some fringe stories like Rachel Scott in the Columbine Shooting- 99% of people who live in the US will never face death, torture, or hardship because of their faith in Christ.

However, for Peter’s audience persecution was not an abstract idea- it was the reality they lived in. So, when Peter said to the people “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled” it was not some distant idea that they would never encounter- it was a reality that they were sitting the midst of in that moment.

For Peter’s friends evangelism came with a high risk- death. For us the highest risk that sharing our faith comes with is the person says no and hurts our feelings, or we are labeled as a crazy religious person by the people around us- let’s be realistic its a pretty low risk endeavor. But for Peter’s friends, sharing their faith and being caught could lead to imprisonment or death.

So, in the midst of this situation Peter is encouraging them to keep doing the work of evangelism, and writing to them to remind them of the kind of attitude they should carry. And we come to v15 which we will break into 3 parts today.

First part A- But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy-

Catch this- you cannot convince someone to follow a pattern of belief that you do not adhere to. In other words- the work of Evangelism must take root in your heart.

In other words, how can we ignite a passion for Jesus in other people’s hearts if we are not passionate about Jesus in our hearts? In Jesus told us that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Evangelism comes naturally when our hearts are full of Jesus.

Think of it this way, the tree of evangelism grows from the seed of discipleship. If you want to be a person who shares their faith with others, you must first develop that faith in your own life.

Let me ask you, would you be compelled to do an activity someone recommended to you, but did not do themselves?

Right now we are all aware of the coronavirus- nasty stuff, right? Let’s say that you were worried about the spreading of the virus and you asked a friend of yours who is a doctor about their opinion of how to keep from getting the virus and they tell you, wash your hands often, do not

Example- most of us, if we want to lose weight use diets, right? And who normally advertises, leads, and develops these programs? Healthy people, right? What if you were thinking about a diet and you pulled up the website and the spokesperson was overweight person, who sells you the product while consuming 3 double cheese burgers, 6 deep fried oreos, and 4 large sodas. He tells you he has not worked out in years, and lists all of the health problems he has, including high blood pressure, high sugar, and other problems. It is obvious to you that he does not do the diet plan, so you ask “have you ever followed the diet you are selling?” “ME?” he says “NO WAY! I don’t follow this plan, never have, but you should, it will change your life! I know it will!”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Unfortunately this is the evangelism method many people employ. They tell others all about what Jesus can do while never exhibiting the lifestyle that they claim.

Part B- Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Lots of people talk about being prepared. Every time a snow storm blows in Facebook blows up with funny pictures of bare shelves in grocery stores; one of my favorites is the one that says if Christians prepared for Christ’s coming like they prepared for a snowstorm coming the world would be a different place.

Lot’s of preachers and people talk about being prepared for the coming of Jesus- and we should be prepared and looking for it; but that is not the only thing that the Bible says we need to be prepared for. In we are told to be prepared to make a defense of our faith.

Does anyone like pop quizzes? Are pop quizzes even allowed in school these days? We had pop quizzes when I was in school, and some teachers certainly employed them. There was always the possibility that a quiz could pop up any second, so be ready!

Can I ask you a question- if you woke up tomorrow morning and God said “that friend of yours, Steve, he is going to have a crisis today and I am going to send you to him to share my hope and peace with him” would it change your morning routine? Would you spend more time in the Bible? Would you read a different passage? Would you pray differently, or pray more? For me, I think it would. I think I would do something different to prepare....

The Bible says PREPARE ANYWAY!

It is not just about the way that we study, but also the way that we interact with the world. Some of you all know that I do some basketball coaching. When I coach my players for defense do you know what I tell them? As soon as the ball is in bounded great ready to play D- get in your defensive slide, get your hands up. If your hands are in your pockets and you are standing around not paying attention, the offensive player is going to blow right by you.

Finally, part C “yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

If there are two things that our world is missing it is gentleness and respect. Peter calls us to build our evangelism on gentleness and respect. In a world where our TVs, radios, and lives are full of people calling names, yelling, and insulting one another about things they disagree with I believe evangelism characterized by respect and gentleness can be a way of reaching people for Christ in a new way.

What is gentleness? I shared in Bible study this weak that when I think of gentleness I think of holding a baby.

I love what C. Joybell said about gentleness. She said

““It’s the hard things that break; soft things don’t break. It was an epiphany I had today and I just wonder why it took me so very, very long to see it! You can waste so many years of your life trying to become something hard in order not to break; but it’s the soft things that can’t break! The hard things are the ones that shatter into a million pieces!”

Gentleness is a divine trait: nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing is so gentle as real strength

Gentleness is a divine trait: nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing is so gentle as real strength

In 35 years of being on this Earth, and in all my years of ministry, I would tell you I have never met anyone who was beaten in to the Kingdom of God.

Then there is respect

Here’s the thing, I do not have to agree with someone and I do not have to support someone in order to respect them!

I once heard that the true mark of a gentleman is someone who respects a person who has nothing to give of benefit to him...

I like to say that respect is seeing the human in the other person- it is looking past their sin and their problems and seeing who they are.

Story of Issac..