…Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully. – 1 Peter 3:15, Amplified Bible

My family recently attended a Bible study and dinner party hosted by a dear family from our church. During the get-together, a friend of mine described an exciting development in the life of one of her daughters.

The daughter (whom I’ll call Jane) desired to learn Hebrew, so she signed up for an online class to learn the language. As a by-product of participating in the course, Jane has been able to interact electronically with people from around the world and from several faiths, including Islam and Judaism. In the course of her communications, Jane has had opportunities to share Christ, and her classmates have challenged her to explain why she believes what she believes. Some of the questions have caused Jane to study for answers, but study she has, and with great results. Jane has impacted several of her classmates, and one or two of them appear to be (at the time of this writing) on the brink of accepting Christ as their Savior.

Who would have thought that taking an online language class would generate world-wide witnessing opportunities from the comfort of a bedroom? But it has. Such opportunities emerge before us every day – both around the corner and around the world – in the daily business of life. The only question is, “Will we be ready to take advantage of these opportunities?”

Being “ready” does not mean that we know the answer to every question. If we wait to discuss Christ with others until we know the answer to every possible question, then we’ll never tell others about Him because we’ll never know everything. Being “ready” means being “willing to tell when the opportunity arises,” and to give a logical defense is something every child of God can do. We had to understand how the Gospel applied to us in order for us to be saved, and we also had a reason (or reasons) why we chose to believe the Gospel to be true. All we have to do is share our understanding and reasoning with others, and we’ve given a logical defense.

As we grow in Christ, our ability to defend our faith will grow. But no matter how much we know, we will always run into questions that stump us. When we encounter those questions, all we need do is admit that we don’t have all of the answers, and then we should ask for the chance to report back after conducting a little research. We may or may not be granted a follow up discussion, but we shouldn’t let that discourage us. Even if we didn’t know everything at the time of our discussion, we shared the Word of God, and God has promised that His Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11).

Be ready – be willing – to give a reason for the hope that is in you, with courtesy and respect.