"But
sanctify
Christ
in your
hearts,
and
honor
Him as
Lord. Be
ready at
all
times to
answer
anyone
who asks
you to
explain
the hope
that you
have in
you, but
do it
with
gentleness
and
respect."
1 Peter
3:15-16
I
recently
watched
a
documentary
produced
by a
famous
comedian
who is
an
atheist. He
traveled
the
world
doing
interviews
with a
variety
of
religious
representatives. His
purpose
was to
show how
ignorant,
ridiculous
and
hypocritical
many of
the
worlds
religions
are.
Sometimes
he just
listened
as each
defended
their
faith
and
sometimes
he
engaged
in
debate.
But one
fact was
glaringly
evident
- those
who
struggled
to
accurately
explain
their
beliefs
looked
like
brainwashed
fools.
Our
text
today
was
written
to
Christians,
of which
I am
one. So,
I take
the
Apostle’s
command
seriously
and
understand
the
importance
of
answering
those
who ask
in
truth.
It
doesn’t
really
matter
what we
believe
and
practice
if it is
not the
truth.
On
the
program
Muslims
had
great
difficulty
in
defending
their
faith.
In
general
they had
problems
in
presenting
Islam as
a
peaceful
religion
while so
many
clerics
are
openly
calling
for a
holy war
and when
Islamic
terrorists
dominate
world
news.
Against
the
backdrop
of
history
Islam
and its
Prophet
looked
violent
and some
admitted
that the
religion
was
largely
spread
at the
point of
the
sword
rather
than by
the
theology
itself.
And
their
incessant
hatred
for Jews
wasn’t
endearing.
The
Orthodox
Jews
expressed
a zeal
for a
strict
interpretation
of the
Mosaic
Laws,
yet have
devised
ways to
technically
get
around
those
Laws.
When the
presenter
asked if
they
were
just
finding
"loopholes"
to get
around
God’s
Laws,
the
Rabbi
quickly
asked, -"Who
do you
think
put the
loophole
there?"
Mormons
struggled
to
explain
a
mountain
of
bizarre
claims
such as,
that
Jesus
came to
America,
the
Native
Americans
are the
lost
tribes
of
Israel,
the
practice
of
wearing
holy
underwear,
being
baptized
for the
dead,
that
Jesus
and
Lucifer
were
brothers,
and the
list
goes on
and on.
But
it was
Christians
who
disappointed
me the
most.
The
Church
of Jesus
Christ
is
called
to be
the
pillar
and the
foundation
of the
truth.
We are
called
to
worship
God in
spirit
and in
truth.
No lie
or
deception
can be
defended
when put
it to a
real
test,
because
truth is
a
reality
and a
lie is
but a
vanishing
vapor.
When
questioned
why
Jesus
had the
same
December
25th birth
date as
many of
the
ancient
pagan
gods no
one had
an
answer.
The
truth
is, He
doesn’t
have
that
birth
date. We
cannot
defend
what is
not
true. We
cannot
defend
the
trappings
of
Christmas
- not
commanded
in the
Bible,
not
Jesus’
birth
date,
evergreens
and a
jolly
old elf
named
Santa.
Because
these
beliefs
and
practices
originate
in
ancient
paganism,
skeptics
have
come to
believe
that
Christianity
and even
the
divinity
of Jesus
is just
borrowed
from
pagan
worship.
We lose
when we
fix
fables
with
truth.
It's not
enough
to
always
be ready
with an
excuse,
we must
always
be ready
with an
answer
that is
the
truth of
God.
